Learning Journal 15: Summarize your work this semester, the progress you made and the difficulties you encountered.
Looking back through the Portuguese journal I keep throughout the semester, I have learned so many new words and phrases. I was also able to learn 5 different verb tenses. Overall, I learned a lot about Brazilian (and Portuguese) culture and the language in general. One of the main difficulties I encountered was pronunciation. Even now at the end of the semester, there are many sounds I struggle with (especially nasal sounds). Nonetheless, I have become more comfortable with Portuguese sounds and I like to think that even though my pronunciation is far from perfect people might be able to tell what I am trying to say. While studying there were many questions and topic that I would have liked to investigate more in depth but I did not have the time. In the future, I will like to continue exploring Portuguese in a more informal context. Rather than studying grammar, I would like to continue exposure through media (music and shows), which I hope allows me to continue learning or at least not lose everything I have learned.
Comments
Excellent post. Sounds like you favor the communicative competence model of Dell Hymes.