Chapter 826 German Fernandez
"Fernandez, Portuguese, 27 years old, what is your specialty? What was your original occupation in Mozambique?"
"Sir, I don't seem to have any special skills! But occupation should mean work. I should be considered a farmer on a plantation before, right?" Fernandez asked uncertainly.
Facing the inquiries from the East African staff, Fernandez still seemed a little embarrassed, because the East African in front of him looked quite majestic, and even made Fernandez feel a little afraid.
This East African man looked to be less than 20 years old. Although he looked a little immature due to his age, his face, as gray and dull as dry tree bark, showed that he had been through many ups and downs, and subconsciously made people ignore his age.
However, for Fernandez, it is not so much that this East African man makes people feel depressed, but rather that he can feel the murderous aura that is looming in this East African man.
Coupled with his old East African Defense Force uniform that had not yet been replaced, it was obvious that he had "killed people" and it was very likely that he had taken the lives of several Portuguese people. This was a silent deterrent to the Portuguese present.
"That is, thugs!" asked Proust.
Proust was not aware of the psychological activities of the Portuguese people who were registering on the spot. As a former Wehrmacht soldier who had just been conscripted and retired from the army and transferred to a new job, Proust had indeed seen blood.
In his mind, people like Fernandez should be thugs in the Portuguese plantations. After all, farming doesn't look like something the Portuguese colonists do themselves. They just need to keep an eye on the black slaves.
Fernandez shook his head and said, "I have never bullied anyone. Although my status is higher than that of black people, my job is mainly to inspect the plantations, observe the growth of cotton, and then report to the management."
“So what did you do before you came to Mozambique?”
"I was born in a small fishing village by the sea in Portugal before coming to Mozambique. However, my family mainly farmed for Master Erbak, who was a noble lord in our village. Most of the land in the village belonged to him." Fernandez said, patting his head.
"Oh, so your family is in Portugal?"
Fernandez nodded and said, "I have an older brother and my father. My mother died when I was a child, and I haven't married in all these years, so I am probably alone in Mozambique. I do have a few friends, but many of them have left Mozambique and returned home."
"Well, congratulations, you will be a glorious German from now on." Proust stamped Fernandez's name.
…
After becoming a "German", Fernandez and others were assigned to various plantations or farms around Maputo, but compared to the past, there was now one more compulsory course every day.
"As Germans, you naturally have to speak fluent German. East African Standard German is based on Swabian and incorporates some vocabulary and content from other languages. Of course, you don't need to know too much about these. The most important thing now is to be able to communicate with others or understand some vocabulary." A Portuguese translator said to the workers on the plantation.
In East Africa, Portuguese is considered to be a relatively popular foreign language, because East Africa and Portugal had frequent trade exchanges in the past, and later the two countries became enemies, so it was even more important to "know yourself and your enemy", so the scale of Portuguese in East African foreign language education is not small.
"You must first forget your past Portuguese identities, because if nothing unexpected happens, many people will never have anything to do with Portugal again in this life. It is not shameful to accept reality. After all, the decline of the Kingdom of Portugal has already lasted for centuries, and it was not caused by you."
"The Kingdom of Hechingen is the future country of you and your descendants. Only when everyone loves this country can our lives become better. In order to eliminate various disputes, it is necessary to master the German language first."
"Of course, you can also choose to give up and not take the initiative to learn. That will only make it difficult for you to make any progress in East Africa. In the future, there will be no room for other languages to survive in the entire East Africa."
The East African teacher's words were harsh, but most of the former Portuguese present had no objection. This was the awakening brought about by the failure of the war, and with the population migration in Europe, changing nationality was not something difficult to talk about.
East Africa's two defeats of Portugal meant that the remaining people in Mozambique were doomed to be weak. Of course, there were exceptions, such as the Boers who were forcibly conquered by East Africa.
However, East Africa has adopted a completely different strategy towards the Boers than the Portuguese in Mozambique. At present, the Portuguese in Mozambique have not been separated by East Africa, but continue to stay in Mozambique, while the Boers have spread to various regions of East Africa.
"Now let's start the class. Today we will learn 50 words. Don't be afraid of not being able to remember them. There will be people to help you memorize them later."
The East African teachers then began to teach these Portuguese people. The content of the class was very simple, which was just reciting the copied words over and over again.
Most of the East African immigrants went through this process at the beginning. What really enabled them to learn German in a short period of time was not the classroom environment, but the German environment in daily life.
The East African government is organizing immigration efforts, and it will take no more than a year for the number of East Africans to exceed the number of original Portuguese in Mozambique.
…
"Fernandez, did you understand everything in class?"
After class, it was already 8pm, a colleague asked Fernandez in Portuguese.
Fernandez shook his head and said, "Of course not. Now when I think of those strange symbols, I feel a headache."
"Yes! I didn't expect that I had to study to become an East African citizen. This is simply unbelievable. We are not nobles or businessmen. Guarding a plantation does not require so much knowledge."
Fernandez said: "It's too late to say anything. After becoming an East African citizen, we can't leave. But our choice is not bad. At least the East African government didn't treat us harshly. They should treat us as their own people!"
My colleague nodded and said, "You are right. Of course, the premise is to draw a clear line with the Kingdom of Portugal. In the future, we will have no relationship with Portugal at all. But it is also good this way. Anyway, there is no hope in Portugal."
Fernandez laughed and said, "Now we are all Germans. We just fill out a form and become Germans. If so many countries in Europe follow the same path as East Africa, then there will only be one country."
"It's better to have one country, so we don't have to go to war every day like in Europe," said his colleague.
"Portugal is not at war, but its economy is in a mess, and riots and unrest often occur. Otherwise, we would not have to go overseas," said Fernandez.
"When the economy is bad, most countries are like this, but Portugal is too bad. Now the whole world is developing, only Portugal is constantly retreating. But this has nothing to do with us. We are now considered part of the German people. What happens to Portugal in the future has nothing to do with us."
Fernandez nodded and said, "That's right, but the situation in East Africa is hard to say. Let's wait and see! I hope our choice is correct."
There are many people like Fernandez who are nervous. They are both familiar and unfamiliar with East Africa. However, in the more than ten years that the Portuguese and East Africans have coexisted, one thing is clear, that is, East African cities have developed very rapidly. When the relations between the two countries were friendly, many Portuguese would go to East African cities for consumption and entertainment.
(End of this chapter)
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