Success Story: My Personal Roadmap to Learning Portuguese

Learning a new language can be intimidating and challenging. However, in the long run, every minute you spend trying to acquire a new language skill will be worth it. In this article, I will share my experience with you on how I learned Portuguese, and maybe that will also help you to learn any language you want. But before I do that, let’s look at some stages of the language of acquisition. There are three stages in language acquisition. One stage depends on the other for success. None can function independently.

Stages of mastering Portuguese

Absorption

The first stage is absorption. This is when your brain takes in information so that your mouth will be able to speak later on. In this stage, do not bother so much to start speaking. This stage can last for three months, depending on how often you are exposed to the language.

Recognition

The second stage is recognition. In this stage, your brain must have absorbed a lot of information and will start recognizing the words whenever it comes across them. This stage will also last for three months, depending on how often you study.

Output

The last stage is output. This is when you will start producing what your brain has stored. The brain has stored information and keeps processing it. It is about to garbage out. Your brain will get frustrated, and you may want to give up. Don’t force yourself to speak when it is not yet time.  Everything in life has its rule and must be followed; otherwise, you won’t achieve success.

I will liken the language learning process to the process of giving birth to a child. When a woman is pregnant at the beginning, you will not notice her pregnancy. In some women, the pregnancy will start manifesting within three months. A three-month pregnant woman wouldn’t be expected to deliver a baby. If she tries to do that, she will meet disaster. The woman will continue to feed her baby and take necessary precautions, go for her antenatal visits, and take her medications. In due time, she will deliver her baby successfully.

Try to remember this illustration of a pregnant woman anytime you want to give up learning a new language.

My experience learning Portuguese

I started my Portuguese lesson in 2014. I spent 8 months without being able to speak. I could recognize the meanings of words wherever I saw them but couldn’t speak them out. My supervisor was so frustrated with me because I needed to speak Portuguese before moving to the next stage in my career. She came to the school where I was studying (WIZARD) and complained to my teacher why I couldn’t speak after having been studying for 8 months. My teacher told her it was not yet time. When the time comes, she will speak spontaneously. I can tell you, actually, when that time came, I didn’t make any effort to speak, but the words came out fluently without stress. I speak Portuguese so fluently, like a native speaker. Whenever my supervisor sees me now, it amazes her.  I am now learning other languages because I have understood the rules of learning a language. I can learn any language I wish in the world. It doesn’t matter how difficult it is.

I want to encourage you to stay focused and never give up on learning. In the next article, I will share some practical tips to help train the muscles in your mouth. Stay tuned don’t go away.