John Whitlam

I've been interested in language and languages since I was a child and was lucky enough to study French, German, Latin and Ancient Greek while still at school. I then went on to read German and Modern Greek at the University of Cambridge and after graduation got a job with a publisher producing bilingual dictionaries. I'd used plenty of dictionaries in my time, but never stopped to think too much about how they were written. I soon discovered it was my dream job. A chance encounter while at university introduced me to Brazilian Portuguese, which I immediately fell in love with and started to learn on my own. My first trip to Brazil turned out to be a total immersion in the language and further fuelled my passion for it. I must have some kind of cosmic connection with Portuguese and Brazil because, without really intending it and through a series of chance events, I ended up specializing in Portuguese-English dictionaries, several of which are available here on Amazon. Not only that, after a ten-year stint as an EU translator in Brussels, I moved to Brazil in 2004 to return to lexicography and writing. In 2009, I submitted a proposal to the British publisher Routledge to produce the book I had always wanted to write: a grammar of exclusively Brazilian Portuguese for their 'Modern Grammar' series. My proposal coincided with an upsurge in global interest in Brazil and Brazilian Portuguese and was readily accepted. The resulting 'Modern Brazilian Portuguese Grammar: a Practical Guide' and 'MBPG Workbook' were extremely well received and adopted as textbooks at a number of prestigious universities. Revised and updated second editions of both books have just been published and are now available on Amazon.com. The new editions of the books will soon be complemented by a companion website to help learners with pronunciation and listening comprehension. In addition to Brazilian Portuguese, I am particularly interested in English for Brazilians, have worked with French, German, Modern Greek, Spanish, Dutch and Japanese and have a reading knowledge of some other languages. Visit my language blog at johnwhitlam.com.