How I'm Learning Portuguese

Okay like no-one asked (I wasn't really expecting anyone to anyway) but I can't think of anything else to blog about this week so here ya go:

I discovered Babbel >>> earlier this year, because I wanted to increase my Spanish vocab (since school Spanish only teaches you how to say certain things).
Mini Babbel Review:
You join for free, and have access to the first lesson of every course module of free (I'll post a picture explaining at the end). To buy access to all courses - there are currently 8 courses for Spanish and 6 for Portuguese - you have four subscription options: £8.95 for 1 month, £17.85 for 3 months, £29.70 for 6 months and £53.40 for a year. Within each course there are many sub-courses and modules. The content is based on proper framework, so it's basically like walking into a language class, just without a teacher and on your laptop, phone etc. The website also includes a chat board and a friends tab, so you can practice interacting with people from all over the world. It's available as an app on iOS, Android, Kindle Fire and Windows.
Personally I think Babbel is excellent if you want to learn as if you are being taught in a language class (although I had to consult Google for a few of the grammar rules that Babbel didn't explain very well), and it's a bargain for the price in comparison to £200+ of Rosetta Stone.

(I'll link the site at the bottom (check it out to see prices in your country or browse the 10+ languages it has to offer)) 

Another platform I use is DuoLingo which I thought was going to be rubbish because it's totally free, but is actually really good.
Mini DuoLingo Review
Once I found out that DuoLingo was chosen as iPhone App of the Year by Apple, I was like WOAH OMG I GOTTA CHECK THIS OUT. You can access it on the web (I'll link it at the end) and as an app on iOS and Android devices. I've only been using it for 2-3 weeks, and so far so good. It uses gamification (check it out to see what I mean) and is more for giving you words, phrases and sentences to use. In each thing (for lack of better word to use), you either read, write, listen and possibly speak about 10-15 words, phrases, or sentences. It really is quite fun to use, On the web version, there discussion and immersion tabs, which I find really good. The immersion tab lets you translate thousands of different sources; wikipedia pages; news/magazine articles etc, and trust me, it isn't as bad as it sounds.

Those are the two educational platforms I use to learn, but I do a lot more to help me achieve close fluency, which I will explain in my next post, so watch out for that one!

Sarah x

LINKS 

babbel.com

duolingo.com

HEY EVERYBODY

Hey y'all

I haven't posted in like 9 months... oops (not that any of y'all care). It feels like forever though.

Anyways, since last December:

January:
February:
March:
April:
May:
June: I FREAKING SAW ONE DIRECTION AND 5SOS OMFG IT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY ENTIRE FREAKING LIFE I CAN'T EVEN EXPLAIN & I started learning Portuguese?!

On the 1st of June, I went to see One Direction in Manchester and all I can say is; I wouldn't ever complain if all I could do for the rest of my life was watch them and 5sos perform.

The Portuguese was mainly fuelled by the world cup this year, that made me be in love with Brazil even more than I was before. lmao. So it's been 3 months and a week since I started learning, and I would say I'm at a beginner-intermediate stage. I know enough to say most of the things I want to say (simply, but still), write the things I want to write, and pretty much understand the gist of everything written in Portuguese on the Internet.

If y'all want me to elaborate on my language learning (like how I'm learning, how easy/difficult I'm finding it etc), comment and I'll promise do another post.

Sarah x

RIP Nelson Mandela

I know I'm late-coming with this post, but I feel like I have to pay homage to one of the world's greats. Nelson Mandela. The things he did for the freedom of black's from Apartheid, and peace and equality in the world is just extraordinary. He was prepared to die for something he believed passionately about - a lesson we can all learn from him about determination. He left a legacy that cannot be replaced. His defiance against being treated as a slave, as an outsider. He went from prison to President. Among the help of people who had the same vision as him, they battled, they fought, and they won. Finally people began to see South Africa for the disappointment that it was. Finally Mandela was a free man. Finally the fall of Apartheid came around. He made history as the first black leader of South Africa. He is now with the angels, but he hasn't gone without achieving no-one can ever live up to. He was no saint, but he was someone truly inspirational. He is someone truly inspirational.

Britains Got Talent Final 2013

So last night was the BGT final. It was awesome I have to say! The opening act was Pre Skool, who did a fantastic job of starting the show. Asanda tackled Beyonce's If I Were A Boy, then Gabz Gardiner mashed up two of her songs and rapped in her trademark onesie! Jordan O'Keefe was next, singing Katy Perry's Firework acoustically, followed by wildcard Steve Hewlett, whose newest addition Sinitta puppet made a debut. Now that was funny. 11 year old Arisxandra Libantino blew the roof off once again with her powerful voice, before Francine Lewis impressed us with her faultless and funny impressions. Especially her Katie Price parody of Barbie Girl! Richard and Adam sung with their heavenly operatic voices, only to be interrupted halfway through their performance by a crazed girl - who goes by the name of Natalie Holt - who crashed onto the stage and threw eggs at Simon Cowell! The two brothers however did not seem to be fazed and showed professionalism by carrying on. Comedian Jack Carroll was quick to make a joke about this, and his wittiness gained his performance the first standing ovation of the night! The Luminites didn't disappoint either; their singing a capella also got a standing ovation. The last, and probably most anticipated, performance of the night was that of Attraction, who payed tribute to our country, Great Britain. Again they wowed the public with their ability to make different animals and shapes with their bodies. They also caused the judges to get up off their backsides and clap!

While people were voting, PSY performed Gentleman, and Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran did their first ever live performance of Everything Has Changed. After all the votes had been counted up, all the acts came back on stage and were narrowed down to the top 3. Richard and Adam, Attraction and Jack Carroll. The brothers got 3rd place, and in a very tense wait, Attraction were announced winners!!! Jack not-so-graciously accepted 2nd. You can watch the winning performance here

One Direction's Stadium Tour

For UK and Ireland, they went ton sale almost 2 hours ago. I didn't get any. I'm sad. I'm depressed. I'm crying. Not good.
Bye. :'(

Sorry :(

I'm sorry. I've been slacking on my posts recently. The only things I wanted to talk about was Eurovision and The Billboard Awards (BBMAs) anyway. If you're really that interested about them, then Google it. That's my advice because you're not getting anything out of me until tomorrow. I don't know how to end blogs like this. So bye.

Public Embarrassment

This was one of those times where you don't know whether to laugh it off or melt into a pool and sink into the ground. Basically, I was lining up outside the classroom for DT (Design & Technology) and my friend pushed me. Naturally, I pushed her back. She shoved me again, and I shoved harder. The only difference was this time, she shoved really hard. I would've just stumbled backwards a little, but this wasn't the case. I had to trip over someone's foot, and I literally went flying to the other side of the corridor (from the wall where I was, to where I landed, it was probably about 5 metres). Of course, I classically landed on my ass. If that wasn't embarrassing enough, it was in front of everyone in my class and this teaching assistant who I kinda have a crush on. I swiftly stood up and got my shoe which came off, hoping no-one would notice. Obviously, they did.