Learning to speak Portuguese

@john8670 Duolingo is a free web site for learning languages.  Also, you can change the audio and closed caption languages on many TV shows and movies on Netflix to Brazilian Portuguese.  In that way, you can compare two languages at the same time.

@john8670 Hi I am a specialist teacher of dyxlexic children and adults and studied the brain at length during my Psychology diploma. If you look at a child learning the process is the same and if you practice everyday you will get it in 4 years or so, natuarally others will grab it quickly but the majority not. If any friends have young children or you sit near families in cafes you will learn quicker as they reduce the level down to that of the child. Duolingo is a great free app, best of luck.

@john8670 BTW babble isn't the best app, itis quite slow. earworms is a great product around 15 euro to download.

@abthree Thanks for the learning tips. Looks like I have more angles of attack now!

@timhoffnagle I will be implementing that Netflix strategy for movies and shows I watch sometimes thank you!

@ltoby955 That makes sense thanks for the advice.

08/16/22 Has anyone here had experience taking the Portuguese language test to become a full citizen? If so how would you rank its difficulty?

- @john8670

@abthree Wow! They hold foreigners to a pretty high standard when it comes to speaking, reading and writing the language. I will be taking this test very seriously and make sure I give myself a good amount of time to prepare for it.

08/16/22 @abthree Wow! They hold foreigners to a pretty high standard when it comes to speaking, reading and writing the language. I will be taking this test very seriously and make sure I give myself a good amount of time to prepare for it.

- @john8670

@Texanbrazil will be checking Muito Prazer out thanks.

08/16/22 @john8670  Duolingo is a great free app, best of luck.

- @ltoby955

@john8670 I suspect that most countries are like that.  I know that foreigners who become U.S. citizens know a lot more about U.S. history and government than the vast majority of native citizens, who have forgotten all of what little they actually learned while not paying attention in high school....

08/16/22 It's always 4:20 at some high school!😶‍🌫️

- @abthree

@Texanbrazil will be checking Muito Prazer out thanks.

- @john8670

@john8670

I got my first steps on the English language by reading comics.  Donald Duck, Mc Scrooge were my childhood favorites.   Read lots of  faily news papers. Even the lame Gannet Co owned dailies.

At college, |I could not argue, but I could ask and listen to . 

Some people go to movies., 

And no, you do not have to sit through  soap operas.  Try US  Syndicated Series.  They are all dubbed.

Starsky and Hutch, Columbo, The Waltons, the lame US reality shows,

A lot of the best ones came this side of the shores

Here comes the brides

High Chaparral

Zorro

Knight Rider

McGiver ( it is often used as butt of jokes out here )

Daniel Boone

It also helped I was a library rat.

I am a specialist English language teacher and work with dyslexics across our little world, You need either a personal tutor one-to-one or a good language app, Duolingo is set towards Brazilain Portuguese more so than Portuguese Portuguese, Earworms is another great app and very cheap based on the music and rhythm. Books don't really hit the mark unless you are working through the book with a native speaker. It is a long process, we tend to forget that a child immersed in listening and attempting to speak their mother tongue takes around 10 years.

08/16/22 @john8670 Duolingo is a great free app, best of luck.

- @ltoby955

I like Duolingo. It's actually helped me correct a couple of little mistakes that I've been making for years.
-@abthree

Duolingo is a bit hit or miss, it’s almost useless for some languages imo (example:Vietnamese), but I’ve heard it can be quite good in others. I always recommend to check out l-Lingo as well (I’m not sure, it might only be available for iPhones). L-lingo isn’t free, but not expensive either (50$ for about 100 short lessons), and certainly worth a look, especially for beginners.

But you mentioned Brazilian Portuguese which is perfect, slightly different from Portuguese Portuguese but that is due to numbers, Population of Portugal where I currently live is 11,000,000, and Brazil is around 209,000,000 so it would be crazy not to serve the largest population. The differences are small and I used that app along with earworms and living with mainly Brazilian people here. The secret is to try and learn as a child would, read children's books and watch children's cartoons on tv.  I didn't like Babble or I'lingo Michel Thomas is another waste of money, I am a specialist English language professor so I taught myself in the same way as I teach my students.