I have a selfish motivation for wanting to teach the course, I must admit. Portuguese is one of the world languages I have fallen in love with. Brazilians say that Portuguese is the language of the angels (a língua dos anjos). I can well imagine those kind, winged creatures speaking it.
The sounds of Portuguese are soft and gentle, and the grammar is not formidable. A certain playfulness exists in the language. What could be more satisfying than sharing a language I enjoy with others?
But immediately the practicality of planning a nine hour course raised its ugly head. "So much to learn, so little time," my T-shirt should read. I turned to the Internet for Portuguese materials. It seems that authors of Portuguese language books are also cockeyed optimists! Learn Portuguese in 7 days, promises one book. Portuguese in 10 minutes a day, proclaims another.
As much as we would like to think that we can learn another language in a short time, most people do not have that experience. And the definition of "learn" is murky. Are we talking about meeting and greeting someone, solving the problem of lost luggage, or translating at the United Nations? So many levels of language ability exist (and in various modalities - speaking, listening, reading, writing) that "learn" can mean almost anything we want it to.
So, what do I think participants in my Portuguese course can learn in their nine hours, which are equivalent to about three weeks of a college language course? The first three classes (4.5 hours) could be spent becoming acquainted with the sounds of Portuguese.
Participants would be in a"Silent Period" in which they would listen to spoken Portuguese but not be required to speak it. My task would be to speak to them in clear, comprehensible Portuguese and make sure they could understand the message. (Careful planning and orchestration needed here!)
Plans for the rest of the course would include Day 4, saying hello and goodbye; Day 5, talking about oneself; and Day 6, describing other people and things.
And that would be it! Our time would be up! As our goodbyes are being said, we can talk about what the next steps in Portuguese could be. For book lovers, I will recommend The Everything Essential Brazilian Portuguese Book: All you need to learn Brazilian Portuguese in no time by Fernanda Ferreira. I do wonder how long "no time" is, though.
For techies, I will recommend signing up to the free web-based program, Duolingo, which makes language learning a truly fun game.
Can you learn a new language in nine hours? Not really. But you may just start a hobby that will bring countless hours of enjoyment for a lifetime.
As much as we would like to think that we can learn another language in a short time, most people do not have that experience. And the definition of "learn" is murky. Are we talking about meeting and greeting someone, solving the problem of lost luggage, or translating at the United Nations? So many levels of language ability exist (and in various modalities - speaking, listening, reading, writing) that "learn" can mean almost anything we want it to.
So, what do I think participants in my Portuguese course can learn in their nine hours, which are equivalent to about three weeks of a college language course? The first three classes (4.5 hours) could be spent becoming acquainted with the sounds of Portuguese.
Plans for the rest of the course would include Day 4, saying hello and goodbye; Day 5, talking about oneself; and Day 6, describing other people and things.
And that would be it! Our time would be up! As our goodbyes are being said, we can talk about what the next steps in Portuguese could be. For book lovers, I will recommend The Everything Essential Brazilian Portuguese Book: All you need to learn Brazilian Portuguese in no time by Fernanda Ferreira. I do wonder how long "no time" is, though.
For techies, I will recommend signing up to the free web-based program, Duolingo, which makes language learning a truly fun game.
Can you learn a new language in nine hours? Not really. But you may just start a hobby that will bring countless hours of enjoyment for a lifetime.
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