Background

April – 2015 was the first month in a while where my monthly challenge was a certifiable failure. Despite starting out strong, I eventually missed a few days before finally giving up completely. Much of this had to do with focusing too much on work instead of on me. Therefore, Jen decided to bring things a little more back to basic by challenging me to do something I historically enjoy doing… learning languages. Thus, my challenge for the month of May 2015 was to study Brazilian Portuguese 30 minutes a day.

What did I do?

I was very into this challenge at the beginning. I had recently been to Brazil and was really interested in the language. My goal was 30 minutes a day. Some days I would study more, others perhaps a little less. I spent much of my time getting exposure to the language in the following ways:

• I would use a website called lingq.com to read and listen to a number of dialogues created by Brazilians. I would put a 30 minute time on and study until my 30 minutes were up.
• I discovered that there is a Brazilian TV channel on my television. I would put it on in the morning while getting ready for work and sometimes in the evenings before going to bed.
• I would watch videos on YouTube, especially ones which had authentic dialogue + subtitles in Portuguese.
• I studied from a course I had never used before called Living Language.

Successful?

Kinda!? During the middle of the challenge I had to make a 3 day trip and in the time I did not study at all. Otherwise, I more or less fulfilled the requirements of the challenge. I did feel like my comprehension, both written and auditory, of the language increased much in the month, but my speaking was still weak as I did not spend much time working on this skill.

What’s Next?

June is now almost half over and sadly I have not studied Portuguese a single day since finishing the challenge. I’m just too busy with work and I have another challenge to keep me occupied. Fortunately, my June – 2015 challenge is going very well so far!