30 Days of Pimsleur (European Portuguese)

Hola amigos! Let’s continue on this lifelong language learning journey with one of my favorite tools - Pimsleur. Awhile back, I talked about my experience with Pimsleur's Spanish lessons. This time, I want to share with you my adventure with Pimsleur's European Portuguese lessons. Buckle up, we're in for a ride!

As you may know, I'm always eager to learn new languages to better connect with locals and fully immerse myself in different cultures. Since I have a trip planned to Europe, I thought it would be a great idea to learn some Portuguese. But here's the catch, there are only 30 lessons of European Portuguese compared to 150 lessons of Brazilian Portuguese (there are 30 more lessons but I only decided to complete Level 1)! I started with the 30 lessons of European Portuguese for now and MAYBE will try the Brazilian Portuguese lessons later when I get the chance to travel to South America.

For those who haven't heard of Pimsleur before, it's an audio-based language learning program that you can purchase through Pimsleur with the audiobooks or audio files. They also have an app, but I prefer to use it through Audible (this time) and purchase individual five lessons at a time. However, I wouldn't recommend using Audible anymore since they no longer sell the entire level at a time. Instead, they sell it five lessons at a time, which isn't ideal if you're using your two credits a month like me. After 10 lessons, you would have to wait 20 days to purchase the next 10 lessons. Because of that, I'm considering going the Pimsleur app route instead of continuing to purchase these lessons through Audible.

Now, let's talk about my experience with the European Portuguese lessons. I finished the 30 lessons in about 32 or 33 days, which is a huge accomplishment for me! The program consists of two main parts, speaking and reading practice. A native speaker says a phrase, which is not always translated, and then you're given time to repeat it. The phrases learned in earlier lessons will pop up in later lessons to make sure that you don't forget much. The reading practice is also great because it helps you recognize words on signs and other written materials. For example, in Portuguese, the "r" at the front of the word is actually an "h" sound.

But here's the thing, don't beat yourself up if you don't get everything right. I definitely didn't! Even after finishing the 30 lessons, I'm not perfect and I still make mistakes. But that's okay! Making an effort to learn a language is appreciated, and even if you make a few mistakes, it's all part of the learning process. I haven't been made fun of for attempting to speak a language that's not my native tongue, and even if I were, I'd take it with a grain of salt because I know that I put a lot of time and effort into it.

All that being said, I'm more of a visual learner, but these audio-based lessons still helped me a lot. However, if you want to learn more grammar and vocabulary, then you might want to try Duolingo. Within each Pimsleur lesson, the narrator advises only moving to the next lesson if you've successfully completed at least 80% of the current lesson. But there are times when the phrases are spoken way too quickly, or you weren't paying attention. In those cases, don't hesitate to go back and rewind that section over and over again. It's better to be honest with yourself and make sure you fully understand the material before moving on.

All in all, I highly recommend Pimsleur's European Portuguese lessons if you're looking to learn a new language in a fun and easy way.