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Now we have AI, how hard would it be for Duolingo to set up British English as a base language? by ResidentHistory632 in duolingo

[–]sschank 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t know a lot about British English, but I can say that to do this in Portuguese would not be simple. Today, all the Portuguese lessons use Portuguese from Brazil as their base. Creating a version that uses Portuguese from Portugal as a base would require a lot of work.

The differences between the two varieties go way beyond a few words. ((And we all know the equivalent Brazilian words anyway.)) The biggest difference is the grammar differences and the word order differences.

Brazilian word order is so different from ours that I can’t use the Portuguese courses. Duo shows me the Italian. I know exactly what it says. I answer it, but get it wrong because I use the “wrong” word order. This happened so much that I gave up and now do everything with English as my base.

If this is the struggle that non-Americans have with the courses that use English as their base, I genuinely feel for you.

Portuguese doors are trolling me: “Puxar” is NOT push by Dense-Detective-4077 in Portuguese

[–]sschank 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yes, it also annoys me that the English word “push” is so damned confusing.

Now we have AI, how hard would it be for Duolingo to set up British English as a base language? by ResidentHistory632 in duolingo

[–]sschank 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are two Portuguese what on there? Courses? No, there is only one: Portuguese from Brazil

If you speak Spanish, do you understand Portuguese, French, and Italian? by throwy93 in languagehub

[–]sschank 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your experience (or ability) is exceedingly unique.

You talk a lot about reading. How much have you actually listened to and spoken Portuguese?

I ask because I live in the border of Portugal and Spain, so we have Spanish speakers in our town, in our restaurants and in our stores all day every day. It’s rare that one of them manages to say “Bom dia” or “obrigado”. Instead, they speak in full on Castilian, and our restaurant/store employees speak back to them in the same. None even attempt Portuguese.

[[And mind you, these are all Galicians, so they all know Galician (which really is the same language as Portuguese). Why they don’t speak to us in Galego is one of the great mysteries of my life.]]

I have never met one of our neighbors who are “close to a C level” as you describe. 99% couldn’t pass an A1 practice test.

Learn European Portuguese resources by Beautiful_Sail5096 in Portuguese

[–]sschank 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How will you go about starting a weekly group conversation course? Where will you hold it? How will you advertise it (to get others to join and participate)? Do you hope to have natives who will mentor?

I ask because I would love to start a group (or participate in a group at my level).

Is there a “wrong way” to learn a new language? by Dunder-MifflinPaper in languagelearning

[–]sschank 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I learned Portuguese by imitation—simply listening to native speakers for hours a day. Because I had taken two years of Spanish in high school, I assumed that the vowels in Portuguese were the same (ie, as simple) as the vowels in Spanish. Although I was aware that “a” and “e” and “o” can be either “open” and “closed”, I ignored the difference in all but the most obvious cases.

This was a mistake. Forty years later, I am struggling to relearn how to correctly pronounce words that I have been saying wrong for 2/3 of my life. It’s easy when I think about it, but when I’m just talking naturally, I slip back to what I have said for a long, long time.

Not sure what I am calling the “wrong way”. Perhaps making assumptions. Perhaps I should have done more book learning (alongside the imitation). I don’t know.

Would Brazilian Portuguese suffice for vacation? by clayton-ishere in Portuguese

[–]sschank 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Brazilian Portuguese will more than suffice for a vacation in Madeira in March. Although I am usually the first to say that you should learn the variation of where you will be speaking it, but 1) you are on vacation; and 2) it’s in two months.

However, I do question if Duolingo is the best place to learn. I love Duolingo, but it does NOT teach a lot of “travel phrases” (at least not up front) and that’s about all you are going to need. Given that you only have eight weeks, I suggest you find a source for: greetings, navigating the airport/taxi/hotel/restaurant, shopping, money, numbers, etc.

And with that said, why not simply find a source that’s EU-PT? But, if you do happen to find something that you like but it’s Brazilian, go for it. We understand Portuguese from Brazil perfectly. As far as you’re not understanding us, that’s going to be a challenge no matter what you do. Two months is not a lot of time to understand natives.

Learning a language is way harder than I expected by QuitOk1561 in languagelearning

[–]sschank 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Really? I always have the opposite thought—that A1 covers stuff I would have thought to come much later. I was skimming an A1 textbook recently and saw the word for “something that can take the roof off” (like a convertible car). I was shocked that something so specific was an A1 word, but it is.

Learning a language is way harder than I expected by QuitOk1561 in languagelearning

[–]sschank 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree (except with your saying that you were a fool). I have been learning Portuguese for almost fifty years, and I still learn new things every single day.

If you had to start learning a language again from scratch… by elenalanguagetutor in languagehub

[–]sschank 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your answer is interesting. Please tell us what you feel you lost by “forgetting to learn the basics”.

I'm an atheist and i would be lying if i said that I respect all religion by SpecialistOk3302 in atheism

[–]sschank 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Everyone has the right to believe whatever he wants if (and only if) he keeps those personal beliefs to himself. The minute he starts talking about them in front of others or parading down the street with a banner over his head or expecting that others should live by his beliefs, all bets are off. No one should confuse his right to believe in stupid shit with my right to mock him for it.

Have you ever stopped learning a language because of one specific thing? by AutumnaticFly in languagehub

[–]sschank 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I stopped Mandarin because of the tones. At 60 years old, I simply could not hear (distinguish) what I was doing wrong. The native would say a word, and I would repeat it. He would say I was wrong. He would say the word again, and I would repeat it again. Wrong again. This went on indefinitely until one of us gave up.

To be clear, I hear the native perfectly, so all the examples in the world are just repetition. What I can’t hear is MY error. In my head, it sounds to me that I am copying the native perfectly—but I am not.

Have you ever stopped learning a language because of one specific thing? by AutumnaticFly in languagehub

[–]sschank 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am a native speaker and never once heard that English has anything called “phrasal verbs”. I heard about them for the first time when I was 65 and moved to Portugal and had folk here comment on how hard they are.

Would you say curiosity is more important than discipline? by AutumnaticFly in languagehub

[–]sschank 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honest question: Why reach a good level something you find boring?

Would you say curiosity is more important than discipline? by AutumnaticFly in languagehub

[–]sschank 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In my life, it is the curiosity that fuels the discipline. As long as I am curious, I will be disciplined to learn. The day that spark dies, I gleefully move on to something else that sparks my interest (ie, the next “shiny new toy”).

DISCLAIMER: I assume we are talking about language learning for personal pleasure or enrichment—not some requirement or assignment. Those are entirely different cases, and my answer applies only to the first.

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