Passing Portuguese: Kathleen Dishes about the A2 Language Test & Life in Portugal

[@MrTdacosta]

Hello Kalie and Josh. I also took (and passed) the fluency exam and can agree with everything that Kathleen said as true. My exam was at the Univ. of Lisbon in July ‘23 administered by CIPLE, I received my results in September ‘23 and my case for citizenship was handed to the Portuguese officials (Ministry of Justice) in Lisbon on Nov. 30th, 2023. Now all I have to do is wait. As Kathleen mentioned, I found the listening section to be the most difficult due to the background noise of each scenario (inside a Metro station, at the airport - with voice playing over the intercom while the actors’ were speaking, at a grocery store, etc.). The one thing I wanted to impress upon people is the Portuguese actors who speak in these scenarios are speaking at a NORMAL PACE, and not a slowed down version for beginners to understand. If someone isn’t used to a normal everyday Portuguese speaking cadence, they’ll have difficulty understanding the conversation because most language programs use a slower version of speech for the students to be able to follow along.

[@sharoncuadra3174]

Great interview

[@RemofRenaissance]

On the language learning front (I am trying too!) I find as the saying goes... "Speed kills". Portuguese phonetically is already pretty tough I feel for English speakers but when you add the fast speed that local talk is set at... I find it quite hard with many syllables seemingly chopped off or hard to hear. I guess with time and experience you get better but that would be my fear with those exams!

[@jamescarneiro-ns4ft]

I took the A2 exam twice in the US (under the auspices of UC Berkeley). I was unable to get a satisfactory grade both times. I was unaware of the online course or I might have gone that route. As mentioned in the video, the harder parts are the listening and speaking parts. Unless you have a lot of practice trying to listen to and speak the language, it is challenge. Being in the US and not around Portuguese speaking people makes it more difficult. A person could hire a tutor online to practice speaking, but that could get expensive and still may not be enough. I think a person would have to totally immerse themselves watching Portuguese TV shows or something to get the hang of it. The Portuguese pronunciation is really quite different from the expectations of someone who may have taken Spanish in school.

[@teodoro1007]

I trapped myself listening to news in Portuguese (I remember a video you made here in Chuopalinho in Coimbra with Carla. Well, she said to me, I'll have no problem adding one to my amount of languages). Remember, my mother’s language was German, my neighbours were Italian and my father, a Russian nobleman, was my mother's French teacher. When I was 5 y.o. English & Spanish were added to the mess. My parents split, and I went to school in Hamburg. My English was terrible > Teignmouth in the UK to make my English acceptable. My mother died, and I went to college in the UBA in Buenos Aires. Suggestion: Add some Portuguese parts in your vids. I hope I manage to see you for Halloween in Porto