I chose to interview my great aunt, Ruth Cordeiro. He is Portuguese and still lives in Portugal to this day. I completed this interview over the phone. In this interview I focused on the following points, language and verbal communication, non-verbal communication and family communication. I feel like I am now more knowledgeable about my great aunt's Portuguese culture and how it differs from my own in America. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay My great aunt and her culture primarily speak the Portuguese language. This language is known as a Romance language, meaning it evolved from Vulgar Latin. It is heavily influenced by Arabic; many words of Arabic origin remain in everyday words. The example Ruth gave in the interview was the word “bottle,” “garrafa” in Portuguese. Portuguese is a rather common language, contrary to popular belief. It is the fastest growing European language in the world other than English. The number of Portuguese speakers is very high, around 206 million in total. Portuguese is the sixth most spoken language. According to UNESCO, given the speed with which it is spreading, it has the potential to become an "international communication language". By comparison, English is already an “international communication language”. Portuguese has had its influence on other languages, including English. An example is the word “embarrassment”. Ruth said this comes from the Portuguese word “embaraçar”. However, one of the main differences between English and Portuguese is the conjugation of Portuguese words. Each verb has six different conjugations for a variety of pronouns in Portuguese. Another important difference is that until 2009 the Portuguese only had 23 letters in their alphabet. Furthermore, most Portuguese people tend to avoid discussing business in social situations. When it comes to business, they prefer to do it with those they feel comfortable with and trust. They also prefer face-to-face business meetings rather than telephone meetings because they are so impersonal. My great aunt said that this phone interview would not have happened if business had been involved. This differs greatly from American culture, which relies heavily on telephones and conducts much business this way. I also discussed non-verbal communication in Portugal. Interpersonal communications in Portugal differ from those in America. Once close to each other, the women greet each other with two kisses on the cheek, starting with the right one. They call it "beijinhos" ("little kisses"). Only women do this and only to other women, never to a man. Depending on the location and circumstances, they might kiss two, three, four times or in some places not at all. Not many Americans do this, I have to say I'm glad my culture is different in this situation. I would feel extremely embarrassed having to say hello to someone like that. The Portuguese and American greetings are similar in that they both use handshakes with people you're not very familiar with, but Portuguese might say "bom dia." Eye contact should be maintained, a principle seen in both American and Portuguese cultures. Portuguese people typically do not use nonverbal hand gestures while speaking verbally. According to my great aunt, most people like her will mistake people who talk with their hands as overly demonstrative. Americans, on the other hand, tend to talk with their hands quite often. Most people here don't think this is anything out of the ordinary. The Portuguese would do it though. I talk with my hands quite often and my great aunt is one