A fun way to present language lessons to the birthday girl
June 11, 2013 8:31 PM   Subscribe

I bought my girlfriend language lessons for her birthday. What is a fun way that I can "give" them to her on the actual day. They are lessons with a private tutor in our home over a span of time... the language is Portuguese. I'm trying to come up with a clever way to present them to her on her birthday without being cheesy.

I speak a little Portuguese but any help a MeFite could give me would be very helpful with the actual "clues" if that is an idea. I don't know. She has workbooks, Pimsleur CDs and a dictionary already. Thanks folks!
posted by timpanogos to Writing & Language (13 answers total)
 
Ooooh! Pick me! Make a fancy looking certificate of lessons bought, and present it with a copy of "English As She Is Spoke".
posted by thelonius at 8:40 PM on June 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


A handwritten note slipped into a copy of Me Talk Pretty One Day?

Can you invite the tutor to the party?

A children's picture book in Portuguese, with a note/card that says something like "can you read me a story?"
posted by Sara C. at 8:44 PM on June 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


Give her a book in Portuguese, definitely. Either a Portuguese classic, or a book she loves in Portuguese.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:49 PM on June 11, 2013


A message written with a quill, aged, rolled, and stuffed into a port bottle, as if it's a message washed ashore? Are you close enough to the Atlantic to make this plausible?
posted by Sunburnt at 8:51 PM on June 11, 2013


Response by poster: Any children's picture book suggestions in Portuguese?? That is such a cute idea but I have no idea where to start.

Also I love this English As She is Spoke book, never heard of that.
posted by timpanogos at 8:51 PM on June 11, 2013


You can get many classic American children's books translated into Portuguese if you can't find a Brazilian or Portuguese book for her (for example, Onde Vivem os Monstros).

Regardless, I think you should take her to a Brazilian steakhouse for her birthday and tell her there!
posted by ChuraChura at 9:00 PM on June 11, 2013 [2 favorites]


A cursory search of Amazon "Portuguese books" revealed a number of promising looking children's books...
posted by PlantGoddess at 9:15 PM on June 11, 2013


If you know any of her favorite books (children's or adult-age), it would definitely be cute to give her a copy! I like Sara C.'s note suggestion, but I'd write it in the book.
posted by radioamy at 9:40 PM on June 11, 2013


Do a scavenger hunt in Portuguese! Nothing she can't figure out, basic words (even Google translate-able), leading to you and some Portuguese dinner.
posted by c'mon sea legs at 9:55 PM on June 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


The movie Love Actually has a super sweet (small) storyline about an Englishman and Portugese-speaking woman falling in love and his attempts to learn the language.
posted by Iteki at 10:49 PM on June 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


Write a love letter, get it professionally translated into Portuguese, and present that to her with "hmm, I guess you better learn Portuguese if you want to read that, huh?"
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:24 AM on June 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


"Happy Birthday! I got you Portuguese lessons for your birthday. I love you!" Only written in Portuguese in an otherwise normal boring birthday card and wait for her to get really confused.
posted by mibo at 4:02 AM on June 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


I'd buy a disc of Samba or Bosa Nova music and tuck the certificate into that.

Dinner at a Churrascaria place and you're golden.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:40 AM on June 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


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