Great courses in Portuguese

Father Paulo Ricardo in Brazil is one of the best things in my native country these days. His site is extremely active, has a huge following, and I have registered to enjoy the courses he has available. I am starting with the one about Martin Luther which is turning out to be a fabulous course in European history as well. I always think of my dearest Mamãe and how much she would have loved him, his cultured background, his humble delivery, and his love for languages. He has this incredible balance of erudition and simplicity, so much like my mother had. She never sounded pompous or scholarly, and yet, what a source of knowledge and wisdom she was.

These classes are what I would have loved to have in high school and college--and yet what I got was so very different. Am I thankful I would often bring home the subjects discussed in class, and my mother would actually explain or tell me the history of the time period, of such and such historical character, and so on. What richness! Those informal sessions were my real education. She would love these courses and instructive homilies by the excellent, highly educated priest. It is really too bad she didn't have a chance to see what good the internet is able to bring to the world.