Liz Sharma from Talk The Streets on Portuguese

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 182 of the Actual Fluency Podcast. My name is Kris Broholm and I'm your host. It's a podcast for language learners and enthusiasts from all over the world where we invite prolific polyglots, language specialists, and industry experts to talk about language learning methods, software, and experiences. Because ultimately, that is what language learning opens up, experiences.

Thanks for inviting me. It's great to be here.

Can you start out by telling the listeners a little bit about yourself, like, what degree did you do and how do you get to Portugal?

Yeah, of course. Um, so, so yeah, I went a very traditional route into languages. Um, it was what I studied at university. I studied Spanish and Portuguese. Um, I went to Manchester University in the UK. And I just absolutely loved Spanish at school. Like I can remember going on my first trip to Spain and it being pretty life-changing at 16. I was like, yes, I absolutely love speaking to people in their own language and I I just really loved it.

Wow, and how long have you been there for until now?

So, it will be four years in April.

Fantastic. And did you have any, uh, jobs signed up or any ideas of of what you might do when you got here or was it sort of just, let's just get there and and figure it out?

Well, I was really lucky. Um, I the the PR agency that I was working for at the time was already very, um, well-versed in remote work. We were a small boutique agency and we did a lot of traveling. We did PR for, um, global development clients. So, we were often all across the globe either doing, um, you know, field campaigns or, uh, you know, going to conferences all around the world. So, our team was small and agile and we were very used to kind of working from our laptops from wherever we were. So, we never really had that kind of, um, you know, office culture where you really needed to to to to be in the office.

Wow, well, first of all, congratulations for that. I think that's a huge achievement. And, uh, and really a good job on on taking that leap. And what a difference in culture that that must be that I'm thinking like the busy London city life, uh, everyone's overworked and then thinking like the the Portuguese kind of, not to say more, slightly more laid-back, uh, lifestyle, you know, everything of sun and like you said, port wine and beaches and and not find it more different ones.

Yeah, definitely. And that's the thing. I think it was definitely a a change in culture in two ways. First of all, in in in the fact that I was living in a very different city. I mean, I'm from London, where, you know, everything is fast-paced, um, and, you know, coming to Lisbon, it felt so small. Um, and now when I go back to London, I get so stressed out. I'm like, oh my gosh, is is that really the size of the tube map? I absolutely can't cope with that. Like, why is everything so far away? Why is everybody rushing everywhere? And I was never like that at all. It's just amazing how, um, ingrained that kind of, uh, culture can become if you if you don't know any any different. Um, so now I I feel very relaxed when I go back to Lisbon and there's only four, um, metro lines. Um, you know, you can walk across the city, uh, if you want to. Um, so so that's great.

Right. And I would say that that adjustment of moving abroad. I mean, you were obviously quite familiar with the culture and having very solid language skills before you move is obviously a big help. But there's still 115 things you need to sort out when you move to a new country. So, imagine that stress doesn't help either.

Yeah, absolutely. And that's what I always say to my my students, when they're thinking about moving over, um, they think, oh, you know, I'll sort out my Portuguese when I get there. No, you are doing so many other things when you arrive. You'll have so many things to to think about and stress about. So, if you can actually, you know, start to tackle Portuguese before you arrive, um, you'll you'll be glad you did. Um, because yeah, there's always a lot to adjust to. And I think I think I might have been a little bit complacent as well. The fact that I, you know, could speak Portuguese and that I I had, you know, been very familiar with the country. Um, but yeah, it's it's always challenging settling into to a new place for sure.

Yeah. Yeah, and I I had the experience early on with, um, I moved to Hungary in 2015. And I didn't expect I I wasn't expecting to move there. So, I couldn't really I I had no time to prepare for it. And I I knew nothing of Hungarian. This was the one of the most foreign languages you can find in Europe. And, um, just the stress of and I tried to tackle the language right away. You know, bought books on the very first week I was I was there, you know, trying to really get into it, but then just the idea of residences and taxes and finding an apartment and all this just kind of it just snowballed into a completely, Yeah, unmanageable situation.

It's true. Yeah, I agree. It's really tough.

But you you had great, uh, language skills coming in from your degree. Um, is that, um, do you think that was because of because of your special interest that you you were so successful? I hear a lot of people who go to university for a degree for language degrees and they actually don't come out with that great of a conversational level. I mean, they might be able to read and maybe translate a text or something, but in terms of well, uh, you know, talk on the streets, so, uh, maybe not as successful.

Yeah, it's true. I definitely went to uni with some people who probably couldn't say two words to you today if they you asked them to. Um, no, I I think, yeah, it was definitely due due to my, um, my special interest. It's all it is always something I've been good at. I think it's actually kind of the same part of your brain as as music, um, and that's all that's also something that I've I've also really enjoyed. I've always been able to kind of copy things and do impressions of people and that kind of thing. So, uh, it was always something that that I was good at, but also it kind of relates back to, you know, the fact that I did get ill halfway through my degree and I had to take a significant time out.

Right. And today, not only do you teach students, you also have a YouTube channel called Talk the Streets.

That's right. Yes.

Um, and, um, I guess we could talk a little bit about, uh, the kind of European Portuguese, uh, because one of the reasons that I found your channel when I was searching was there doesn't seem to be too many resources for resources for European Portuguese. Uh, so most people would be looking at Brazilian Portuguese. Um, so can you just explain to the listeners sort of, you know, what's the difference between the two, uh, can they are they sort of mutually understand, uh, intelligible? You know, what's the relationship between the two languages?

Yeah, of course. So, I mean, at the end of the day, it is the same language, um, and whenever I teach, I do try and be really inclusive about the fact that other forms of Portuguese do exist. Um, so, you know, the the big comparison that people usually make is, oh, I guess it's the same as like American English and British English. But I actually think the differences are are more pronounced than that. Um, it's not just a matter of pronouncing things differently. You will find different grammar structures, um, in Brazilian Portuguese as well.

Yeah. Is there some sort of, um, is there a kind of a stereotypical word or phrase or like a a saying that you would say, wow, okay, that's that's for sure Brazilian Portuguese or or vice versa?

Um, so I guess the the the differences, you know, if you take the the the phrase good day, for example, or good morning in, um, the Brazilians will say, "Bom dia," with like a j j sound. Um, and in in Portugal, we'll say, "Bom dia." Um, so, you know, the way things are pronounced I've got so many funny stories of when, um, I was in Brazil and I was trying to be understood. Like, for example, we would I was asking where because it was a time when you still had internet cafes, right? Again, giving away how old I am. I was trying to find an internet cafe and I was saying, "Internet, internet." They were like, "What? What?" They were like, "Ah, Internet, Internet!" Um, and that's yeah, that's what I was looking for. To be honest, that's actually happened to me in America when I've asked for a glass of water and they were like, "We don't we don't sell that." And I was like, "Really? You don't sell water?" So, um, so yeah, it it's it's definitely more difficult.

Oh, wow.

Yeah. So, you'll all or on the news, you might see a Portuguese person speaking with subtitles. Um, so yeah, it's it's it's different, but I I I love the I love both, um, and I and I do really encourage my my students to to consume Brazilian content, um, because you you're going to meet tons of Brazilians here as well. Um, and it's something that you you need to you need to understand. But but as I say, it it really is the listening piece that I try and make sure that if they're if they're a real beginner, um, that they're really focusing on tuning their ear into the way people speak in Portugal, rather than in Brazil.

Of course, yeah. Yeah, I guess you want to build like a baseline that you can always, uh, adapt and add to later, but if you're learning two dialects, as it were, at once, then, I mean, you you're not going to really be very consistent when you speak, I guess.

Yeah, exactly. Like, you know, another example from when I was in in Brazil, like, if you want to say to somebody, oh, I I get it or I've got it, like I know I understand, in in Portugal, you you say, já percebi. Já percebi. Um, but in Brazil, the word is, entendi, which they will actually shorten to, entendi. So, when I was going around saying, ah, já percebi. They would be like, what is she saying? They were like, no, dude, this is got to change. Like, no one understands you. Can you, yeah, so I I when I was in Brazil, I had to switch things up pretty pretty sharply to be understood.

I like how, uh, someone who speaks English, you can just see so many cognates in Portuguese. That's very helpful. I guess it's similar to Spanish in that regard that you recognize a lot of the things and as long as you don't run into too many false friends, I think you you'll be okay with the the cognates.

Yeah, absolutely. Um, the false friends are are funny sometimes. Also, like, when things have a double meaning. Um,

Right, yeah.

I love that as well. So, I had a student who, um, he he has, um, he has a a Portuguese mother-in-law and they were out in the garden and, uh, he he said, "Come and look at my tomatoes." Um, and in in Portugal, tomatoes, you know, can mean something different. So, she was like, "Come and look at your what?" Um, so, yeah. Those those types of situations are always unavoidable, no matter what language you're you're learning. Um, but they yeah, they never fail to amuse me.

So, the translation for any British listeners would be come and look at my plums, maybe.

Yes, exactly. Exactly. So, you might just imagine like a plum tree and then the same situation. Um, but yeah, it's funny. I I saw a video with somebody talking about, um, what was it, you wanted to ask about preservatives in the food. Yeah. Um, and then, what was it, preservativo or something that means, uh, condoms. So, that's also another most fortunate, uh, friend.

Exactly.

But for the ones you said, you know, because, uh, perceive, you know, and

Exactly.

It's a it's it's manageable in a way, like, and that's a big advantage. Like, you you really you really only need to try learning a language like Hungarian or Russian or, I mean, even Russian has some cognates, but or I I imagine things like Chinese and you know, when you have completely foreign languages, you get no help. But at least in Portuguese, I've noticed that there are so many cognates and so many common vocabulary words with Spanish and the other European languages that I I'm finding that even without having done any formal study at all, some things like menus and descriptions and things and written in general, was uh, is understandable to a large degree. So, um, I'm taking that as a big win coming from my last Hungarian experience, which was like, might as well have been learning Martian or something. You know, it's completely foreign. No, uh, no cognates at all. So,

Yes, hopefully, uh, Portuguese will be quite quite a bit easier for you.

Yeah, I'm I'm sure it will be. It's already going pretty well. But how long were you in, uh, Brazil for?

I was in Brazil for six months, yeah.

Okay, so that was just sort of a, uh, was there a did you have any kind of, uh, was there a formal reason for the trip or did you just want to see the how the other half lives, so to speak?

Yeah, so I, so basically, as soon as I left university, I I was so sad that I didn't get to go that I decided that before I did anything else, I had to go, um, and experience it. And so, yeah, I was really lucky. I found, um, an organization called ISEC, um, who organized, um, exchange programs for, um, students and and and people who'd recently graduated. And so, uh, so yeah, I found like a teaching program with them. So, I I went over and I I was also able to go to the northeast of Brazil, which is where I was particularly interested in going. Um, and yeah, so I was able to to do that and yeah, I I didn't regret it at all. I had an absolute blast. I had I met such amazing people.

Of course, yeah. No, absolutely no difference here between the languages. It's just a, well, it is a difference, but, uh, we're not placing anyone higher than the other for sure.

Exactly. And that's the important thing.

But I would say, as a as a term of, in some people might ask, well, does it matter that there aren't that many European Portuguese resources because you can just learn the Brazilian and then you will adapt to the the Portugal the Portuguese afterwards? But I would say the thing is if you're going to live in Portugal, why not study that, you know? It would be like moving to Sweden and learn Danish, you know, it's like, yeah, they're very similar languages, but why would you not study just study the language that you you're actually going to use day-to-day?

Yes, I mean, yeah, so I mean it yeah, it is the same language, but it's it's it's the it's the fact that, um, it's hard enough to get up the courage to go and ask somebody something. Um, and if and if you, you know, you you you you you're using the maybe the Brazilian vocabulary or the Brazilian way of forming things, um, you know, it's not going to be, um, quite as easy for you to maybe you'll be understood when you speak, but as I say, when when you hear what's what's said back to you, you're going to think, well, I didn't sound like anything like, uh, I was listening to on on Duolingo. So, how you know, what what's happened?

What's wrong with European Portuguese?

Well, I mean, it's kind of like people will say, well, why don't you say, you know, European Spanish? Uh, and and it's true, you know, Spanish is also spoken in lots of different parts of the world and we don't call it European Spanish. Um, but, you know, people prefer I I think people prefer Portuguese from Portugal, but it just sounds like a bit of a mouthful. So, you know, it is the thing that people are, you know, European Portuguese is what people are searching for. So, that is what I, um, kind of include, um, so that I can actually show up for people. And the fact that you found me is very exciting because it seems like the algorithm is working for me on YouTube.

There you go. And I think, uh, I think you're I think you're doing a great job. I think you have great videos and you have a great on-screen persona and you're, uh, your video quality and your editing and your graphics and everything, it's it's beautiful.

Oh, thanks. Thanks so much. It's, uh,

you deserve a lot of credit for that. Was that, uh, something you learned as part of your just being in the in the PR world or?

Yeah, exactly. So, I used to I used to be the one running around conferences interviewing people and, um, and then kind of filming and editing that, um, so it was actually super fun to actually get the chance to build my own brand and film my own videos and really think to myself, you know, if I'm doing this just for myself, how do I want this to to look? So, you know, I I owe so much to my previous job in the fact that I learned a lot of these skills in terms of in in terms of marketing and video production, um, and I was able to kind of, you know, use that now for something that I for something that I really love and that I'm really passionate about.

Yeah, it's great. It's like a full circle, you know?

Yeah. It's always going it's always going coming to this.

But I think that's great. But you you decided to call it Talk the Streets. Is that, uh, part of your method or can you explain a little bit where that came from?

Yeah, so basically, I feel like, um, the the way that a language is spoken in the streets by real people, um, isn't often taught in the classroom. So, you know, it's such a formulaic approach to kind of go to a class, you're given a textbook, you open it on the first page, you learn how to talk about where you're from. Um, and, you know, I just thought I don't want to teach like that, you know? I want to help people I want to help people feel at home in Portugal. That's essentially what I what I want, you know, because that was the feeling that I got. And like I say, when I when I arrived and I saw that people were having a problem with this language barrier and just and not really feeling, um, you know, part of their community, they felt a bit detached, you know, that's what I wanted to fix.

Great. Yeah, and, um, obviously in these times everything is, uh, a little bit sad and I I think a country like Portugal is a very, the culture is very open and very social. So, having having these lockdowns, I think is a I think it hits much harder here than it does, let's say the UK where people are slightly more distant from each other. I mean, they might have after-work drinks and stuff, but you go home to your own houses and, you know, there's a lot of sort of isolation there anyway. So, uh, definitely in the Scandinavian countries. Um, so I it it it feel it it is, you know, obviously everyone's talked about this for for months and years and there's no need to, uh, to to to kind of dwell on it. But I would say it it feels like it's hit hard here.

Yeah, and it's true. And that's one of the reasons why people love living in Portugal, um, and why people like myself do come to Portugal to live because we're, you know, if we're from countries like the UK where, uh, you know, we don't get that many days of sunshine, um, but in in Portugal, we can we can essentially live our lives out in the open. The cafe culture, um, you know, you know, Lisbon or Porto, you know, these these amazing, um, you know, riverside cities, um, there's just something so there's just something so, so special about that where everybody's, you know, sitting out out in the open, having a drink, um, it really is, um, one of the things that I love the most, um, about Portugal. So, I really, really can't wait for it to get back to normal and, you know, not not just for myself, but for for the businesses that rely on that as well.

That's it, yeah. The tourism industry and everything. Um, one of the one of the things of course Portugal is quite famous for in the UK is, uh, is a retirement, uh, you know, the the what is it, the Silver Coast or the was that in Spain? Anyway, down by the Algarve and then.

Yeah, the Algarve for sure is, uh, is like, it's so funny because you come down to the Algarve and you see so you see, yeah, you see fish and chips. Yeah. Fish and chips. Like, I hadn't ever eaten fish and chips in Portugal and then I came to the Algarve and I was like, oh, you can actually you can actually buy this here. And the supermarkets are all stocked with things like baked beans and sausages and and and cheddar cheese. I cannot get cheddar cheese in Lisbon and it really upsets me. They have like a whole wall of cheese and I'm like, but there's no cheddar. But yeah, come down, come down to the Algarve and you you'll find all of that stuff. It it's really funny.

Yeah, I think I've found like, uh, I don't know if you have Pingo Doce down there, but they have like some kind of imitation home brand and I don't know how they can call that cheddar. It seems a little bit shady, but it it wasn't definitely not the cheddar experience you get in the UK.

No. You need you need the cathedral city or the Kerry Gold. Nothing else will do.

Right. Yeah. And is that are there things like that that you miss from from home?

Um, not really. I mean, yeah, I have a very boring kind of shopping list of things that I will pick up and bring back with me. Um, but, you know, if I looked hard enough, I probably could find it. But, um, yeah, not I I I wouldn't say that there's anything that I miss in, you know, in the UK that I could buy. It's more the fact that like, oh, I I'd quite like to go to the pub with my friends, you know? Or, you know, I, you know, I'd love to see my family. Um, you know, at Christmas time, obviously, I love going home. Um, not so much this year because everything was shut. But, you know, uh, you know, London does do Christmas well and and things like this. Kind of more the atmosphere. Um, but, you know, COVID aside, that's why I think as well, lots of people, um, choose Lisbon because or not just Lisbon, but Portugal in general, um, because it is it is quick to hop back if you're from somewhere else, um, in Europe. So, so you can get those you can get those, um, you know, home comforts or though, you know, that that atmosphere and the people that you miss, um, without too much trouble.

Yeah, and I guess, uh, obviously being in the EU for a little while, uh, for anyone listening who does have that EU passport. It's, you know,

All right. Don't rub it in.

Well, you must be you must be naturalized for soon. Sorry. You must be able to get, uh, Portuguese passport soon.

Yes, yeah, one more year. Um, provide that I passed the Portuguese test, but I'm pretty sure that that will go that will go well.

I mean, if you don't then maybe you should just shut the channel down and do something else.

I'll just quit. I'll be like, guys, I'm a fraud.

Yeah. Yeah. Go into the music thing, maybe. That's better for you. I don't know that case. No, I'm kidding. I'm I'm I'm pretty confident that, uh, that won't be a problem. Um, that's that's the easy part. Maybe the history, did they have history requirements in the test? I don't know.

The only thing I haven't looked into it, um, in in great deal, but, uh, yeah, when it comes up to next year, then I'll I'll I'll do all that research and I'll definitely make a bunch of videos about that because I'm sure that'll be really interesting for people to see about, you know, going through that that whole citizenship process.

Get the content out there as well, you know, the the content creation.

All about the content.

Yeah, no, I mean, great thinking because honestly, that is that is super helpful and and there's so much, you know, when I moved here, I was googling all the time and yeah, it's really hard to find reliable information about a lot of things. So, that would that's definitely a a good shout-out to document that journey as well.

Yes, and I'm also, well, I was supposed to be getting married later this year, but that's we're going to be postponing it for the second time. Um, so now I'll be getting married, um, next June. So, I'm also looking forward to doing some videos about what it's like to plan a wedding in Portugal because I know that, um, it is a it is a popular destination for that as well. So, that will be really fun.

Yeah, absolutely. Lots of ideas. And, um, in terms of, uh, in terms of the language ideas, um, how do you how do you start out as a teacher? Because, obviously, being a student, a passionate student of the language, doesn't really necessarily translate into teaching.

Yeah, absolutely. So, how did you how did you start that and did you take any of those formal courses, what they called the CELTA or no, that's an English degree, isn't it? Do you know what I'm talking about? Yeah, I know I know what you mean. Um, so I started small, really. Um, because I mean, by the time I I got around to to teaching, I already had been in the community for a couple of years, um, and people knew that I spoke Portuguese well, and so it was kind of something that I've been asked about a lot, like, oh, could you help me? Do you teach? Um, and in the end, I thought, oh, you know, I I should just give this a go.

All right, fantastic. And, uh, in this kind of digital world with Zoom and Skype and everything. I mean, you can go on a place like iTalkie and find, I don't know how many Portuguese teachers there on there, but I I imagine quite a few. Um, you decided to do a an in-person, uh, event or a setup rather than where you was that a deliberate decision or was it just let's try this first and let's, you know, move it online afterwards or did you always want to just do it in in person?

Yeah, I think I'm definitely a people person. Um, and so kind of doing things in person, I really just wanted to get started and there were so many people on my doorstep in Lisbon who wanted to learn that it wasn't too hard for me to kind of get kind of groups together, run workshops and that type of thing. So, I I really kind of enjoy that kind of in-person classroom dynamic.

Fantastic. And, uh, I also wanted to talk a little bit about that kind of, uh, process. But, uh, first, uh, I guess we should just mention, uh, that all the, uh, your channel and your website and the course, everything is going to be in the description. And, uh, you have, um, you have a one URL for for the listeners that they can check out as well.

Yeah, absolutely. It's, um, talkthestreets.com/pro. So, /PRO. The name of my course is Portuguese Pro. So, if you're interested in that's where you find it.

Perfect. Yeah, I just wanted to get that in there as well. And, um, something the for me it seems like, uh, the the model is basically, so first of all, you give tremendous value in these videos. I mean, they could be a a five courses themselves. So, you're kind of giving away a lot a lot of the a lot of the secrets, so to speak. But so the the way I see it is, you create these great videos, people get to know you, they see your teaching style. And then they trust and like you. So, they reach out and say, hey, can you help me either one-on-one or with a more, let's say, formal or organized program? And then you say them, hey, here's my my pro program.

Yeah. Um, that's more or less it. Yeah, so, um, my my my whole marketing strategy is YouTube. Um, and I did I invested a lot in kind of learning how it worked, um, and, you know, researching how I could actually show up in the algorithm and things like that. And that was really, really fundamental to actually being seen. Um, because like you said, there's lots of there's lots of teachers out there. Um, there weren't necessarily that many people on YouTube at the time that I was doing it a year ago. Lots of people have cropped up now, which is exciting that more people are starting to create more more content because that can only be good for the people who who want to learn.

Yeah. So for any any, uh, either language teachers or aspiring language teachers out there, you know, have a look at YouTube and, uh, and try and, uh, incorporate that into your your own teaching business. And, uh, you know, that's a good tip, I would say.

Definitely. It's a great platform.

Yeah, the only thing I would I would say I would I have two big pieces of advice. Um, if you if you're thinking about starting YouTube, number one, is look at what's already out there for your language and work out how you're going to be different. Um, so me it was the fact that it was two things. It was the fact that I was coming from it from the perspective of of a native English speaker who has learned to speak Portuguese, that gives me a slightly different edge. And also the fact that I was very focused on practical Portuguese. That was what I was convinced I wanted to help, um, people learn. So, that in a sense helped my my content stand out. The second thing that you should do is definitely, um, invest in a course that is going to actually teach you how to show up because it's one thing if you spend all this time and effort making a beautiful video and then nobody finds you. Um, because, you know, YouTube is a search engine. Um, so you need to kind of understand how to produce your videos, how to choose your topics, how to do your keywords, all the things like this, um, you know, so that you can show up on the first page when people, um, search for for your language. So, those are my two big, big tips, um, for anyone thinking of of starting YouTube for for languages.

Fantastic. And I think, um, you know, obviously we can't say the YouTube is is exactly a new platform anymore, but I think any doubts that it was ever a, uh, a MySpace kind of feel is it's quickly evaporating.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I think I think and this idea goes along with the idea that it's too late to YouTube. Of course not, you know, it's only growing. The platform is only getting bigger. Um, so, so get on get on that.

But, uh, just one final thing I wanted to just, uh, talk to you about is, um, what kind of, uh, challenges do you see native English speakers having the most with Portuguese? To be honest, I mean I'm not a native English speaker, but, uh, I I suspect maybe the the things will apply to me as well.

Well, to be honest what I see native English speakers struggling with the most is the fact that lots of people, um, didn't didn't learn a language to any degree before. So, yes, you know, you you might learn French or Spanish at school, but it's not taught very well, unfortunately, inside the the UK system. Um, it so people often come to me with like, oh, I'm just terrible at languages or I I've never enjoyed learning languages. And it is because of the way it it was taught. So, that kind of also breaks my heart a little bit. And I'm like, no, trust me, we can do this.

Right. Yeah, I'm, uh, I don't think my, uh, Portuguese, uh, pronunciation understanding is good enough to tell the difference, but to me it just sounds like kind of like the French. Like, "bon." You know, a little bit. Uh, it sounds like an N sound rather than an M.

It does. It does. Because you're because you're kind of like screwing up your nose and making that sound, it's going to be it's going to naturally sound more like an N than an M. But definitely definitely if you see a word ending in M in in Portuguese, it it's not a muh sound.

Right. Yeah. I I learned that pretty quickly. I guess it's just it's just annoying in a way. I know languages are fairly irrational, you know, they're not meant to be logical, but as a learner, it's just annoying when you see like, oh, it's spelled with an M, but it has no N sound. Okay, great. Yeah. I I don't think it's Yeah, it's not as annoying as French. There's a lot of confusing letters in French. Oh, yeah. And I'm sure if you're learning English from scratch as well, you're just confused about every single pronunciation as well.

Yeah, indeed.

I think there should be more content about that actually, the the frustrations of learning English pronunciation, because that's, uh, yeah. That's a pain field.

But that's what's so funny about when people are learning the language because because we don't really think about the way our own language works at all because it's second nature to us. And that's I think one of the reasons why sometimes just because somebody's a native speaker, it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be really great at teaching the language because they don't, you know, they may not see reasons why things are the way they are. Um, so so yeah. when I when when people say to me, oh, but that's so confusing. And I think, well, think about how it works in English. Is is it that straightforward in English? No, you're just really used to using it and it becomes second nature. So, so yeah.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to, uh, to getting more, uh, involved in, uh, learning some more Portuguese and, uh, kind of, um, I guess what do you call it, um, kind of, uh, being more integrated into society and, uh, you know, assimilated to the the language and culture. I'm I'm sure that that brings a lot of, uh, of of benefit in terms of Enjoying me here.

Absolutely. You have you have a completely different experience. Um, you know, so much opens up to you, um, not just in terms of the things that you can experience, but the people that you meet and the people that you get to speak to and, uh, you know, one of my favorite, favorite people in Portugal is is my my neighbor who lives downstairs. And I would have been lost so many times without her. Um, but she doesn't speak any English. So, um, you know, it's a really, really special relationship that I just wouldn't have if I if I didn't speak Portuguese. So, it's definitely one of the reasons why I teach is I want other people to have those experiences too.

Fantastic. And that's, uh, obviously the agenda we're trying to push with this podcast and, uh, bringing people like yourself on to help spread and share their messages. It's what it's all about. So, thank you for coming on and sharing your experience and your tips and tricks with, uh, all the language learners listening to the podcast.

It was my pleasure. Thanks so much for having me.

And finally, where can people find you? We've mentioned a couple of places, but do you want to just, uh, repeat it one last time?

Sure. So, you'll find me on YouTube at youtube.com/talkthestreets. Um, to be honest, if you type in European Portuguese, I should show up. You'll see my face. Um, and also, um, talkthestreets.com. So, talkthestreets.com/pro, as I mentioned before, PRO. Um, that's where you will be able to find out, um, more about my my course. So, I would love to see some of your listeners there.

Fantastic. Thank you so much.

My pleasure. Thanks so much for having me.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Actual Fluency Podcast. If you have any suggestions for people we could bring on to interview or you want to be part of the podcast, don't hesitate to send me a message, Kris@actualfluency.com. I want to give a thanks to our sponsor Optilingo, which is a cool app that focuses on speaking from the beginning and it's available in a ton of different languages. So, I'm sure you'll find one or more languages that suit you. It's great for people who want to avoid boring drills and memorizing endless grammar tables and definitions. So, if you want to give it a try, go to Optilingo.com. That's O P T I L I N G O dot com.