Nobody asked me, but … (#2)
It occurs to me that some people are movie-goers, and some are not. The difference, it seems, is that the former group decides to go to the movies, and then looks at the listings to decide which movie to see. The latter group only visits the theater if there is a particular film that they wish to see. I am part of the latter group, which means I don’t go often. One of the movies I have not seen is called, “The Bucket List.” But I’m going to talk about it anyway.
The concept of the movie is that people have their own lists of things to do before they die - before they “kick the bucket,” the phrase on which the movie title is based. I’m not going to share my Bucket List with you. In fact, I can’t say that I have one. But one of the things that, for a long time, I said I was going to do “some day” was to learn a second language.
The three years of Russian that I took in junior high and high school don’t count. I remember only about a dozen words (yes, no, hello, goodbye, thank you, the numbers one through four, house, horse, library - really useful stuff). I can basically still read it, but knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet only means I can make the sounds, not understand anything.
Some may know that I’ve been very involved with exchange students for many years, and watching these teenagers become fluent in their second (or third or fourth) language can be somewhat awe-inspiring. About a year ago, I decided it was time to do that myself, and so I took on the goal of learning Portuguese.
Why Portuguese? Because I’ve been to Brazil five times in the past four years, I know many exchange students from there, including one we hosted in our home, and I have friends throughout that country. It’s similar to Spanish, to the extent that most Brazilians can understand Spanish quite well, although the reverse is not so true. So I figured it would sort of give me two languages for the price of one. (Actually, it’s apparently even more similar to Italian, so there’s three.)
I decided to try an audio course, one produced by Pimsleur. I’m a little familiar with Rosetta Stone software, but the Pimsleur approach seemed better for me. So I ordered their introductory $20 package, which included the first 8 lessons. It was fun, and I thought I was learning something, so I ordered the full Course 1, 30 half-hour lessons on 16 CDs. Trips in the car became Portuguese lessons. Well, solo trips in the car did anyway, because my wife wasn’t quite as enthusiastic about this effort as I was.
I finished Course 1, and wanted more. So I bought Course 2. Another 30 lessons. Time for Course 3. I had finished about 25 of those when I flew to Brazil last November. I was far from fluent, but I could say a lot of what I might want to say. Understanding someone else was more of a challenge, because (a) people speak quickly in their native languages, and (b) I couldn’t require them to use only the words I had already learned. Nonetheless, I found myself in a couple of situations with non-English speakers, and it was a real thrill to be able to communicate with them in a second language. I also began my presentation at the conference I was attending in Portuguese, which my friends in the audience really appreciated. But I switched to English quickly.
A short time after returning, I reached the end of Pimsleur’s Portuguese 3, and that’s as far as those products go. But I wanted more. I want to be able to truly communicate in a second language. So I found someone here in Jacksonville, a Brazilian who moved here a year or two ago, and who had been an English teacher in Brazil. I’m now working with her. It’s hard making progress, with lessons only once a week, but I’m going to keep at it.
My next trip to Brazil will be in October. I know I’ll have to rely on English for most of my time there, but I’m hoping to communicate in Portuguese better than before. And at some point, if the English-only rules of our APPX Blog can be relaxed, you might find me writing a post entitled, “Ninguém me perguntou, mas…”
April 16th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
So do you recommend Pimsleur audio courses over Rosetta Stone? I have been tinkering with the idea of learning Spanish to better communicate with some friends and family but don’t have much time. I have the advantage of three years of high school Spanish, but that was so long ago I have forgotten most of it.
April 16th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
For me, Pimsleur seemed to work better. Rosetta Stone seemed more like a game, but a lot of people prefer their approach. I guess it depends on personal preference, and whether you want to do this while you’re at your desk or behind the wheel (assuming that you don’t hook up your laptop while you’re driving).