I finally get around to buying a Portuguese dictionary. The bookshop has to order it in for me.
It's very empowering to be able to look up new words. How did I manage without it? Whatever the merits of online dictionaries and translation services, there is nothing like holding the entire language in your hand.
I've had about a dozen lessons, and I'm starting to catch on. In our class we've started listening to native speakers. At first I understood nothing, but now I'm catching a word or phrase here and there, picturing how it looks in writing.
The teaching is excellent - we speak aloud, read dialogue between us and make up our own conversation. With only two people in the class we cover quite a lot of material each week.
But I need to do better. At the end-of-term Brazilian barbecue I learn that English is not spoken very much in Brazil - even in Rio. So I had better get a move-on. Although Eneias says he is learning English, I don't want to rely on that. The language of music will only get us so far.
Over the Easter weekend we are home for several days. I decide finally to sit down and do some language study. I've been meaning to do this for weeks but each week seems to vanish, with the workbook still unopened.
I attack the Level 1 program that I skipped by going straight into the Intermediate class. It is good revision, and a way to pick up some missing vocab. In twenty minutes I manage to get through a double-sided worksheet, filling in the blanks, sounding the words, manoeuvring my mouth around them, repeating the ones that give trouble. How hard could it be to do this a couple of times a week? Better time management is needed!
It occurs to me that singing helps with language learning. It makes you feel more at ease with your voice. It no longer feels so embarrassing to speak aloud, to get it wrong, to try again until it comes out right. The same mental processes are used to memorize both lyrics and vocab. Singing also helps with pronunciation, because in order to fit syllables into the rhythm, you have to say them correctly. Listening, singing, speaking, memorizing - these skills all go together in harmony.
When I return to classes after the break, I'm glad I did the revision. The Intermediate group has been merged with the Advanced class. Now there are four of us. Lessons are conducted largely in Portuguese. I arrive a bit late and the class is already under way. Andrea works her way along the line, and when she reaches me she asks me a fairly simple question. I give a simple answer, but she can tell from this that I understood. The lesson goes well and I start to feel more confident. After class, some parents arrive for an information session about children's language classes. They are Brazilians living in Adelaide and Australians with Brazilian partners. It's a morning tea and we are invited to stay. The presentation is in English, but then the conversation moves into Portuguese. I can't say much, but I listen. I can understand quite a lot of what is said.
Learning a language takes time, but it's worth the effort.
It's very empowering to be able to look up new words. How did I manage without it? Whatever the merits of online dictionaries and translation services, there is nothing like holding the entire language in your hand.
I've had about a dozen lessons, and I'm starting to catch on. In our class we've started listening to native speakers. At first I understood nothing, but now I'm catching a word or phrase here and there, picturing how it looks in writing.
The teaching is excellent - we speak aloud, read dialogue between us and make up our own conversation. With only two people in the class we cover quite a lot of material each week.
But I need to do better. At the end-of-term Brazilian barbecue I learn that English is not spoken very much in Brazil - even in Rio. So I had better get a move-on. Although Eneias says he is learning English, I don't want to rely on that. The language of music will only get us so far.
Over the Easter weekend we are home for several days. I decide finally to sit down and do some language study. I've been meaning to do this for weeks but each week seems to vanish, with the workbook still unopened.
I attack the Level 1 program that I skipped by going straight into the Intermediate class. It is good revision, and a way to pick up some missing vocab. In twenty minutes I manage to get through a double-sided worksheet, filling in the blanks, sounding the words, manoeuvring my mouth around them, repeating the ones that give trouble. How hard could it be to do this a couple of times a week? Better time management is needed!
It occurs to me that singing helps with language learning. It makes you feel more at ease with your voice. It no longer feels so embarrassing to speak aloud, to get it wrong, to try again until it comes out right. The same mental processes are used to memorize both lyrics and vocab. Singing also helps with pronunciation, because in order to fit syllables into the rhythm, you have to say them correctly. Listening, singing, speaking, memorizing - these skills all go together in harmony.
When I return to classes after the break, I'm glad I did the revision. The Intermediate group has been merged with the Advanced class. Now there are four of us. Lessons are conducted largely in Portuguese. I arrive a bit late and the class is already under way. Andrea works her way along the line, and when she reaches me she asks me a fairly simple question. I give a simple answer, but she can tell from this that I understood. The lesson goes well and I start to feel more confident. After class, some parents arrive for an information session about children's language classes. They are Brazilians living in Adelaide and Australians with Brazilian partners. It's a morning tea and we are invited to stay. The presentation is in English, but then the conversation moves into Portuguese. I can't say much, but I listen. I can understand quite a lot of what is said.
Learning a language takes time, but it's worth the effort.
