Ola´
!
I decided to take the plunge and got the Deluxe version I love the spoken Portuguese on it. It is very clear and a great help in learning the correct pronunciation of words, especially where these are conjugated in a sentence. It was actually a bit cheaper as well. Fifty seven odd dollars rather than 50 squids. Did you mean borboleta (butterfly) by the way?

Best wishes,
Beardie

Ola , you are right it is borboleta ( and I thought I would never forget ). I have had a bit of an epiphany. Suddenly when I listen to Portuguese TV ( on you tube ) words have started to jump out at me and I am starting to get the drift. I cannot see myself ever having deep philosophical discussions in Portuguese but they can understand me ( and my basics). The problem is a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. In a restaurant I said to the waiter " otimo " and he brought me a can of orange?

Carol I am coming over for all of May and will get more practice in then

Ola´!
I think you simply frightened that poor waiter into trying to be helpful!
I listen to Portuguese radio (Tondela and Viseu) and find it very difficult to follow the thread of the conversation. But I am going to keep at it!
Best wishes,
BEardie

I took levels A1/A2 that the University here (universidade nova de Lisboa). But I work at the science faculty which is on the south of the Tejo. The Humanities faculty (where the language course is) is located North of the river in the city centre. The rush-hour traffic is horrendous - so I ended up leaving a good 2 hours in advance just to get there on time! They charged 200 Euros for thw entire course (and its 400 Euros for non-University staff). I only got 14 out of 20 in the exam. And my spoken Portuguese was not up to scratch.

But I found a school near the science faculty that offered language classes. Best of all, the classes were free! I'm not sure why. The course is mainly designed for foreigners who need the language to look for work and fill in application forms etc. But they don't mind when overseas students and overseas university staff show up. So I did the beginners course again (equivalent to Level A1/A2). I did their exam and got 18 out of 20 this time However, the school does not issue certificates - so I only the marked exam paper to show for my efforts.

Since Sept 2010 I have been attending the equivalent of level B1/B2 - which has been a harder graft. However, due to the small size of the class (just 4), they have decided to cancel the classes - last Thursday was my final class.

So....I'm stuck at the moment. I prefer a structured environment - I'm just not disciplined enough to follow the teach-yourself approach. Friends and colleagues say "but you're married to a Portuguese - why don't you practice with her ?" Alas, if only it was that simple!!

I understand, my first husband once tried to teach me to drive and stormed out of the car leaving me at a busy junction..... Carol

LOL! Yep, I'm sure you can relate it. I do practice spoken Portuguese with her - and its fine. But whenever we have tried to sit down properly at the desk, with books open, its not long before she gets frustrated with my....erm....uselessness! Native Portuguese speakers INSIST on correct pronunciation. I personally feel that close enough is good enough - especially for general chit chat. In the UK, there are so many regional accents, that the same word can be pronounced a dozen different ways. But this doesn't wash with the Mrs - or Portuguese language teachers. So I often find myself repeating a word 10 times when its quite obvious what I am trying to say! Take for example the word especialmente. In the context I might use it, there can be very little confusion with any other word. But no matter how slowy I say it, its never right: It has to be "ess-pay-ciaal-mennteh." This is splitting hairs a bit. And I often find entire lessons lost on just pronunciation issues, when all I want to do is to be able to explain to the garage mechanic that the exhuast pipe on my car needs fixing! I bet he wouldn't be too bothered with my pronunciation! But teachers can be quite pedantic.

I understand about the pronunciation. Here in England we are used to every foreign accent under the sun and we have developed the ability to understand a level of broken English. Near us in Portugal there are no other non-portuguese and unless you talk with an authentic accent they cannot pick up on it no matter how accurate your grammar is. Carol

Ola´ah207!

Well done on your A1-A2 exam score. I still havenºt memorised where all the keys are everytime I switch keyboards. I find I can write Portuguese quite quickly. However as you say, you have to divorce what you write from how you have heard being said which is the tricky part. Shame about your B1-B2 course gettign cancelled.

About English regional accents, I have never been a fan. I think we should all speak the Queenºs English even though I am in no way a Royalist .

Would you mind if I wrote you a private message? I'd like to ask you the feasibilty of an idea I have.
Best wishes,
BEardie