Posts
A chance to do it right
Posted by Elena B. , Thursday, January 28, 2010 12:00 PM
So, continuing on the theme of my last post (languages), here's another about portuguese. I'm so excited! I get to take a Portuguese class this semester! Finally, I get to take an actual class! Learning on your own is better than nothing, but now I get to continue with that and get some actual instruction.
It wasn't easy to get to this point though, you wouldn't believe the hoops I had to jump through to take a Portuguese class in college! First of all, this is my last semester (I'm a senior) and I didn't think I'd even have room in my schedule for it, but things changed and now I do. I go to a college that is in the "5 College area" and I can take classes at the other colleges as well, which is great because my school doesn't offer Portuguese. So I tried to take a "Portuguese for Spanish speakers" class at Smith College, but its the only class of its kind in the five colleges and is so freakin popular that i couldn't get in the THREE different semesters I've tried! Really frustrating. So then I tried to take the Elementary Portuguese class, but it's a year-long course and they don't accept people mid-year. FINALLY, I was able to register for a class at the University of Massachusetts. It's Elementary Portuguese II, and I'm supposed to have taken the first semester of it, but because of my level of Portuguese knowledge, the professor is making an exception. THANK GOD!
I just feel so frustrated at my level of portuguese right now! I'm fluent in Spanish, so I picked it up fairly quickly, and I've definitely learned a lot, but I feel stuck. I'm at the point where I can have a decent conversation without sounding like a total fool, but I often get stuck on vocab I don't know for non-everyday things and I'm pretty much stuck in the present and preterite tenses. I'm not at all confident when I talk. And although Brazilians have told me "Voce fala muito bem, como aprendeu?" (You speak really well, how did you learn?), I think Brasileiros tend to be very polite and overly nice about that type of thing.
I talk to Dear BF in portuguese all the time, but we chat (type) online because it's easier and he doesn't have a microphone for skype. So my writing and reading is much better than my speaking and comprehension. Although I have gotten a lot of help with that from some Brazilian friends here at school, but now a few of them have gone to study in France, which means less practice for me :(. I just wish that it were as easy for me to speak Portuguese as it is to speak Spanish. I think I can get there (or almost there) someday. I don't want to have to be thinking for words all the time, to have tons of trouble telling a story or talking about the future, or always be asking 'O que?!?!' with a confused look on my face. And I'm hoping this class can help bump me up a level in my language ability!
Entao, me desejam boa sorte com as aulas de portugues! (So, wish me luck with the Portuguese classes)!
Beijos,
Elena
Learning a new languange is not that easy. Take your time. Step by step. You will get there. I have sent you my contact address so you can add me to msn. I can help you with the speaking.