Native speaker with international background teaches Portuguese in a fun and dynamic way!

Learn more about Sofia

• Do you speak this language fluently because of your origins or because a teacher inspired you to learn?

  Portuguese is my first language, but my multicultural heritage is one of the reasons that inspired me to learn English and other languages as well, such as German, Italian and Romanian. I have been studying German since I was a kid and two of my grandparents are Italians, so Italian is in my blood. My experience with Romanian is due to the incredible experience I had studying in Romania for some months. One of my aspirations is to be as culturally knowledgeable as possible and that includes being a polyglot.

• Can you name a living, historical or fictional character that you think is the emblematic representative of the language's culture?

  In Brazil, I believe Machado de Assis is the best example of someone who can skillfully deal with the Portuguese language. 'Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas' is a smart and catching book where a dead man narrates his own life. It's the best one he wrote in my opinion. As for the English language, I would definitely pick Sherlock Holmes as the language representative. I'm a huge fan of the books and of the cinematic adaptations as well. Such an intriguing and admiring character!

• Is there a typical word, phrase, tradition or behavior in the language that you particularly like?

  I think Brazilians have the best expressions, there's always a different idiom to express how we feel or think in a fun way! We actually have some sentences that are kind of counter intuitive and make no sense if thought literally, but they are fun to use. One of them is 'nem te conto', which means 'I won't tell you' but it is in fact used to start telling a story or gossip.
  
  In English it would be the expression 'Little did I know' because I usually would like to be more aware of what the future holds for me, but I don't, so I use this expression a lot.

• Why does speaking this language matter to you?

  Portuguese is such a rich language and each of its variations, accents and slangs paint a picture of the people who speak it. Regarding the English language, I can say that it has opened many doors for me and I can see that it is just what is missing for some people to have their dreams become true.

• What is the main difficulty in learning this language and what can help the process of learning?

  Portuguese has many verb tenses and conjugations, which need to be learnt progressively, but slowly. My advice is to stick to the basic ones until knowing them fluently before getting to more advanced tenses.
  
  As for English, the most difficult thing is pronunciation because of the lack of rules and variety of sound the same group of letters might have. Learning or improving it requires the practice of mirroring the teacher or anyone else that one hears speaking English, which means, to copy their pronunciation and think of it while you're listening to them talk.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your language learning or your days at school.

  I remember two times when, as a language student, I have had some discussions with teachers because they said I was pronouncing something in a way and it should be pronounced in a different way. But I honestly did not see the difference. Now, as a teacher I have the same discussions with my students and I realized that it is not a black-and-white situation. Our perception of sounds depends on a couple of things, including our first language and we might not even have come across some sounds in our lives. I was very surprised, for example, when I discovered that the words 'fill' and 'feel' don't sound the same!

• How has travel or a specific trip helped you to increase your skill and knowledge of the language?

  I have spent some time in Portugal and there my perception of the Portuguese language expanded so much. I learned new words and expressions and was surprised by the way some words are pronounced. Also, I had fun noticing how some Brazilian curse words are normal words in Portugal and vise-versa.
  
  On the other hand, when I was in Ireland I created the habit of using every new word I learnt at school outside it. I cannot emphasize enough how the quality of my speaking had improved because of me doing it. I got more confident when speaking because the words were fresh in my mind and that made me not forget them as well.

• What makes you a Superprof in language?

  I am a teacher but also a student so every time I learn a new methodology or technique I bring it to my lessons. My knowledge of multiple languages allows me to help students from different backgrounds to connect with English or Portuguese and get one step closer to being fluent in it.