Olá! Chamo-me Emma :)
I established Portuguese Language Lessons in 2010.
Here is how it all started
Other ‘estrangeiros’ - foreigners - living in Portugal were telling me of their struggle to learn the language and difficult learning experiences. (European Portuguese is particularly difficult to learn for many learners, the pronunciation and hearing the words correctly in particular). As well as that, I was always being asked: how did you learn to speak such good Portuguese? A seed was planted. Ready for a change, I decided to put my teaching skills and many years of experience to good use and started to teach Portuguese.
I grew up in the UK and learned Portuguese as an adult by attending classes and courses and doing a huge amount of self-study alongside putting it all into practice. I draw on my own (and my students’) experiences of learning Portuguese as well as similarities and differences between English and Portuguese (and other languages) to help others to enjoy learning and make the classes as relevant and efficient as possible.
I continuously keep myself up to date on the latest learning methods and materials, having recently completed a course at the University of Coimbra (May 20222). I am particularly interested in how we learn languages, the processes and the difficulties we encounter in learning as adults.
I have built up an enormous bank of resources over the years and have invested in lots of academic materials and text books. As a result we offer a wide variety of lessons at different levels to suit all our students.
My greatest reward is students sharing how they are able to confidently engage in Portuguese on a daily basis. And here, to witness how students integrate into life and their communities in Portugal.
Another great source of inspiration is my eight year old son. I watch him creatively make up words, using the knowledge he has of both English and Portuguese. It is fascinating how he picks and chooses from each language. He is becoming quite the skilled “switcher”!
A lot has changed since I started out, the 2020 pandemic saw the whole world move online and I had to too. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We moved all our classes online and “I” became “Team” as 5 fantastic teaching professionals have joined me. I feel so lucky to share my great enthusiasm for teaching Portuguese with these talented teachers on my team. Additionally, I now have great help with all the back office stuff (yay! Someone who likes admin!).
Stand by to get introduced to everyone properly!
Fast forward to today
We are welcoming new students from all over the world: India, South Africa, Australia, Russia, China, the United States, Canada, all parts of Europe and Portugal too 😊.
Our students can chose from a wide range of courses, selecting the learning option of their preference: self-study, groups or private lessons.
Motivated students can fast-track learning by joining Pronunciation Masterclasses, Chat groups and/or the monthly Book club.
We are planning to add more classes and we are looking forward to start teaching in the ‘real’ world again!