Category Archives: Learning Portuguese

I purchased the Linkword course in European Portuguese around two months after I started to teach myself the language. Previously I had been trying to read a book that was obviously completely above my level and desperately trying to figure out things using Babelfish (doomed to failure)! I realised that I needed something that was going to help me learn the absolute basics.

I came across an article about Linkword when I was researching information on memory techniques. I knew that in deciding to learn a language, I was also going to have to improve my memory. I am generally useless at retaining information unless it really means something to me. Whilst I admire people that can for example recite every name and date in a period of history, I can’t say I want to be one of them. That said, I do remember someone once told me that Einstein said we invented the pen and paper so we don’t have to remember everything! I have no idea if that’s true or not but if it was good enough for Einstein it’s good enough for me!

I am a visual learner first, auditory second and tactile last. That means that I really need to see something, to visualise it for me to remember it. Being a musician I also have a very good ability to really listen to the nuances of language and tone and I have perfect recall of music.

Michael M. Gruneberg developed the Linkword system for learning a language in a early 1990′s. A self professed memory expert, he based his system on the similarity of the sounds of foreign words with English words and used visual images to trigger recall.

For example, the Portuguese word for cat is ‘gato’ which sounds like ‘gatoo’. He asks you to imagine a cat eating a gateau as this creates a visual association that can be used to

remember the word. Personally I find this an extremely useful technique and notice that the sillier the image (or the naughtier!) the more inclined you are to remember it. On that basis I decided to buy the course.

I bought the full set of three cd’s. I did ask at the time if they planned to offer a forth as they do in French, to which they said yes. To date this has not manifested. As I worked my way through the first cd I realised that I was indeed learning very quickly. I did find that sometimes I would ignore the given visual cue and make up my own. Don’t be afraid of playing with the method. If the word suggests something different to you than the image used then go with that. Don’t force yourself to try and use an image that doesn’t really make sense to you. Not every word in Portuguese leads to a clear cut image as ‘gato’ and this is precisely why the system is sometimes criticised.

Another criticism is that it seems as though you are having to learn more than is necessary by having to learn both a word and an image to go with it. I can’t say I ever felt this was an issue however.

The interface of the software is rather old fashioned and basic. A constant irritation is not having a ‘back’ button so you cannot return to the previous page. Perhaps this is because Linkword want us to remember the points made but I think it would be better to make the system more user friendly. The sound files are very good and clear however.

Each cd is broken down into around 10 sections. Each section tends to comprise of vocabularly to learn with suggested images to use, a test on the vocab learned, sentences in English to translate into Portuguese, sentences in Portuguese to translate into English and then pages that give you short introductions to the various aspects of grammar – tenses, plurals, masculine and feminine, verb conjugations and so on.

Whilst I think it is useful initially that they deliberately don’t use the technical terminology to discuss grammar, I do think that later on they could have introduced this to create a launch pad for further learning.

I shot through the first cd at the speed of light. I was excited to be learning so much. However I did notice the odd spelling mistake which I found rather irritating. Whilst the course is cheaper than say Rosetta Stone, it is still a healthy £47.96 (current) and generally I expect material to be proof-read. Unfortunately when I moved onto level 2 of the course this became much worse. Due to the mistakes I found myself feeling unsure of what I was learning and put the course to one side.

A year and a half later I decided to go back to it. Having attended Portuguese classes at night school and generally learned a lot more, I felt that I would be more able to cope with the mistakes I had found. After spending money of the course I did at least want to complete it. I started right back at the beginning and this time wrote down everything (unfortunately you cannot copy and paste which is again annoying!).

I made a note each time there was a mistake in the software. By mistake I mean spelling error in English or Portuguese, translation errors and errors like introducing a word in a sentence when there has been no reference to it before and expecting you to know the answer.

Whilst I am quite happy to go and look in my dictionary, the course generally follows a basic pattern of – ‘learn this vocabulary, now use this vocabulary in a sentence’. Usually whenever the answer is different to what you thought it would be based on the previous lesson, they will explain in a note why. When this doesn’t happen it is simply confusing.

I have just been over my notes and stopped counting at 50 mistakes over the three cd’s! Personally I think this is very unsatisfactory. It is also a shame because the the idea is actually very good and I can honestly say I have learned a lot by using this course. There are over a 1000 words (including sound files) which makes for a good core vocabulary.

Mistakes such as those I found are just unacceptable. The second cd is the worst offender and by the end of it I felt that they simply hadn’t bothered to proof read it. Thankfully cd three isn’t quite so bad and does cover a lot of material.

I’m not usually the type of person to write letters of complaint. I’d far rather write and tell someone I enjoyed their service than moan when I don’t. However I am passionate about Portuguese and also about adult learning. To that end I have decided I will be forwarding my proof-reading to Linkword to see what they have to say about it. If I receive an answer I will post it here.

Certainly Linkword have some work to do on this course and generally improvements could be made. For example adding a back butten and having test sentences available as audio files . At the beginning I didn’t know how to pronounce ‘os’ and ‘a’ and it would have been simpler to have audio for everything that is spoken of in the course.

It’s hard to recommend Linkword because of all the mistakes and yet I really want to because I think many people would benefit from the learning technique. It is also extremely useful to have access to so many native speaker sound files. For example I have copied all the audio files onto my computer and am now painstakingly arranging them into word groups such as ‘parts of the  body’, ‘colours’ etc. I may also use them for creating flashcards with sound.

Linkword does cover a lot of topics in a short space of time and of course you can go over the course and see how far you’ve come. You cover the past, present and future tense, how certain words are used in different meanings (such as para for example), pronouns and prepositions and much more.

I hesitantly recommend it to those of you who have had or have access to other learning resources, so that you can also be aware of the mistakes and not be thrown by them.

Quite frankly though, I feel annoyed that someone didn’t take the time to go through the cd’s and make sure they were ready for use. Somebody somewhere didn’t care enough and I find that rather sad.

For more information and an online demo of how the course works click here.

Azulejo by Jumento on Flickr

Things like this catch my eye and I thought it would be in keeping with the learn Portuguese section of the site to post more information regarding the art and science of learning a language.

My degree was in English and part of that course was devoted to linguistics. Perhaps it was simply because I loved to read that I had a natural inclination towards understanding the nuts and bolts of language.  Also I am powerfully motivated to communicate – through music and song and through words (and my friends will tell you through simply talking too!). Therefore when news such as the following arises it fascinates me.

18 year old Matej Kus was knocked unconscious for 45 minutes after a motorbike accident in the Czech Republic. When he awakened he spoke perfect English, including having a perfect English accent! Apparently he had been learning English prior to the accident but his knowledge and ability had been basic at best. For two days he spoke in English before returning to his native tongue with no memory of those two days.

The full story is here

It’s a fascinating phenomenon. Luckily Martej has recovered and is now back to studying English but it suggests that his mind had already absorbed a vast amount of information whilst he studied English. Perhaps he had a natural photo reading ability yet had not developed the techniques of recall.

I’ve often wondered whether every word I have ever seen – indeed, everything I have ever seen has been stored away in my memory. Just because I can’t remember it, doesn’t mean to say it isn’t there. I’m sure we’ve all had that experience when a nugget of information suddenly floats from apparently nowhere.

I know for example I’ve dreamed in Portuguese, Spanish, Hindi and Irish. I did beginners courses in Spanish and Irish many years ago but I don’t know a single word of Hindi – yet perhaps some part of my mind does. In my Portuguese dreams, sometimes it is very literal and I am going through words and phrases I know. At other times I am completely fluent and I am no doubt that I know this language completely. Maybe it’s this that motivates me with my studies. Often I feel as though I am looking for a way to remember rather than a way to learn.

I can remember many years ago being at a friends 21st birthday party. We had all had rather too much alcohol and my friend was making it a night to remember. He proceeded to talk in French to me for several hours. He was certainly better than my almost non-existant French  but not as fluent in a less inebriated state. What’s more, the flow of alcohol did seem to unlock what little I had learned in French, which turned out to be more than I have ever since recalled!

I noticed a discussion board comment recently where the writer told of how they had suddenly started speaking their target language fluently after many years of struggling. The trick was they were in the middle of a very heated argument with a native speaker! It seem the heat of the moment, the emotional overload caused the brain to trip out the blocks to recall. The writer found that they were fluently arguing without any hesitation and they have since found they can speak easily.

There are many mysteries to be answered regarding language aquisition and learning a second language and I hope to explore further some of these ideas here.

I find that having a good variety of techniques for learning a language keeps my interest and motivation high. It also keeps my mind on the ball and I can build up a portfolio of methods that work well for me.

I’d heard about flashcards but had never used them for anything in the past. Once I started learning Portuguese however, I was curious to investigate their effectiveness. I had randomly seen a news item on the television about using flashcards with young children to teach them French and thought it might be something useful to know about.

Flashcards are a way of testing yourself. At its most basic it can be a piece of card with a word written in English on one side and its corresponding Portuguese word on the other side. You look at the English word, say the answer out loud, flip the card over and check whether you got the answer right or wrong. If you get it right you put the card to your right, if you get it wrong you put the card to your left (or wherever you want to put them!). If you have a hundred words to learn you will soon build up a simple picture of the words you do know and the words you don’t just by looking at the piles.

Some people carry little packs of flashcards when they are studying and use spare moments to flip through the pack – useful when you’re waiting for a bus. However, with technology, the use of flashcards has taken another turn and can have many bells and whistles added to aid your learning. As a bit of a tech girl I like to find digital alternatives so set out to do some exploring.

At first I tried a couple of free software downloads where you can create your own flashcards but often they were missing certain aspects that I wanted or seemed unduly fiddly to use. Eventually after a lot of searching I discovered Flashcard Exchange.

Now I’d been the first to say that this site doesn’t look hugely attractive but it is very functional and easy to navigate – sometimes you just need something that does exactly what it says on the tin! The site is dedicated to the use of flashcards for all different subjects, not just Portuguese.

You will need to register to use the site and you can set up a free account. I had this for quite a while before I upgraded. The reason I wanted to upgrade is I wanted to use the Leitner System (explained below) and felt it was worth the one time fee of $19.95. And before you ask, no this site does not offer an affiliate scheme so I’m telling you that the money is worth paying because it is, not because I’m trying to make a fast buck out of you

So, back to the free account for a moment. With that you can set up your own flashcard sets or use those created by others. There are literally hundreds of sets of cards that have been created for Portuguese learners. Make sure you check whether they are Brazilian or European and also whether or not they are correct!

When you click on a set there are several different ways to work with it. You can view the list of cards to get a feel for it first. You can study in sequence or randomly (which is better) and you can choose whether to see the Portuguese or English side first. The site times how long you take to answer all the questions and shows you this at the end along with how many you got right. I find this very useful as it shows me not only how many I am getting right but also how quickly I am getting the answer. It is good to practice thinking quickly in your target language. That said, I would concentrate first on getting the answers correct first and then building up on speed.

Another nice little feature is playing ‘Memory’ instead of doing the normal flashcard session. I used to play this as a child using two packs of playing cards. I’d lay them all out in rows after shuffling all of them then start by turning a card. I’d then flip another card and see if it was a pair (both of the Ace of Spades from each pack for example). If it was a pair I removed the cards. If not, both cards were turned face down again in their place and I’d start again flipping another two cards in an attempt to find a pair. After a while you start to remember where cards are so you can pair them up. This is why it’s called memory. I’ve found this a really great way of learning a language and use this function quite a bit at the exchange.

Card sets can be printed out or downloaded and you can build up a list of your favourites.I mentioned above that I had paid for the pro version of Flashcard Exchange in order to use the Leitner system. This system was developed in the 1970′s and is a more methodical way of working with flashcards. Studies have shown that in order to remember something properly it needs to move from our short term memory to our long time memory – and we need to be able to access it on demand from our long term memory! I find that my short term memory is pretty good but long term is awful. I can go to a movie and thoroughly enjoy it but a few days later I would be hard pushed to tell you what any of the characters were called! The Leitner system is extremely useful for strengthening your memory muscles.

Originally Leitner (the psychologist behind the system) had 5 boxes and a set of flashcards. The set of flashcards were in box one. He’d go through the set trying to answer correctly. If he got a card correct it went into box two. If he got a card wrong it stayed in box one. He’d then take the cards he got correct from box two and try and get them all into box three. When he got a card wrong it always went back into box one. The idea was to repeat this process until all cards are in box 5.

A successful completion is when you have all your set of cards in box 5. Once you have done this, it’s time to start working on your memory further.

A few days after successfully completing one round, it is time to test whether or not these words have really stuck. You put your cards back into box one and repeat the process up to box 5 again. Once you have completed this, you leave it perhaps four or five days and repeat. Then you leave it a week and repeat, then two weeks and repeat, then a month and so on until the cards you are learning are fully in your long term memory and easily retrievable.

Using the Leitner system on Flashcard exchange is great because it sends you an email reminder of when you need to do your next round. I’ve found it to be excellent for testing my learning and it really does improve my memory.

I’ll add a last couple of tips. You can choose how many boxes you want in each of your card sets. It started off using 10 boxes but it seemed to make the process very slow. Five boxes is enough. The next thing is to have a manageable amount of cards in a set. I think 20-30 is plenty although I do have one which is the 100 most used words in Portuguese. I like having them altogether but it does make for a very long session when I’m studying them!

Unfortunately sound files cannot be added to the flashcards although you can download files as PDF’s and get your adobe reader to read them to you if that appeals. Whilst this is a feature which I think would be helpful for those of us learning languages, the site doesn’t suffer too much from not having this resource. It’s still great for learning vocabulary.

The site is designed and run by Culley Harrelson who maintains everything. I think he has provided one of the simplest and best learning resources on the web.

Here’s the link again Flashcard Exchange

Azulejos by lealedu on Flickr