Learning Australian English on the Aussie English Podcast in this episode of Walking With Pete where I talk about how I’m learning Portuguese.
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AE 416: Walking with Pete: How I’m Learning Portuguese Sorry Jack. You’re not coming with. Next time, next time.
What is going on?
G’day guys! What’s going on. Though I would do a bit of an impromptu little walking video using my little funny selfie stick, and today I want to speak in Portuguese, a little bit, or at least about learning Portuguese. Então hoje, eu quero falar um pouco de português com vocês. So, what have I been doing, recently? What have I been working on with my languages, recently?
I have to admit I have let French go a little bit. Désolé tous mes amis. Sorry, all my friends. I have let French go and I’ve been focusing a lot on Portuguese, and I’ve been trying something a little bit different this time where instead of using books, instead of listening to a lot of material, which I know that I tell you guys to do, and that I do recommend you do, for the last month or so, I’ve just been chatting to Quel and only speaking in Portuguese, and obviously listening to her. But I wanted to see what kind of effect that would have on my abilities when speaking. There’s a V8 coming, so you’re going to hear this really loud car go past.
Bit of a hoon. So, I’m going to cross the road here, keep chatting to you, but I’m going to cross over and go up this median strip. Cross the road here, then…
Alright. So, what have I been doing chatting to Quel, and what’s my sort of goal been, and what have the results so far? Interestingly, the fluency’s really picked up. I can understand maybe 80 percent of what she says, 85 percent. I have to ask quite a bit about what words are. So, I’ve gotten really good at one phrase which is, “O que você quer dizer?”, which is like, “What do you mean?” or, “Você pode repetir mais devagar?”, “Can you please repeat slowly?”. And another phrase that I’ve noticed that I’ve become instinctual (at saying), you know, I can say this really fast now without thinking is, “Como eu posso dizer…?”, which means, “How do I say…?”, and then, I say the word in English.
So, it’s been really interesting, because I’ve learnt a lot of these phrases now come really quickly, and although, I’ve noticed with this that I haven’t really expanded my vocabulary a great deal, I do learn the odd word here and there every time I’m like, “Quel, como eu posso dizer isso em português de novo?”, “How can I say this in Portuguese again?”, and I do find myself saying or asking all the time, “How do I say this again? How do I say this again? How do I see this again?”, but the thing that has really paid off is all the simple verbs, all the common verbs, all the really common words, come really fast now.
So, now I can say things like, “Hoje… O que você quer fazer, hoje? Hoje… O que você quer fazer, hoje?”. “What do you want to do today? What do you want to do today?” Or… what are some other ones? Like, “Eu acho que…”. “I think that…”. “Eu não acho que…”. “I don’t think that.” Like, I learn all these phrases and they just come really quickly now when I’m speaking without me having to think.
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So, I guess, the point that I’m trying to get across here is I found that just speaking has been really really helpful with solidifying the base of my Portuguese. I can’t really talk about really complicated things, because my vocabulary is still very minimal, but I find now that I can have these really fluent conversations, really rapidly, really quickly, and I can understand what she says like that, because I’ve been practicing speaking constantly about all these simple things.
So, using verbs like to want, to do, to go, to come, and just constantly practicing them. Especially too, because every time we’re talking it’s day to day life. We’re talking about going to the shops. We’re talking about going for a walk. We’re talking about what we’re going to have for dinner. And it’s in real life. I get to point at things, ask, “How do you say this again? What is this thing? What is that thing?”. So, I’m finding it amazing to have a girlfriend who speaks Portuguese, with whom I can learn Portuguese. So, you know, I know that not everyone has that luxury with whatever language they’re learning, but I guess, if you have access to English speakers, this is definitely a really good thing to do.
You know? Any time we do get into trouble, any time I don’t understand, we do flick back to English, but I’m finding it really, really helpful. Really, really helpful. It’s advanced me really quickly. I’m at least with simple conversations.
What else was I going to say? Aside from that… Aside from that… There was another point that I was going to make, but it’s totally slipped from my mind.
Oh okay! Now I remember. The other thing that I really want to get across to you guys and talk to guys about is making jokes and not taking yourself seriously. So, I keep making up words. I keep playing around with words. I keep making jokes. I keep laughing at myself when I say stupid things, when I make mistakes, and Quel laughs as well, and it makes the learning process so much more fun and so much more memorable. So, now any time that, I guess, I make a joke about something or I say something incorrect or something that means something totally different and maybe inappropriate in Portuguese. Like, I think I used the word “Rapariga”, which in Portuguese from Portugal means “Girl”, but apparently in Brazilian Portuguese it means like “Slut”. So, it’s a nasty word for a girl, but I didn’t know this, and she just started laughing and was like, “Don’t call me that.”, but that’s something now, as a result of having made that mistake, I will never forget. I will never forget. And another one that I have said to you guys a few times in other places like “Excitado”, which means in English at least I thought “Excited”, “Excitado”, “Excited”, but in Portuguese it means “Horny”, like “sexually excited”.
So, those kinds of things, I make that mistake once, someone tends to pick up on it, and then tell me, and it solidifies it. So, that’s why I love learning in this environment at the moment with Quel, at least, with my girlfriend, because it’s a safe environment to do so, and I don’t take myself seriously. I’m okay making mistakes. I don’t mind looking like an idiot, and I find that that way of learning reall,y really helps. It really solidifies that in my mind, because I can keep looking back on these jokes that I’ve made with the person I’m speaking (with). So, I guess the point here is that when you’re practising your languages, especially with friends, people you know, that you have a good relationship with, don’t be afraid of making mistakes , don’t be afraid of looking like an idiot, don’t be afraid of the laughing. And I guess too, just always be laughing, always be smiling. Especially in Australia, if you’re learning Australian English, if you’re hanging out with Aussies, very few of us take ourselves that seriously, guys. And those who do take themselves really really seriously are the kinds of people you probably don’t want to hang out with anyway. So, don’t be afraid of getting some egg on your face, having some egg on your face, and getting a little embarrassed, but laughing. Have a laugh, guys!
So, that’s it for today. Hopefully, you like these videos. Let me know what you think in our comment, guys. Make sure that you like it. Make sure that you share it. It helps the channel grow. If you’re not listening to The Aussie English Podcast already, and you’re living Down Under, and you’re trying to learn Australian English, guys, what are you doing? Okay, get on the Aussie English Podcast. You can find it on any good app on your phone, listen anywhere, anytime, and upgrade your English.
And I will show you Canberra in the background here. This is Canberra. So, this is where I am at the moment, and it is sunny like this every single day at the moment, every single day. So, with that guys, thanks for listening, thanks for watching, and I’ll see you say. Peace out, guys!
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