learning foreign language

[Fritz]

in this case Portuguese.
Anyone have a favorite app or method?
I have high school French a long way behind me.
Would rather not be "that" American.

[Blankity Blank]

Duolingo worked great for me. Easy to get into regular sessions and made really good progress just using the free version. I checked, and they do offer Portuguese.

[ka jowct]

Babbel is crap, judging by the ads. What they describe sounds like a repackaging of the the "audio-lingual" approach my high school used (until they hired someone who could actually teach French) which resulted in no one learning enough to test out of college foreign language requirements.

Sure, you can "learn" little conversations. However, these are only useful if by some miracle the native speakers you encounter never say anything that deviates from the bits you memorized. In the Babbel ad, the Babbel student tells a cabby she wants to go to the Hotel Pierre. The driver just says fine, and off they go. What if he says anything off script? "The Hotel Pierre is being fumigated. Would you like to go somewhere else?" She would have no hope of understanding and responding.

There is no short cut. Maybe just learn how to say "Do you speak English?"

[Ombligo]

I found duolingo to be useless in real world situations. It may help you learn basic vocabulary that will help you prepare for something better.

My wife (who taught Spanish for 30 years) liked Rosetta Stone the best. She also said finding someone to talk with is a major help. Watching dubbed movies and TV shows that you already know is also helpful.

[Fritz]

I did use Rosetta to try to brush up my French some time back.
Which I seem to remember is free through my liberry or union.
Babel did look useless to me.
I'll give duolingo a look too.

[Todd's keyboard]

ka jowct wrote:
Babbel is crap, judging by the ads. What they describe sounds like a repackaging of the the "audio-lingual" approach my high school used (until they hired someone who could actually teach French) which resulted in no one learning enough to test out of college foreign language requirements.

Dis donc, où est la bibliothèque?

Tôdds clavier

[August West]

She also said finding someone to talk with is a major help. Watching dubbed movies and TV shows that you already know is also helpful.

This. Many of the russians emigres I knew back in the day just had tv and radio going in english all day & night.

The only real way is to go where Portuguese is the native language and live there.

[comphernation]

Fritz,

I've found iPhone apps DeepL and Linguee helpful in translating on the fly (Spanish in my case). Free on the App Store, both appear Portuguese-capable. While not language learning programs, they're handy when needed for "off script" use. (Another favorite app, SpanishDict!, seems, alas, to have no Portuguese equivalent.)

I was fortunate to have Spanish speaking coworkers in the recent past. That's the best. I also listen to some podcasts in Spanish. Even when they're too fast for me, repeated passive listening helps "tune the ear" to the language's cadence, rhythm, and structure so that the jumble of syllables becomes recognizable sentences, words and phrases. I'm understanding them better. My job often allows for listening while working, so it's like being paid to learn Spanish. Good while commuting, too.

The Internet has tons of useful stuff. See what YouTube may offer in Portuguese. I've found many good Spanish lesson videos. I have a friend whose family escaped to the USA when he was 5 years old. He said he learned English mainly by watching cartoons on TV. Though I haven't yet tried that method, I will on YouTube. I've found many songs in Spanish on YouTube; I imagine there are many in Portuguese as well.

If you use an iPhone you could try changing the system language to Portuguese. As you're already familiar with the labels, prompts, and functions, you can reinforce your grasp of the new language by daily use. My phone's set to Spanish.

I hope you'll find some of this helpful. It'll feel good as you become increasingly competent, even if not yet fluent, in your chosen language. Best of luck, Fritz!

[Dennis S]

I heard someone say that Babel would hook you for a lot of money.

[Ombligo]

BTW, there are significant differences in European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese. Most language programs default to the European standard (same with Spanish), so if you need it for Brazil, make sure you study the correct version.