I have made great progress in being able to read and understand Portuguese. I have been reluctant to speak. The staff would speak to me in Portuguese (partially to test my knowledge), I would answer in English. Then they started challenging me - "No. Not in English. Answer in Portuguese." Somone pointed out to me that I must be a perfectionist because of my reluctance to speak Portuguese.
I was reluctant. But, partially because it took me so long to get a basic sentence constructed and things just moved faster when I spoke English to those who speak English better than I speak Portuguese.
I would hope that one day I could just wake up and be able to speak Portuguese.
My teacher and I started working on it. One hour of conversation. One hour of grammar lessons.
I forced myself past my mental barrier.
I try daily to speak a bit of Portuguese. It's coming. There is a long way to go.
Recently, I have found a couple of areas where confusion remains.
tired (cansado) and married (casado)
parents (pais) and countries (paises)
It is a very different sentence depending on pronunciation, when speaking I can't seem to remember and when listening I often confuse the two.
Ahhh, language learning. A lesson in humility.
Just Sheri, lifelong learner (now) willing to face embarrassment
No comments:
Post a Comment