Anxiety

One of the biggest barriers I see in the learning process is anxiety. Some people want to learn very fast in a short time. For that reason, they easily get frustrated and end up focus in the difficulties instead of enjoying learning a new language. They forget we all have limits and boundaries.

Yes, it can be hard but if you set your mind to “this is too hard”, it becomes even harder. Go with your flow. Respect your own pace. Believe in yourself. As an immigrant, I can assure that being able to communicate in another language is fascinating AND possible.

Take advantage of the big exposure to media. There are movies, videos, music, online news, etc. Get used to listen to Portuguese even if you don’t understand. Actually, trying to understand word per word, translating every thing is not beneficial. Context is the key. I’ve taken 3 years of German. I went to Germany and I wasn’t fluent but I was glad to be able to at least understand what the conversation was about.

I believe if you dedicate time and enjoy the learning process, you will have a good time and consequently get there, even if it’s not as fast as you expect.