I’m not suggesting you start a “Dear diary, today I…” kind of thing. No! The idea is for intermediate students, who usually feel stuck and don’t know how to proceed, make use of this amazing tool. But if you’re a beginner, don’t leave me just yet. This is how you can use it:

1. Use a physical notebook (although a digital version would work too)

2. It should be different to the tool you’re going to note down all the grammatical
rules, etc

3. It is the place you reserve for the exceptions (you should recognize the patterns of the language and move on; save space in your brain for what is truly necessary)

4. Write on the cover something in the lines of “Portuguese is easy, it will
bring me X, Y, Z”

5. On the first page, write how you will feel like when fluent

6. On the last page, list your current fears and struggles; hopefully you will laugh at them in a few months’ time

7. Split your journal into sections, e.g. gender, expressions, conjuntivo, [your name]’s mistakes…

8. Some ideas for content: you hear the expression “à toa” when it was bloody hot and you were waiting in line, wearing your rain jacket (don’t ask!) to get a pastel de Belém. Write down the expression, its literal meaning and equivalent in your language (if possible), and add all the references above. Impossible to forget the expression now, isn’t it?


If you have enjoyed this quick lesson and would like to learn more Portuguese outside of the box, then please contact Catarina from The Language Unschool - catarina@thelanguageunschool.com