Language Learning: Taking Off the Training Wheels

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Last week at work, the 55 country code appeared on my phone display. Brazil. My first inbound call in Portuguese. It caught me off guard. I was busy helping another customer by email. Besides, I was afraid of imperfection. Let it go to voice mail. A more experienced Portuguese speaker can answer this prospect’s questions.

The line kept ringing. Ugh.

I answered.

Bom dia. Fala Jim. Você fala espanhol? Inglês?

Não. Não.

Continuing in my stellar and rudimentary Portuguese, I told the potential customer that I was learning her language. I asked her to please speak slowly.

She complied. I understood what she wanted. Then she threw me for a loop with one answer. Moving on, I asked for her company’s name. Never heard of it. I asked her to spell it so I could Google it and find the address. I wasn’t getting it. No visual clues. Exposed. After seven minutes, I got most of what I needed. I hung up, relieved it was over and hoping the recording would reveal answers I had missed. Painful to relive my errors. I had to call her back to confirm her email address. Turns out I had gotten that wrong, too.

Four months into this language exploration, I get frustrated. Portuguese and Spanish are so similar. Why is this taking so long?

I forget that these doubts are part of the process.

Without the struggles, how could I become so joyful when communicating with all the beautiful, smiling people I’ve met on Skype and Zoom? Without risk, how would I become grateful for the rewards. (More about those next time.)

When I focus on the failure, I lose sight of the successes—like the outbound phone call to another potential customer. The Brazilian who answered spoke English. He asked if wanted to practice Portuguese. Of course. After the business part of the call and a complement about my Portuguese, he asked where I was calling from. He was thrilled to learn I was in Boston, a place he had visited.

Common ground. Cooperação. Cooperación.

The pitfalls and potholes of learning Portuguese and Spanish have made me more grateful for the blessings I’ve enjoyed and more compassionate toward those who face similar obstacles in identifying their language learning goals and needs.

Are you contemplating learning Spanish or Portuguese? I’m here to listen.

Let’s get started.

Merging Passions: A Foundation for Language Learning →

I can hypnotize you in Portuguese. Well, maybe not yet. After three weeks of merging my passions—learning languages and calming my restless mind—I can understand and repeat more and more words and phrases. During my 15+ minutes a day, here’s what I’m hearing and saying:

I want you to concentrate on my voice. Get comfortable. Relax. One, two, three. Breathe deeply. This is the only moment. One, two, three. With each breath…more and more relaxed. Calm. Well now, we’re all part of the same universe, becoming stronger. Building immunity against coronavirus.

Still awake? Very good. Muito bem.

When this social distancing is behind us, I’ll put what I’ve learned to practical use with some of the 50,000 people of Brazilian ancestry living in Massachusetts, according to the Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers.

Until then, I’ll stick with my new routine because I’m feeling so relaxed as I listen to a soothing voice and then drift off to a peaceful, dreamless state of mind. I awake feeling refreshed, unhurried.

I still have much more to learn, for sure, before I can dazzle a native Portuguese speaker. My pronunciation could do with some polishing, for example. Nevertheless, I’ve surrendered the temptation to look up words I still don’t understand, to purchase Rosetta Stone or hunt and peck for videos and podcasts on the Internet.

Instead, and with the convergence of passions, I’m seeing many of the words I hear in my mind’s eye and can categorize them as plurals, possessive adjectives, verb conjugations. It all fits together for me. I’m building a foundation for speaking and writing Portuguese and feel good about my purpose, progress and practice routine.

What are you doing to take care of yourself? To challenge and reward yourself?

Did you know that there are more than 600,000 native Spanish speakers living in Massachusetts, according to Census.gov?

How many of these people may share your passion for yoga, dogs, fútbol, football…talking about Tom Brady?

How do you feel about all this? Not sure if you want to learn Spanish, what your goals are or how to go about it?

Friends, co-workers and family tell me I’m good listener. I promise not to hypnotize you, so why don’t we get started?