DuoLingo

Late last year, I bought the Harry Potter series in Spanish to refresh myself on a language that I had learned in K-12. There was a lot I remembered and much that I didn’t know but I just could not focus on it for whatever reason.

When COVID broke out in DC, and I began self isolating at home, I really committed to learning a second language again. On DuoLingo, the freemium app, I had not only looked at Spanish but Portuguese, Italian, Irish, and even Esperanto out of curiosity. Portuguese clicked.

Encouraged by a friend who speaks it, I have worked through Portuguese lessons and someone she knows from Belo Horizonte has been very kind to send a copy of Harry Potter e a Pedra Filosofal along with some short stories for me. She has even been introducing me to music and Brazilian TV shows like 3% for more exposure.

DuoLingo has been great. I’ve been practicing for just over two months now and have led competitions on the app consistently. It has been said that people can feel confident about Portuguese after half a year so I am a third of my way there if that is true. I’m thrilled with this progress.

Uma idioma nunca é suficiente. Você entende o que eu lhe digo? Vamos nos preparer para algum divertimento.