Learning Languages: How I Motivate Myself

There comes a point in your language learning journey where you hit rock bottom. You hit a brick wall. The enthusiasm you had for the language at the beginning has fizzled out. In fact, this can happen many times along the way. It has for me. Sometimes I don’t feel like learning. Sometimes I lack motivation. There are many reasons for this. I may feel burned out, feel like I’m not making any progress, feel discouraged after a conversation with a native speaker, feel bad for not spending much time with the language or even experience a break up with a loved one who speaks the target language. Okay, the last one hasn’t happened to me but the point is there are times when I find myself struggling to go on. So the question is, how do you retrieve that motivation? How do you reignite the spark? Well my friend, here are some things I like to do.

Spanish

For Spanish, I like to listen to Spanish or Latin instrumental music. I found a few instrumental tracks on YouTube and it’s a great way to keep me motivated. Sometimes it can be difficult to transition from one unrelated task to another. For example, let’s say I just finished reading a book on Ancient Rome and I had planned to spend time with Spanish right after, however I no longer feel like it. Listening to instrumental music helps me transition and prepare my mind for Spanish. I’m immersed into the world of Spanish and all of a sudden I’m excited to learn it.

This might sound odd but I enjoy listening to celebrities speaking Spanish. Particularly those that aren’t native Spanish speakers. I remember doing a search for public figures who speak Spanish. I wanted to get my ears used to listening to natural Spanish. Through this search I not only came across native speakers but also non native speakers. I watched several videos and it was motivating. It was really entertaining too! It was great to see that I wasn’t the only language learner struggling to speak another language. Just the fact that many were not afraid to make mistakes, were happy to practice, interested in a different culture and were able to understand and be understood really motivated me. So I like watching these kinds of videos from time to time.

Will Smith Practicing his Spanish

French

Similar to Spanish, I enjoy listening to French instrumental music. It’s delightful. I feel like I’m in Paris sipping some coffee whilst enjoying the beautiful view of the city. This really increases my desire to spend time with the language.

Films. I really enjoy watching French films. It’s amazing how much motivation you can get by watching a movie. I recently watched a French film that I’ve seen before. I remember the first time I watched it, I didn’t understand a thing! However, now I’m able to understand a good amount. It was so much more enjoyable!

Travel. I really enjoy watching travel videos. It takes me back to my experiences in France and creates wanderlust.

Ratatouille. Love the film. Love the soundtrack

Portuguese

I like to listen to music. But unlike Spanish and French I listen to songs. It’s more motivating than soundtracks. It’s not just any old songs. To be honest, I only listen to three. Yes, just 3 songs. Mas que Nada, Samba do Brasil and Brazil Brazil by Thiago Thomé. Those songs really get me going. It feels like I’m in Brazil when I listen to those songs.

I like watching football related videos. I live in the UK and football is a very popular sport here. It’s also very popular in Brazil. I grew up admiring Brazil. The 2002 world cup was the first world cup I remember watching and Brazil were superb. They ended up winning the competition. Players like Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos being my favourites. Although football was created by the English, it’s the Brazilians who mastered it. That’s the way we see it over here. We see Brazilians as very skillful players. They always seem to have a smile on their faces and always seem to dance with the ball. It’s a beautiful thing. Watching highlights of players like Ronaldinho and Kaka bring back great memories for me. It makes me smile. It makes me want to learn Portuguese.

Brazil is a beautiful country with rich history and beautiful landscapes. Have I been to Brazil? No. Then how do I know this? By watching travel videos. We live in a time where we can travel around the world without leaving the comfort of our own homes. We can do this through travel videos. I love watching travel videos. I’ve watched many including the expedia and wolters world channels. I recently found a new channel created by Brazilian travellers. It’s good fun.

Conclusion

So there you have it. Several ways I keep myself motivated. I have other general ways I keep myself motivated. Perhaps I’ll create a post about that some other time. Watch this space. Ciao for now!

Learning Portuguese: Secondary Resources

Today’s post is about the Portuguese language.

Previously I posted about the primary resources I use for Portuguese which you can find here. Today’s post is about the secondary resources. So without further ado, let’s get the party started!

Portuguese is such a beautiful language. It’s spoken in several countries including Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique and Angola. My focus is on Brazilian Portuguese. Initially, my focus was on the Portuguese from Portugal but I found that there were more resources for Brazilian Portuguese than European Portuguese.

Having said all that, my goal is to be able to understand Portuguese native speakers and to be understood. So I’ve incorporated European Portuguese as part of my secondary resources as well.

Here’s a list of things I do to learn Portuguese:

• Listen to Portuguese Audio
• Watch Content in Portuguese
• Communicate with Native Speakers
• Write in Portuguese

Similar to French, I have audio files saved onto my MP3 player. It’s great because I can listen to Portuguese audio with the push of a button.

To immerse myself into the language, I try to watch videos associated with Portuguese. For example there’s a YouTube channel called easy languages. They provide videos from all over the world in many languages. I really like the channel because it’s really enjoyable. The videos show locals being interviewed on the streets on a particular subject. The great thing is subtitles are also included.

I also watch content on streaming services like Netflix or Disney Plus. Disney Plus is great because most of the shows or films are available in other languages. I used to watch a bunch of Disney shows when I was younger so it’s great to see them again. It brings back a sense of nostalgia!

My main source for communicating with native speakers derives from HelloTalk. It’s an app that gives you access to native speakers of your target language. You can practice your writing and speaking skills. I enjoy it because there are many people using the app so I never run out of people to practice with. I’ve also used conversation exchange to find native speakers.

I have a grammar workbook which is used to practice my writing skills. I use example sentences and try to recreate my own. More recently I started recreating sentences using high frequency words of Portuguese. You can find the website here.

So there you have it. My resources for learning Portuguese. Tune in this Sunday for my next post about Spanish. Até logo!

Learning Portuguese: My Method

Today’s post is about the Portuguese language. I’ll be talking about the methods I use to learn the language. So let’s get started.

I’ve been learning Portuguese for about a year. More consistently during quarantine. I think it’s a beautiful language that brings music to my ears.

Like French, I have two main resources I’m using at the moment. A grammar book and a website.

Although I’m still a beginner in Portuguese, I wanted to buy a grammar book to help me understand the language a bit better. I managed to find the grammar book pictured below. After reading reviews about the book, I bought it and I have to say I love it. In fact, it’s increased my motivation to learn Portuguese. What I like about it, is that it’s easy to follow and it’s full of exercises.

Grammar Book Cover

LingQ is a website and language learning platform founded by Steve Kaufmann. A man of many languages. I got inspired to use the platform from a language exchange partner. I’ve watched a few Steve Kaufmann videos on YouTube when seeking information and inspiration for languages.

LingQ focuses on listening and reading. I just started using LingQ so I’m not totally familiar with everything on the website. But from what I’ve picked up so far, I have to say I’m really enjoying it. There’s a lot of input and exposure to a lot of vocabulary.

LingQ on my phone

Similar to how I’m learning French, but with a different resource, I’m listening and reading to content at the same time. LingQ makes this really easy by providing text, audio and translations through a variety of content. I’m currently using the “Getting Started” guided course (above).

So, that’s a wrap. I have other secondary resources I’m using but more on that in a later post. The next post will be my methods for the Spanish language. Até logo!

Learning Portuguese

Howdy folks!

As mentioned in a previous post I’ve started to learn Portuguese. In this post I will briefly talk about how I’m learning the language.

From my experience of learning French (of which I’m still learning) I’ve found that I’m the type of person who enjoys learning through different methods. I’ve watched a bunch of videos on YouTube of language learners and the methods they use to achieve their goals of learning a language. I’ve managed to implement some into my own language learning.

I’m learning on my own. So I’m not taking any classes at the moment. I’m also a kind of lazy learner in truth. Why am I saying this? I’m not quite sure but here are the different ways I’m going about learning the beautiful language of Portuguese:

Assimil – Assimil is a learning resource for self learners. It contains about 100 lessons via a book and CD. The method is simple. Read. Listen. Repeat. I enjoy it. The lessons include lively practical and funny dialogues so you will learn an entertaining way. It includes a passive and active phase.

Listening – I enjoy listening to podcasts, the radio and interviews in the language. It’s a great way for me to get used to the way the language sounds.

Watching – I’ve managed to find a couple of series and videos on YouTube to watch every now and again such as Easy Portuguese on YouTube.

Apps – Memrise and Hellotalk. HelloTalk is a language exchange app that connects you with native speakers of the language you’re learning. I use it to practice my writing or speaking skills. Memrise I use to learn phrases and new words.

Speaking – Speaking at least once a week to a language exchange partner. This is something I’ve yet to do but I plan on doing soon.

So as you can see I’m learning through immersion. I’m immersing myself into the language. Most of my learning and what I enjoy the most is the input based activities hence my self description of a bit of a lazy learner haha. It’s something so easy to do and you can do it during dead times such as waiting for a bus or doing the dishes. Que legal né?

So, onwards and upwards. I will post again next week.

Ate logo meus amigos!

A Blog Post in Portuguese…Sort of

Howdy folks,

So, it’s finally arrived. My first blog post in Portuguese!

As I’m a beginner I’ve gone for a simple list of why I want to learn Portuguese…in Portuguese.

Porque eu quero aprender o português

1. Eu quero vou no Brasil
2. A lingua o português é muito bonito
3. Eu gosto cultura de Brasil

And that’s about it for now! Those are the reasons I have in my head at the moment and I’m sure the more I spend time with the language the more my love for it will grow. My plan is to write a weekly post in Portuguese on a certain topic. Today it was about why I want to learn the language and the next post…well we shall see my friend.

Ate logo meus amigos!