Thus far, the process to the SDLC 110 Portuguese course has begun slightly slow due to materials missing and language partner communication. I am currently waiting on the Ultimate Portuguese book to arrive, and while I do, I have been reading over the materials that Dixon has posted on BlackBoard for his own Portuguese for Spanish Speakers course. He has included grammar on the verb gostar (de) and regular verbs. I took Dixon’s Luso-Brazilian studies course, and took the C-LAC component in order to apply it to my minor. I thought the language was quite pretty to listen to, and Nadiya and Dixon were very enthusiastic, so I wanted to continue to study it. I have gotten in contact with Gabi, and we have agreed to meet on Mondays in order to work together, however she was unable to meet this past Monday, so we are working together a little longer this week in order to make up for missed time. I meet with Dixon on Fridays.
In terms of what I want to gain from this SDLC, I thought about maybe learning medical terminology, however, since the odds of me treating Portuguese-speaking patients is probably low, I do not want to make it my focus. I think I may want to learn some of the vocab on the side, because it could be quite interesting. I also remember Dr. Soloway talking about a past student who focused on the accent differences between Spanish and Portuguese, and while that does need to be addressed, I think through speaking it with Dixon and Gabi, I can improve it. I think my goal is to be able to basically converse. I have down Spanish fairly well, and am somewhat able to comprehend readings in Portuguese, because there are some similarities. I think my main focus is to speak. I have learned that I struggle with trying to perfect what I want to say before saying anything in Spanish, so I want to make that a main goal for me. I want to be able to practice speaking it. Yes, I would like to learn to read and write, but one of the first things that caught my eye was how it sounded, and it is so alluring to me. I want to be able to have a basic conversation and if I were to travel to a Portuguese-speaking country, I want to be able to say more than just a few basic questions.
I have decided to use the timeline from the Ultimate Portuguese book, and hopefully create a more written out, detailed syllabus-like timeline with supplements that Dr. Soloway has provided. I also want to be able to incorporate songs into my learning, because it is something I do every day. I have already found a few Portuguese artists whose music I enjoy, so I think being able to at least hear it on a daily basis will help to improve my comprehension. While I may not be speaking, I will still be listening the language and the accent.
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