Story line
The lessons in this Portuguese course present the experiences of Helen, a 19-year old American girl, in Brazil. Helen is an undergraduate exchange student who goes to Recife, Brazil, to study for a year at a Federal University (Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, UFPE). Helen knows Portuguese well because she studied it at the University of Illinois and she always practiced it at home with her father, who is Brazilian. Helen's mother is American and speaks very little Portuguese.
In Recife, Helen lives with a typical Brazilian family in one of Recife's residential districts, called Boa Viagem. The family lives in a beautiful building by the beach. The father, Antonio, is 50 years old. He is a lawyer. He works in an office downtown and teaches at UFPE. The mother, Rita, is 54 years old. She is an architect and works in an office downtown. Their son, Pedrinho, is 21 years old and is a senior at UFPE, where he studies computer science. The grandmother, Elvira, who is Rita's mother, is 83 years old and lives with the family. Finally, the maid, Isabel, is 30 years old. She has worked for the family for more than five years. Pedrinho's sister, Shirley, is 25 years old and lives in Maceió, the capital of one of the neighboring states. She is married to Alexandre and they have two children, Andrea and Rafael.
The main characters in the story are Helen and Pedrinho. Pedrinho is Helen's primary resource on matters of language and culture. In each lesson, they do things together and Helen learns more about Portuguese and the Brazilian culture. The story begins when Helen arrives in Recife and Pedrinho picks her up at the airport. Join Helen and Pedrinho in these adventures!
