I was born and raised in Bastos [small town in the interior of São Paulo state], where hearing and speaking Japanese was commonplace. There was even the “bastosgô,” a mixture of Japanese dialects and Portuguese.

I learned Japanese using the Kumon method so as to motivate my children to study it as well. But I’ve forgotten many “kanjis” and now I can neither write nor read with fluency. My grandson Thomas has started taking “nihongo” lessons, and my other grandchildren are also able to speak a few words, which makes me very happy.