image description:
meme template is two buff men beating a rectangle with the following quadrants:
- rectangle labeled me saying: I just learnt object pronouns o/a, você, nos, os/as. portuguese isn’t that difficult
- red buffed man labeled -lo/-la, -los/-las with infinitives laughing
- purple buffed man labeled lhe, lhes with verbs ending in a joining red and laughing hysterically
- both beating the rectangle while laughing, with rectangle crying.
What I do when im trying to learn a language is caveman it. Me hungry eat food. As long as im understood it works then over time that sentence will evolve to I am feeling hungry I would like to eat some food
that’s exactly how I learnt Spanish. just consuming content until I began speaking it with relative ease.
but with portuguese, i’m finding it difficult. I’ve tried listening to different genres like sartanejo, bossa nova, etc. but my brain rejects them all for some reason. idk if it has to do with the slow rhythm.
maybe someone here has some pop recommendation for me? or maybe even short series or YouTube channels.
I would not recommend using music to learn a language, especially if the lyrics don’t stick in yr head easily (which IMO is basically its only advantage). The lyrics normally do not contain everyday vocabulary and/or grammar, it’s just not useful for communication. It is, however, often helpful for forming some sort of “emotional bond” with the target language, increasing motivation to dig deeper into it. It can also give you a better access to its specific, well, musical qualities. But then, just the bare spoken (not sung) sound of it can accomplish that just as well, if you’re willing to listen. Music will not help you get along with everyday tasks, improving communications, talking about yourself and other subjects, participating in discussions etc. Intentfully listening to spoken text/conversations is far more effective for that - even more so if it’s authentic (not scripted, not produced for recordings, read by actors etc)
music is how I learnt most of the Spanish. it’s not that I only listen to music. I watch small shows, videos, memes, do courses on language learning apps, visit Spanish-speaking forums, talk to Spanish speakers, etc.
but music has indeed played a much bigger role in my journey, I’d say. also, when I listen to music, I have translations opened in another tab(I usually use lyricstranslate website for this).
and the Spanish music that I listen to is reggaeton, which isn’t very musical, let’s just say, haha. it’s just spoken Spanish with autotune.
I have to say I learned both english and portuguese mainly through listening and singing music while reading the lyrics. I also use these tools when teaching English students, and have found them to be very successful. Of course you should complement with engaging in conversations, writing, etc. But for me, music is the number one resource when learning a new language.
I’m in a similar boat, Spanish degree from college, but learning Portuguese now, and I’ve found that kids programming like Sesasme Street (Rua Sésamo) is really great for getting some fundamentals. They tend to speak slower, avoid idioms and focus on foundational parts of the language. And the good thing is, you can find all 30ish episodes of Rua Sésamo on YouTube
Edit: Rua Sésamo is European Portuguese, if you want Brazil, then Vila Sésamo is what you’re looking for (or simply Sésamo)
