I’m Kirsten from Belgium. People call me a language nerd. I take it as a compliment, but they seem to mean it in a way that suggests “endearing craziness.” So this year, I decided it was finally time to dive into the wonderful world of the Polyglot Conference and meet people who are as “endearingly crazy” about languages as I am. I would also like to practise my Spanish and (beginner) Portuguese. I’m looking forward to it!
Native language: Dutch
C2: English
C1: Spanish
B2: Italian, French, Swedish, (German: I understand German at a B2 level thanks to my Dutch and the many German books I’ve read, but since I’ve never truly studied it, I mess up the genders and cases like a pro)
I just started learning: Portuguese
I have seriously studied but have put on hold: Mandarin, Japanese
I have dabbled in: Korean, Greek
I am interested in: Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish, and arguably every other language in the universe
I think whoever in this thing are really a language nerd from others point of view, but they don’t know that we are unique… I feel this language learning community as a fantasy world…coz I am able to find people similar to me from this whole entire world…Tell about your resources to those languages… That would be fascinating and inspiring too.
I usually start a language by using a regular textbook (or just a grammar book when it’s a language close to one I already know), but I try to move to authentic materials as quickly as possible. I love using novels, series, and films. How about you?
Hello, Kirsten! It’s really cool that you’re learning portuguese. I’m a brazilian portuguese native speaker, so I wonder whether you’ll focus on brazilian or portugal portuguese. I think that you’ll chose the latter, because it’s closer to your home country. But either way, good luck in your studies!
I don’t know how you approach learning portuguese, but if you would like to, I could give you some recommendations on authentic content in the language, like books, movies, series, YouTube channels… feel free to ask that I will be glad to help.
I’m studying Brazilian Portuguese because I really like how it sounds and I’m into some Brazilian rock bands. (And there are a lot more resources too.) Recommendations are always welcome, thank you!
I see that you are learning French. If you want tips on series, films, etc. I’m happy to help too.
The music is one of the things that finally got me to learn Portuguese. So much of it is incredible and it feels like a crime that more musicians from Brazil aren’t well known here. After some bossa nova artists from the 50s and 60s we’re pretty much ignorant of everything else.
Haha cool! I like rock music as well, I use to listen to Oficina G3, it’s my favorite.
I’d love to get some recommendations on French content, what are the ones that you enjoyed the most?
As for brazilian content recommendations, there’s a lot of YouTube channels that I’m subscribe in. IMHO one of the best are:
“Cadê a chave?” for daily vlogs (truly daily)
“BBC News Brasil” if you want to know what’s happening in Brazil, mainly in terms of politics.
“Atila Iamarino” for well researched science videos in interesting topics. He also is a expert in microbiology, and he did some live streams on covid 19 that went viral here in Brazil. He also has the channel “Nerdologia”, that’s about the science and nerd stuff. Both are great.
There’s two brazilian series on Netflix that I recommend: “3%” and “Mundo mistério”. The first one is like Hunger Games. The second one is a documentary serie about the world (hence its name).
Amazing! Thanks for the tips. I’m definitely going to check them out. I love watching science channels, so I’m very happy to get to know a Brazilian one.
As for French, here are some films I really like:
Intouchables
Dans la maison
Demain tout commence
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (You probably already know this one, since it’s very popular.)
L’auberge espagnole (and its sequels)
L’arnacœur
Je ne suis pas un homme facile
Some series:
Résistance (set during WWII)
Dix pour cent
Le bureau des légendes
Plan Coeur
YouTube channels:
innerFrench (for language learners)
Français avec Pierre (for language learners)
Histoire appliquée (interesting talks about history)
I don’t think you can listen to Brazilian popular music without recognizing the endless great albums by Jorge Ben, Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque and Caetano Veloso, or at least something Tom Jobim or Vinicius Moraes contributed to composing, but there are decades and decades of rock and jazz and samba and traditional musicians who left a big impression I could make a ridiculously long list of.
I will say though, if you haven’t heard these already, take a listen to Os Mutantes’ first album from 1968, “Acabou Chorare” by os Novos Baianos, Cartola’s 1976 album, and “O Inimitável” by Roberto Carlos (before he turned into a crooner).
I haven’t seen that much of 3% but it’s so interesting and engaging. The SciFi channel used to have shows kind of like this before they started rebranding it. I feel like in general Latin America’s movies have always been a way more serious stage for acting and storywriting than its TV and it’s nice to see that even out on an international stage with stuff like 3% and Narcos.
