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From:
Subject: [AZORES-L] RE: Extracting Records
Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2001 15:37:24 EDT


I am in the category of those who know NO Portuguese (except a couple of food
names and swear words). I was never exposed to the Portuguese language and
have no relatives who speak it. And, I don't have the money to hire someone
so I guess I had extra motivation.

With the aid of word lists, research guides, a dictionary, and occasional
assistance from experienced researchers, I've been able to go through the
Portuguese records. The best resources is probably a couple of documents
translated line by line (many researchers will gladly offer and example or
two). In this way, you can see how someone who knew what they were doing
translated the document and use it for comparison.

You learn tricks such as which phrases to look for. Also, I've found the
same Priest usually covered several years of records, so once you've
conquered his style, all the records of that era will pretty much be the same
format. In Maia, Ribeira Grande, the same Priest covered many years and
wrote each baptismal in almost the exact same wording. Because of this, I
designed my own research form in Portuguese with blank spaces for the
baptismal date, parents names, etc., to fill in. If something new was added,
I wrote it in to translate later.

Like Cheri, I enjoy the "chase". There isn't anything more rewarding in
genealogy than finding your people yourself. You are going to find
handwriting and language barriers everywhere. This is not unique to
Portuguese records. Check the US Census which can be beyond readable despite
being in English. And, researching Hawaii can be even worse where early
records can be in Hawaiian, church records in Latin (with Latinized
Portuguese names), and Census records writing by non-Portuguese individuals
trying to figure out the Portuguese accent.

Then, one day, you'll be like me...After reading the baptismals from Maia for
3 hours, I switched to the 1870 census. And, for several moments, I couldn't
read the English! Ha! Ha! Evidentally, my brain was having just a little
trouble switching back to my native tongue.

Mel

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