Era Uma Vez
Project "Era Uma Vez"
This project is a joint effort between:
- The Portuguese program and the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University at Albany (SUNY);
- The Portuguese program at the Skidmore College;
- The Brazilian community at Albany and surrounded areas.
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The goal is to help children whose parents come from Portuguese-speaking countries develop the Portuguese language and gain knowledge and appreciation for Luso‑Brazilian culture.
In this project, we have storytelling, readings of children’s books, children’s songs, traditional Luso‑Brazilian games for children, among other activities. Our main goal is to motivate the children to appreciate our culture, our roots, and our Portuguese language.
SUPPORT
The University at Albany (SUNY), through
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the Office of Public Engagement,
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the Portuguese Program,
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the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, and
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the CHEER Fund (Creating Highly Engaging Educational Resources),
which has financially supported our activities
PARTICIPANTS
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Professors of Portuguese from
-University at Albany;
-Skidmore College, in Saratoga Springs, NY;
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Students of Portuguese from the University at Albany;
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Participants of the Luso-Brazilian Group Study (UAlbany);
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Members of the Portuguese-speaking community.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
Everyone who loves the Portuguese language.
All levels are welcome! It is not necessary to know Portuguese to participate!
Families and children of all ages are welcome! We hope to see you in our meetings!
This event is FREE of charge. Parking lot is also FREE.
Playing my violin in our event was a great experience, as well as playing for all the children. I am glad I was able to use one of my talents to help inspire so many new minds who have yet to experience the beauty of music. My performance remind myself why I enjoy playing. It also opened me up to improvisation for the first time. What made this experience even more memorable was the fact that I played along with the Brazilian musician Tarcísio Ramos. Thanks for the experience, and I look forward to learning more about Luso-Brazilian culture.
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Austin Ebanks, UAlbany student of Portuguese, Feb 18, 2017
Testimonials
Our Organizers
Denise Osborne
Email: dmosborne@albany.edu
Professor of Portuguese at the University at Albany, SUNY (Albany, New York). She has a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching and a Masters Degree from Teachers College Columbia University (NYC) in Applied Linguistics. She has extensive experience in the teaching of Portuguese including New York City, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Brazil.
Lucia Arsky
Veterinary Medical Doctor by UFG, Brazil, she translates research papers for publication as well as documentaries and interviews from Portuguese into English and English into Portuguese. She has been also a private Portuguese instructor and tutor for all ages for 8 years. As a La Leche League Leader in Dutchess County, NY, she has been working with mothers of babies and toddlers for over 14 years in English, Portuguese and Spanish. She has raised her two children to be truly bilingual.
Ana Dugan
Email: apmalacrida@gmail.com
Portuguese Language Instructor at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY and at SUNY Albany. She holds a Mater’s Degree in Latin American Studies from SUNY Albany and a Brazilian Bachelor’s Degree in Portuguese, English and Literatures. Ana has almost 15 years of experience working with children and has taught English and Portuguese to children and adults.
Bárbara Cocenza Carvalho
Bárbara holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from SUNY Albany, and she has been admitted to the combined BA/MS in Mental Health Counseling in the same university. She has 5+ years of experience teaching English for teenagers and adults in Brazil, as well as international students in the United States, and she
also works as a translator of English to Brazilian Portuguese.
Portuguese Language Interpreter at North Colonie Central School District, Independent Translator of English to Brazilian Portuguese and organizer of the Portuguese Speakers Group in Albany, NY.
