Resumo:

In this article, we propose a sensible look at the process of teaching Portuguese to people in situations of refuge, which is marked by a yearning that sometimes can be distressing, precisely because of the need to learn as quickly as possible the predominant language of the new country and be able to express themselves minimally to manage their daily needs. The adaptation to a new place, full of novelties and challenges, transforms habitual practices into endeavors which demand effort with no guarantee of success. Under certain conditions, language becomes one of the determining factors of a satisfactory outcome or of a frustration that produces a feeling of powerlessness. We will speak, here, about the refuge seekers and refugees who find themselves in the city of Rio de Janeiro, the challenges experienced during their adaptation process and beyond, by focusing on a specific theme, relevant to all refuge seekers and refugees, regardless of nationality: health care in relation to the everyday practices of the ther, in this case the Other who lives in Brazil. Based on our experiences with students of the Portuguese language course for refugees, organized by PARES Cáritas RJ in partnership with the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), and our contact with refugees of different nationalities, we aim to analyze how the topic of health is discursivized for refugees in teaching materials.