My language learning thus far has been wonderful and I am grateful for the opportunity to further build on my Portuguese knowledge before I head out to Brazil for my study abroad experience. The task I worked on for this cycle of the class was my final podcast/interview for the course. It was great to look back at all the work and topics that my language partner and I covered since the beginning of the course. I also found it quite useful to see everything that we covered because it served as a refresher for the Podcast/Interview that I had with my language partner. We were actually able to record the entirety of the podcast using only Portuguese, which I think shows how much more comfortable I am in holding conversations now compared to when I first started the course. More specifically, I was able to talk about my experience in self-learning Portuguese as well as discuss several academic and cultural topics like the history of carnival in Brazil.
Throughout the podcast my language partner really wanted me to reflect on my language journey since the beginning, explaining how it is that I first started learning and got interested in Portuguese up until the recording of the interview that we made. In addition, I was asked to build on the concepts and perceptions that I had about Brazil based on all of the topics we covered during our sessions. For example, I had to talk about three words that I would use to describe Brazil, my favorite Brazilian holiday tradition and the biggest cultural difference compared to the United States. My language partner decided to create a script and set of questions that I would be asked during the podcast, but going into the recording session I had no clue what I was going to be asked. My language partner and I decided on this strategy so I could answer the questions in the most natural way possible, although this method definitely led to some less detailed responses than I would like. I still think it was effective because I had to dig deep into my Portuguese vocabulary on the spot in order to talk about culture and history in Brazil. Although being able to have some background knowledge beforehand would have allowed me to give more comprehensive and exhaustive answers.
This was definitely a successful experience and honestly a learning strategy that I hope I get to use more in the future. Being able to sit down and have a one-on-one conversation with someone about things that have been learned, and read about is much different than having a regular day to day conversation with that same person. For the creation of my final cultural presentation, I am going to use the audio from this interview as an additional resource when choosing the cultural topic that I want to explore. The podcast will also serve as a reminder that I am indeed capable of having an in-depth conversation with a Brazilian and in the future, I hope I can integrate more one on one audios or recordings in general when I am reflecting on my learning experiences.
Comments
Hi Marco! I enjoyed reading about your language learning experience with Portuguese. I thought the method you and your language partner used for the podcast was really interesting because it really showed how much you learned in the language, even if it was less detailed and comprehensive. I also agree that having a one on one conversation about the things you learned is different than having a regular conversation with the person! I hope you enjoy your time abroad in Brazil!