Even if you have only mastered the greetings and introductions section of a Portuguese course, you can make friends both on holiday and online.With friends to help, your new language learning will accelerate.
Tandem learning is really easy nowadays thanks to the World Wide Web. You can start by writing mostly in your native language then gradually add more and more Portuguese.
A good starting point could be the answers to the FAQs at "http://www.slf.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/email/..." The question answered here is whether tandem learning is good for beginners too.
At "http://www.slf.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/" you can click on tandem partners and find out how to join the English Portuguese forum.
It is expertly-run, not difficult and you can sit quietly absorbing your emails until you feel confident enough to join in.
Join a Portuguese penpal email list or find a penpal already looking for a friend at "http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/9501/..." .This lists both female and male penpals, gives ages and location plus interests.
Two other new email clubs have been started at Yahoo. At "http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/portuguesee...", you will find the longer-running club, Portuguese E-mail Pals. For Portuguese Canadians, there is the Portuguese Canadian Zone now at "http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/portuguesec..." You will have to join Yahoo to participate, however. If, like me, you worry about email clubs, you could always register with a more anonymous identity and a new email address simply for club mail.
The Parlo language learning site,"http://www.parlo.com/", which can be accessed in Portuguese although it is not one of the languages taught there, also has a Clube de Correspondentes. The application form is easy to understand even in Portuguese and there is a selection of Portuguese penpals to choose from.
Fun site of the week has to be Terra Brazil's education site at "http://www.terra.com.br/educacao/". Their Apprenda Brincando (meaning Learn through playing) idea is brilliantly successful. Download free ebooks for children--or even for yourself. There are well-loved fairy tales--Pinóquio and Branca de Neves e os Sete Anôes (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) among them--as well as more modern short stories.
Try the crosswords (palavrascruzadas) in the same section though they may need a bit of thought and dictionary work from intermediate users.
Beginners can gain confidence by trying the Jogos (pronounced Shogosh and meaning games). You can go straight to the games site at "http://www.terra.com.br/kids"
There are Ache a diferencia problems (pronounced ashi a deeferensia and meaning Find the difference). You can cheat your way out of trouble quite satisfactorily when it gets beyond you. There are letter soups and.........
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