Create a Portuguese Language Foundation in 3 Steps | 006

What language program should I choose and will it make me fluent?

This is a question that is asked a lot by expats, Brazil enthusiasts and foreigners alike looking to learn Portuguese.  In my experience, the answer is the same for all of them.

In this post, I will deconstruct an example: how utilizing a little-known trick, I had fun with a Portuguese course to build a strong Portuguese foundation – contributing to fluency in under 6 months time.

Disclaimer: I am going to recommend a Portuguese program to you that will give me some financial benefit at no extra charge to you.  This in no way means that you need to purchase this program to become fluent in Portuguese, it’s just a program that I’ve tried, tested and stand by.  If you do end up purchasing through my affiliate link, send me an e-mail so that I can personally thank you!

Before digging in…

Choosing the right Portuguese course is not enough to make you fluent in Portuguese.

If you use the language program daily and religiously you will notice results.

But these results would only be the beginning stages of your “language foundation”.

And like my highway metaphor from before, the path for your Portuguese highway needs to be cleared, the foundation smoothed into place so that the smooth asphalt can be layed – so you can cruise up and down on it with ease.

So what trick did I use to lay down a strong (and fun) language foundation to get fluent in under 6 months?

I connected the Portuguese course to my learning style and found an ocean of free opportunities!

Let me show you in 3 steps.

Step 1:

The first step was that I found a good, solid Portuguese language program that this trick will work with.

To be honest, most any online interactive Portuguese program that tracks your progress should work just fine.

Though the one you choose shouldn’t be a substitute for human interaction.

Are Robot Portuguese Courses Taking Over?

When first learning about this trick, I was using Rosetta Stone CD’s (that were collecting dust until learning this hehe).

And since then Rosetta has put a lot of effort and investment into language research to bring you the most “complete” language program (i.e., relying on their program to make you fluent).

In fact, they run a type of immersion method where it basically tries to “replicate” human interaction.

I’ve tried this “immersion” method with Rosetta again when learning Italian and felt that there is too much focus on interacting with your computer over real people.

It wasn’t until I observed and tried interaction in Italian, that things progressed for me.

Maybe artificial intelligence will some day prevail, but until then, I prefer real human interaction please!

If I Was to Choose a Portuguese Program Over Again…

Having learned several languages fluently through this Portuguese Acceleration Blueprint has led me to try out a lot of different courses.

You are here BTW:

But in my opinion, one stands out above the rest for this simple fact: simplicity!

It cuts the crap and gives you the bare essentials to build your foundation off of.

You’ve most definitely seen the little Rocket Portuguese icon in the side bar, right?

You’ll notice that there is almost 0 advertising on this site, but when there is, it’s small and something I believe in.

Does that mean that you have to choose Rocket Portuguese?

Not at all.

It’s just the one that I would use and recommend: not due to personal financial gain or any other self-beneficial reasons.

Here’s a little video demonstration of what Rocket Portuguese is about:

Note: there are no sales pitches in the video though I’ll show you a trick at the end to get it cheaper then advertized!

(Watch on YouTube)

Summary of what I showed you:

• How Rocket Portuguese (affiliate link) gets you going fast as is to the point.
• The voice comparison tool to match your accent with a native.
• Tracking your progress + self evaluations.
• Chunking lessons into bitable bits.
• Playing phrase and word games.
• You can compare yourself with others on the reader board
• The Rocket forum for asking questions.
• A little “Hack” to get another discount on the already discounted price.

Step 2:

After you have chosen your Portuguese language program, it’s time to show you how to use the building blocks of the program to put your foundation together – in a fun way!

Before going further though, It’s important to look at this Portuguese Language Program as a tool.

A tool that has had tons of money and research poured into it to get your Portuguese foundation functional.

Though like any tool, it has to be used right and in a fun way otherwise it will just sit there and look pretty.

Here’s how I took this “language tool” a step further to unlock my language learning and have fun:

(Watch  on YouTube)

A summary of what I show you:

• How to define your learning style
• Making phrases come to life
• To Be or Not To Be – having fun with lyrics on
• How cute puppies cuddling kittens helps you learn (the “legendado Português” on trick)
• Why adjusting the program to your learning style will make you fluent fast.

Step 3:

Rinse wash and repeat.

Practice does in fact make perfect and if you apply the above, it will get you a great foundation established so that you can learn Portuguese fast!

Remember that as you begin it will be tiring for your mind (which is why it’s great to do it in chunks), but as you progress and learn more, it will only become easier.

And when you stumble and maybe feel like you aren’t progressing, this is usually when you are in fact progressing so keep on keeping on.

Final Words

Next Friday, we are going to cover different tricks to dominate vocabulary and grammer (pattern method, association method etc) and then the week after it will get more exciting as I’ll show you how to put what you are learning into practice!

Do you have any tricks to share about making a Portuguese course fun(er)?

I hope that this post has been helpful in bringing you closer to your goal of fluency in Portuguese and thanks for being with!

Valeu – Cheers,

Kevin