COMMUNITY
Olá Como estás? TIME TO PRACTISE YOUR PORTUGUESE?
Rui, Joel and Molly working in the stuido
BY LENA STRANG
Fala Português? Do you speak Portuguese? For many of us from the foreign community living in Portugal, this is a question often asked. No doubt, there are many who have attempted to learn vocabulary in order to ask for a coffee or exchange some pleasantries with neighbours. It can be rather disheartening to be met with an uncomprehending look or a torrent of words that makes little sense! Some give up at the first hurdle, finding the language challenging and resort to communicating in English. While you can easily manage in English, especially in the Algarve, life can be enormously enriched with a passable knowledge of Portuguese. Having attended numerous courses, waded through language CDs and subscribed to various internet sites, the lack of useful European Portuguese resources was always an issue. However, a couple of years ago I came across a website called Practice Portuguese that featured a number of videos and podcasts –for free. I was smitten. I spent the next few days watching every single video and listened to all the podcasts. Up until then I had never thought learning Portuguese could be so entertaining and rewarding! I knew that the two project managers, Joel Rendall and Rui Coimbra were working hard to expand and improve their site but wanted to find out what makes its appeal so special and what goes on behind the scenes. Today it is a fully fledged learning platform with a Learning Studio housing a host of materials at beginner, medium and advanced level, recently launched ‘Shorties’ podcasts, longer videos and animations, extensive learning notes and a forum where members can interact. Listening to podcasts and videos is free but I decided to pay the €12 monthly subscription and can access useful transcriptions in both Portuguese and English, as well as additional exercises and quizzes to support learning. To judge by all the positive reviews received, they have obviously hit on a successful formula.
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And how did it all come about? A chance meeting it seems. 32-year-old Canadian born Joel, trained in Jazz and Contemporary music, spent some years performing on cruise ships, travelling the Americas and the Mediterranean. During a break in Lisbon, a colleague introduced him to Rui. Their relationship blossomed to the extent that Joel decided to relocate to Lisbon when his contract came to an end. “I was drawn to the idea of settling down in a wonderful country like Portugal,” he explains, “but even with the high level of English of the native population, I knew I would be limiting myself greatly and setting myself up for a lot of frustration by not making a serious effort to learn Portuguese.” Lisbon-born, 38-year-old Rui, a graduate in Biotechnology as well a flight steward for a number of years, did all he could to help his partner acquire necessary language skills. Joel attended some intensive language classes but noticed the lack of European Portuguese materials. “In the past I had learnt some Spanish using podcasts so after talking about this gap in the market, we both kind of stumbled on the idea of making a European Portuguese podcast. This was in 2012. Even if it weren’t perfect at first, it would be better than nothing,” Joel states. And so Practice Portuguese was born! Joel’s skills as a free-lance web designer came in handy as the project evolved. Knowing that they could offer a worthwhile service to language learners they were committed to putting in a consistent long-term effort. The launch of the Learning Studio after two years of development was a major turning point. They were able to go full-time and start to bring on a programmer, teachers, and content contributors behind-the-scenes while maintaining the characteristic familiar touch. Molly, an American, is involved with the work on a day-to-day basis. As she is studying European Portuguese she has become a barometer helping them to understand the needs of a learner.
"Even with the high level of English of the native population, I would be limiting myself by not making a serious effort to learn Portuguese”