Answer Question
The Struggle
I guess I am not alone in this. I worked really xxxx Level I and did great. I repeated sessions, made A's and B's across the board, then Spring came and I got a little lazy and distracted by all my other pursuits. When I started Level II, I almost panicked, but continued, went about five sessions, then decided to go back and start Level II again. I am glad I did. I am doing better now, but it is a struggle as it becomes more difficult. I listen to Brazilian music, use the flashcards, and still have some trouble with pra, pro, de, no, etc. and forget sometimes the conjugations and rules for ser and estar, but I just keep going. Sometimes the most difficult for me is understanding the language when spoken - I have to keep repeating and sometimes even then I have to allow the software to provide the answer. When it does, I often wonder why it was not easy to hear some particular word in the first place. I currently do not have a personal teacher or mentor, but there are some native speakers in a nearby city that I am sure will be willing to help me. I thought I would wait until I finish Level II and then seek some personal help in addition to using the course. I keep trying to understand the written language when I see it in comments and song lyrics on YouTube or in Google news when I change the language to Portuguese, but most of the time I realize I don't yet have the vocabulary to understand exactly what is being written. I guess it is normal to be able to read the new language better than understand it in song and spoken verse, but I am sure my skills will increase when I get a tutor/friend who can help me. I have used some of the YouTube sites for children for counting, colors, shapes, and some of the more adult sites for commonly used words and phrases, but I am not consistent in accessing these additional resources. I have forgotten how many days I have had the course, but I think it is close to 300. The entire process has also involved studying Brazil online and learning tons of stuff about the various cities, demographics, standard of living, weather, geography, etc. I am also into Bossa Nova and playing saxophone, guitar, flute, and piano, so of course music will be my main pursuit when I go to live in Brazil for a time. Anyway, I thought I would just post something for the first time. I am still very happy with the course and am in love with A Ana. hahaha!