Uma aula em que analiso as definições dados pelo dicionário Houaiss para a palavra 'Orçamento'. Pega um café, uma caneta e um caderno...


Aula sobre 'Orçamento' e afins....

Using commas with adverbial clauses; what are independent and dependent clauses?, positioning clauses and how this affects comma usage.


Commas (post 3) - adverbials

An analysis of Robert Frost's poem Fire and Ice.


Fire & Ice by Robert Frost

More information on how to use commas and when NOT to use them.


Commas (post 2) (video)

Some tips on how to use commas in English. I delve into Ellipsis and Coordination, too (just for the nerds though).


Commas (post 1 of 2 or 3) (video)

Learn the history and how we use & (ampersand), cedilla, and tilde (~).


More symbols - &, cedilla and tilde (~)  (video)

Learn the history or @ and # and how we use them today...


Symbols -    @    #  (video)

**Tip 6** (you made it!) for language learners, but the **BUT** remains … 

We have covered so much in this series of language tips:

**Tip 1:** Daily practice in context

**Tip 2:** Connections to other languages

**Tip 3:** Focusing on specific aspects of language (sound, in my case), and

**Tips 4** and **5**: Finding useful vocab building techniques

This last tip comes down to finding out about yourself. What is it you want to know about the language? What doubts do you really want to resolve? Read on to find out what you can do about this…

Once I got into university in Brazil, I was thrown into another universe of language: **writing**. I hadn’t really thought about the writing aspect of a new language before this as I would write, at most, a short e-mail or a post-it note. However, at college, I was expected to write essays and papers. On my first essay, I got a 10/10 for content and a 3/10 for language. I was so ashamed that I hired a private tutor and started having writing classes. 

The methodology the tutor used was brutal. It is known as ‘parroting’ in the methodological nomenclature. Literally, you copy the original so as to regurgitate it in a form that is as close as possible to how it was originally presented. This meant copying newspaper articles, word for word, three times before writing a fourth copy from memory. As I seethed in fury (the classes were expensive), I had to pay close attention to syntactical/grammar aspects to memorise them so my fourth copy (from memory) was as close as possible to the original. I then took the fatal step of asking my tutor ‘Why does the verb change like that in this sentence?’. She beamed as she lugged a massive grammar book onto the table and said: ‘You tell me. If you really want to know, I suggest you take a look at chapter 4, page 98”. 

And so began my journey to the depths of the grammar world. Had she begun to rattle off grammar rules, I would have switched off. I am not great at following rules. Who is? But investigating them because I wanted to answer my own doubts really helped me understand how language learning, especially something as boring as grammar, is possible. It all comes down to your own interest. If someone forces you to learn something, chances are you won’t. But should you investigate of your own accord, or in your own interest, chances are the learning will stick.   

**Tip number 6**: This tip is just as much for language teachers as it is for language learners. Investigate what interests you. Nagging doubts can be cleared by searching for the answer, whether in books, on the Internet or even just by asking someone. **BUT**, you will most likely need some help as to where to start. And, quite often, as learners, we don’t want to listen. 	

That’s fine, but we need to recognise that professionals – real professionals – usually know where to start. We should trust them to put us on the right path; however, dear teachers, just rattling off rules without some real guidance on where and how to investigate further is just a waste of hot air because, in the end, no one is really listening. Most of us only really listen when it comes from our inner heart, soul and mind. Learning, therefore, is more meaningful when it is hands on!

So here we are, at the end. I hope these tips helped you. Feel free to share any other personal learning tips you feel may be useful. We are all ears here at Literally...


Tip 6 (you made it!) for language learners, but the BUT remains (text)

So, you’ve managed to make it to **Tip 5**. Congratulations on your perseverance! You

Trial and error is an approach you can use with varying levels of success. By having fun with it, I managed to boost my language knowledge, my confidence, as well as a sense of comfort using and playing with the new language. 

While talking with friends in a bar, I heard the word ‘burrice’ (stupidity/stupidness). It was new to me, but I knew the word ‘burro’ (stupid/donkey/jackass). I inquired about this category. They then introduced me to other nouns like this, including ‘mesmice’ (sameness) from ‘mesmo’ (same) and a myriad of other words ending in ‘ice’: ‘tolice’ (silliness), ‘velhice’ (old age, later life) and the ever-colourful ‘filho-da-putice’ (son-of-a-bitchness). This opened my eye to the idea of generalised rules. That is, aspects of word formation (it applies to grammar, too) that can be applied to other words. This generalisation of suffix and prefix use allowed me to experiment with words that I already knew to, once again, expand my vocabulary. 

**Tip number 5:** applying rules to words to experiment can help you expand your vocabulary, **BUT** you can and will make lots of mistakes, which can be embarrassing. You need to have thick skin to use this strategy. Trial and error works, but you need to be persistent. 

Still today, I apply these general rules to new words and it is a lot of fun. Some people find my “creations” hilarious, and it helps raise linguistic awareness about what we say and what we mean. I love this technique.  

The next tip (**Tip 6**) is not for amateurs. Hold onto your hats…


Tip 5 for language learners and a BUT … (text)

While in **Tip 1** I spoke of daily practice, in **Tip 2** I revealed how connections between languages can really increase language knowledge. **Tip 3** delved into reading as a way to increase vocabulary. As my learning seemed to be slowing down, I took to reading. But not passive reading. 

It was a highly active approach to reading with the intention of increasing my vocabulary. Now, here, I do actually have a ‘**secret approach**’ I would like to share with you, dear reader. I read short stories. This was my modus operandi: read the short story and give my self a grade for understanding, something like 60%. Then, I would highlight the words/phrases that were not 100% clear. I would make a list and discover their meaning. Sometimes I used a dictionary; other times I just asked a friend. From there (get ready for it), I started to explore word categories based on words I learned in the text. I know it doesn’t sound like a secret, and it most certainly does not sound sexy (more nerdy, in fact). But my vocabulary increased exponentially. Just as an example, let’s say I found the verb ‘agradecer’ (to thank) in the text. I would put it into the table below and start investigating:

\    VERB	                    NOUN	                          ADJECTIVE	                 ADVERB

agradecer	agrado / agradecimento	          agradecido	          agradecidamente

By exploring the verb, I was able to discover all these other words: the nouns (2 in this case), the adjective and the adverb. So, every time I included a word, I would amplify my vocabulary by a further three or four words. I carried around a small pocket-sized book to keep notes in and refer to while I was on the bus or train. These tables were a great way to stimulate vocabulary growth. I would often hear a word on the bus (eavesdropping, I was) and try to put it into the table. A bus ride would often result in three or four new words, plus another nine or ten from the different categories I managed to work out. 

**Tip number 4**: actively investigating variations of words you learn helps you expand your vocabulary knowledge quickly, **BUT** it is time-consuming and a bit nerdy.  

If you are still reading this series of tips, you probably are into language learning or teaching. I hope this is helping in some way. I have two more tips (**Tip 5** and **Tip 6**). Hang in there.


Tip 4 for language learners and (yet) another BUT … (text)

Now that you’ve seen how important daily practice in a context can be (**Tip 1**) and the idea of making connections to other languages (**Tip 2**), now let’s look at how I discovered specific aspects, namely sound. 

Since I had a grasp on the fundamentals of Portuguese grammar, thanks to Spanish, I concentrated on learning the sounds: phonetics. Why? I once heard an American man give a lecture in Portuguese. His grammar was phenomenal. He used conditional sentences, subjunctives, inversions, and the likes, with such flair that you would swear he was a Brazilian. However, his pronunciation was so atrocious that it encouraged me to concentrate on sounding less like a foreigner. 

**Tip number 3**: try to look at the different aspects of language rather than just one (just grammar, for example). By finding the aspect of the language that you most identify with, you may find a pathway to learning that is less of a struggle. Some learn by focusing on learning new words; other by focusing on writing skills; and yet others may need to know deeper information about what they are learning, such as the origin of words, syntactical differences to their mother tongue etc., **BUT** there is no formula; you need to find your way.

For some, this can take some time. I recommend you speak to a professional who can help you discover what works best for you.

While I was studying the sounds, of course I continued to learn grammar and vocabulary, besides still going out to bars with friends and meeting people. So, my practice was still constant, and my phonetics and grammar were on their way. **What next?** My vocabulary grew every day, but there was a moment when my vocabulary building seemed to plateau. I didn’t feel like I was expanding my stock of words. I was always using the same ones, not really increasing with the speed I had in the initial learning curve. Read my **Tip 4** for help on how to expand your vocabulary in a language you are learning.


Tip 3 for language learners and a BUT … (text)

So now you know about learning in daily practice (**Tip 1**), let’s see another tip that I think may help. 

I found myself in Brazil after months in Spanish-speaking countries. There, the mother tongue is Portuguese. Brazilian Portuguese. I was enchanted by the sounds of the language: the nasal / ão / made at the end of nouns (comunicação); the tongue-twisting combinations like ‘lh’ (trabalhar) and nh (casinha); the ‘sh’ sound attributed to graphemes like ‘ch’ and ‘x’ (cheque, xampu); and the musicality of the sentences and phrases used to indicate questions, answers, irony, sarcasm, humour, anger and romance. I dropped Spanish and took up the Brazilian version of the European language immediately. 

The grammar of Spanish was a great foundation for learning the grammar of Portuguese. The Latin base was a real lifesaver when it came to sentence structure, conjugations and inversions. 

**Tip number 2:** finding connections to other languages (mother tongue included) can speed up language learning. **BUT** there can be just as many differences as there are similarities. As a linguist (i.e. language nerd), I found all this fascinating, but it may feel like just another hurdle to get over for some. 

In my next tip (**Tip 3**), I explain how I focused on a specific aspect of language… sounds!


Tip 2 for language learners and another BUT … (text)

Learn about the expression "to cost an arm and a leg", where it comes from (possibly) and how to use it.


Expression - To cost and arm and a leg (video)

Jibber-jabber, gibberish and gobbledygook (video)

This is the first tip of **six**, so strap yourself in for a few helpful ideas. 

After 27 years as a language learner, and the same time as a language professor, I figure I have enough learning techniques and experience under my belt to write an article on some of the most effective ways to learn a foreign language. Before you get too excited, it would be irresponsible to allude to the idea that I have the ‘secret answer’ to language learning. I have some answers, but, unfortunately, some of you may not be happy with them. As a heads up, I have included the BUTs in each respective tip…you know, just to be honest. 

I began learning Spanish in 1992 with a private tutor, before landing in Chile where I was thrown into the deep end. I was literally drowning in Spanish from the moment I got off the plane in South America. I travelled for two months and continued to have classes in Chile and Bolivia, developing as I practiced everyday with locals. My Spanish improved at lightening speed. 

**Tip number 1**: daily practice in context is a great way to learn. **BUT** it was really hard. I had to use my dictionary quite often and the speech patterns that the locals used differed from city to city. What I learnt in one place was not necessarily useful in another. This was great for my vocab, but I often felt like my progress was really slow. 

The sheer overload of language (i.e. phonetics, vocabulary, colloquialisms, grammar etc.) was overwhelming at times. But after a while, it all seemed to sink in at once. My fluency developed really fast once I got over the load of input.

In **Tip 2**, I move on to the idea of connections…
