Hi my husband and I are retiring in Portugal in April. I am starting to look at the language now and feel like its a sinking hole. I am not sure the best way to study. I would love to have a study partner or accountability person to keep me from closing my laptop lol.
We will be moving to Lagos.
Simply start doing the lessons.
The program is extremely well organized; it will keep you on track and moving forward if you do your part. For example, commit to practicing a couple of times a day for 20-30 minutes at a time. Set a pace to which you can comfortably commit and keep it up.
Welcome, @judy_malone 
You can take a look at this topic, if you’d like to take part in some group study sessions kindly organized by Jana (@enchantmentunlimited) with several other forum members: Anyone up for an accountability partner or study group?
Hello Judy,
Practice Portuguese (PP) has a wonderful outline for you to follow at your own pace. When I first started I’d study for about 4-6 hours a day. Sometimes longer. I was anxious to learn and I had plenty of time on my hands. Now, I would as someone suggested, study a couple of times a day for 30-45 minutes at a time. Retention is said to be better. I cut back to that amount of time and I did retain it better I think. I would also say to listen as much as you can to Portuguese programs, which will help imprint the language inflections into your thoughts. Rui and Joe have great learning videos on YouTube that I encourage you to watch. They are quite engaging.The PP program is an outline or guide but not a strict one you must follow. If you find you are in a situation or need help with a particular topic or word(s) you only need type it into the PP search engine and you will find plenty of references and learning to help you. Once you complete each section you can mark it as completed but you can always go back to refresh what you have learned. The forum has great questions and learning tips. Be patient as it takes time.
Hi Judy, yes, there is a lot on this site, which can seem overwhelming. You’ve received good advice about only doing 20-30 minutes at a time. For now, focus on what youre working on and don’t go ‘exploring’ the site too much so you don’t get that overwhelmed feeling. My advice is to listen as much as possible so hit all those speaker buttons. And listen to the dialogues several times to tune in your ear. This is the advantage of this site, all the opportunities to listen to European Portuguese. Good luck and God bless.