Home Study with RTP

In response to the Covid quarantine, RTP is offering structured classes to children at home (on TV, for those who don’t have computers or internet). I’ve spent the morning reviewing all the homework exercises… what a fantastic opportunity to see how Portuguese children are educated.

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Are you watching this in Portugal? Because many/most of the lessons are unavailable to view in the UK.
One that is available Portuguese I and 2 level tells me clearly that I am still in the baby class for my understanding of the spoken langauge !!

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Yes I am in Portugal (you may find that having an IPN “say” you’re in Portugal can make a big difference when it comes to access :wink:
I went through the Horário Completo and followed links to look at the homework for many lessons, in a sort of “self-paced” study. That may be the biggest value here, since – after all – who wants to go back to school?!
But I appreciate that the education system was swift enough to respond with some kind of offering, given that kids have been out of school now for a month, and many do not have internet or home computers. It’s neat to see exactly what they consider valuable schooling.
BTW, what are you doing to improve your listening comprehension? I’ve been hard at work for the last three months I’ve been in Portugal, and I can say that I am definitely improving in that area. Happy to share, if you want encouragement :slight_smile:

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I’m getting the “em direto” feed on many of the units but not on all. I am finding my way around.
I hear what you say about a IPN.
As to working on comprehension I do PP units every day and the shorties.
Yes you are right RTP seems to have come up with the goods quite quickly.

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I have been watching all day too. It is fascinating seeing the Portuguese education system and gain some insight into the Portuguese psyche.

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Thanks for the link.
It’s really good to see. I haven’t explored much of it but I’m finding it good practice to listen.

I only wished they had subtitles on. But then I do understand that probably wouldn’t be of much use for the intended public of 1.º e 2.º anos (the one I’m looking at).

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I am now watching the live feed daily and frankly whether it be a subject for year 1 or 10 it is really helping my comprehension.
Well done RTP

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Download the app, a friend of mine, in Germany is able to view the lessons.
Just try, good luck!
Sabine

e no AppStore (apple)
“Estudo em casa”

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Thank you for the tip about the app. I have immediately downloaded onto my iPhone!
The classes already aired are also available on RTP Play


What I am finding - no matter what year you look at - you pick up the correct way of expressing things that is not always so obvious when you look up a word in the dictionary.

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Very interesting indeed! Considering none of the teachers (at least I’m the videos I’ve watched) have tv experience, they have made it pretty watchable with the production… slow panning camera movements, graphics etc. Would be even better with subtitles.

The app is also pretty nice. Now if only Practice Portuguese had an app in development, that would really be something! Perhaps I could even be accessing the forum through it to respond to this thread :thinking:

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…and, Joel, one of the teachers has a really cool pair of yellow, patent, Doc Martens!!

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You can download the app. I am currently in the u.s. and I watch todos os dias. Go to the play store.

Can I ask how you’ve been working to improve your listening comprehension? I think my level is way below that of most on here but would really like to progress so any tips would be useful. Thanks.

Yes! Listening comprehension was my biggest concern in language-learning, so I’ve put a lot of time in.
First: I started with www.MimicMethod.com, learning to distinguish (both hear and replicate) the sounds of European Portuguese, coded with the International Phonetic Alphabet. This method includes listening to the most frequently used words, organized by common sounds.
The Mimic Method offers deeper listening training in other languages, unfortunately not yet for Portuguese – but from using their course in Spanish, I learned about a free program called Audacity. Audacity lets you adjust the tempo of a recording. So I download the mp3s from Practice Portuguese Shorties (or anything on Youtube.com, through a site called Yout.com), import the audio file into Audacity, and then I can select sound bites to loop – and change the tempo by up to -30% when I can’t understand. This helps me hear AND MIMIC everything slower… then I gradually speed it back up to normal speech.
This method might sound like a lot of steps/work, but it has been so helpful because it has taught me to listen for the SOUNDS people make, not for the WORDS that would be written on the page. Because we all know, people (in every language) mangle their sentences! So if you’re listening for words, you’ll never hear what people are actually saying – because the words aren’t there.
If you don’t want to go through all this trouble, certainly you can use the replay speed adjustment features on the Practice Portuguese audio, or on YouTube, listening slower and then speeding up. But being able to select and loop a segment is the best; it makes the sounds sort of “click” in your mind.
Let me know if you have questions!

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Thank you - that’s very helpful. I have just started working through Mimic Method actually (only just done the introduction) so I will keep on with that and will go and have a look at audacity too. I’ve been listening to Eu Estudo em Casa this week - but still struggle with the speed of the speech. I’m getting the gist - but not all the translation. Can I ask how long you have been spending on improving on a daily basis?
This is a good time to be allocating time to something like this - so I will try to put plenty of time aside. Thanks again.

Good idea! Since you’re a premium member you can also grab the mp3 of any episode from the Download tab of our episode player :slight_smile:

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Just tried one of the 1-9 anos aulas and am hooked. This is a wonderful resource!

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Yes, I do! I download the MP3s from Practice Portuguese. I also sometimes download cooking videos from YouTube, or cool old videos like this one on Agricultora Tradicional: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEIwKa07GGw

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Well, I have had rather a lot of time on my hands, being in quarantine :wink: Listening is my weakest point, so I’ve made it a priority. It’s hard for me to understand lyrics or movies or people in crowded places in my own native language; if you have a sharper ear, it might go faster for you. I think a minimum of 15 minutes daily, consistently, would give you good results. It usually takes me 30-60 minutes to “complete” a lesson; first I listen to a Shorty (through Audacity, so I can slow, pause, and repeat sections) and transcribe it into IPA. Then do I look at the transcript to see what I missed/garbled, and after that I look at the English translation. I’ll revisit sections that eluded my ears, looping and mimicking to train my eyes and ears and mouth together by matching the sounds with text.
I don’t do that every day! But I remember when I was doing the Mimic Method for Spanish; every time I spent 15 minutes on a practice session, I could hear more in the same songs I’d been listening to. It’s pretty amazing how it tunes your ears.
Have fun with that!

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Thank you that’s very helpful. You’re certainly dedicating a lot of time to learning. Good for you.
I’ve promised myself that I’ll put more time in for the next few weeks (although even though we can’t go anywhere I can’t believe how many things I still find to do around the house!!!)
I’m going through the Mimic Method lectures slowly this week and I do find it useful (if not exciting)
It’s a long road isn’t it? Hopefully the further we go along it the more we’ll get out of it all. Although I can’t imagine ever being able to hold a conversation at normal speed.

Thanks

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