[2023-03-03] 200-day streak and first English-Portuguese lesson
Today was both the 200th consecutive day I have used Duolingo and my first English-Portuguese lesson. I am teaching my neighbour how to communicate in English, and she is teaching me how to communicate in Portuguese.
It was fascinating, fun, stimulating, rewarding and enlightening. I learned new words in Portuguese: sinônimo (synonym), sobreviver (to survive), panqueca (pancake), sonho (dream), caderno (notebook) and torta (pie).
I also learned that while I may know my own language, I can't always readily explain it to someone trying to learn English. For example, have you ever thought about how we form questions in English? I hadn't. It's much easier to form questions in Portuguese than in English: simply make a statement and end it with a question mark. Ta-dah, you've asked a question.
Fortunately, there are many resources available online to help with understanding and teaching a language. I have always found it easier to understand a grammar lesson in a foreign language (first French and now Portuguese) when it is explained in my mother tongue. So to help my neighbour, I look for explanations of English grammar written in Portuguese. While doing this research, I am learning.
My neighbour and I have made it a habit to write our messages to each other in both Portuguese and English. Even if I create my Portuguese texts using a translation app, I pick up new vocabulary that is relevant to the kinds of things I say everyday. I trust that writing in both languages offers the same benefit to my neighbour.
I have also found that having a dedicated notebook for my Portuguese studies helps to keep my learning in one place. So when we started today's lesson, I gifted a new notebook to my friend. Later, she sent me a photo of her son adding a drawing in it for her. It was so adorable. When the people around us (families, friends, neighbours) support our learning, we can go further and faster than when we could if working entirely on our own.
