Communicating with non-english speakers?

Question

My neighbor's niece who speaks only Portugese is coming up from Brazil for the school year to learn English and just have a good time. They wanted me to hang out with her sometimes. I'm looking forward to it but...how can we communicate and what are some good activities to do with her? It'll be a constant game of charades :D Thanx!

Answer 1

It will initially be a game of charades, certainly for the first few days, but after that it will be a lot easier.  

Answer 2

She's coming to learn English - I'll bet you will find communication won't be a problem.

Answer 3

Say Tudo Bem a lot! It's a nice phrase in Brazillian Portuguese!

Answer 4

She is there to learn English, so she would most probably be dissapointed if you try to ignore it, and kill yourself for making a portuguese sentence to tell her! Just speak English, but with a slower pace, and simpler words.

Answer 5

If she's over, I'd say 8 or 9, she probably doesn't want you to do anything other than allow her to learn by immersion.  Even if she is younger, you'll be surprised how quickly she'll pickit up.  It's okay to play charades.  If you want to get an English-Portuguese dictionary to learn a few basic concepts, or if you're interested in learning Portuguese, do it for your own peace of mind, but to try to speak broken Portuguese constantly, instead of allowing her to learn quickly, is not the idea.

Answer 6

She probably knows some English - many cognate and loan words from English pepper most languages.

1) Speak slowly and repeat,

2) Get a basic dictionary,

3) Write it out,

4) Use pictures or draw if all else fails.

It should be fun! Best regards.