Since Adir has been giving some tips  recently about learning techniques, today I have one of my own to offer.

We all learn languages in different ways: some people are more visual, while others learn more easily by listening. One of the ways I learn best is learning by association: remembering a word or phrase based on the situation or context that I learned it in.

For example, let’s take the slang phrase estar uma zona, which means “it’s a mess” or “it’s chaos.” While passing through a crowded, hectic, and hot train station, my husband exclaimed, “Tá uma zona aqui!” While it wasn’t necessarily the first time I’d heard the expression, it stuck in my mind because of my association with the chaotic station. Similarly, sometimes when I use a word or phrase in Portuguese or Spanish, I’ll even remember the situation where I learned it, be it in a classroom (like pêssego, one of the few words that stuck with me from my first Portuguese class) or while communicating with native speakers.

That’s why I try to use useful or memorable example sentences when teaching new vocabulary or expressions here on Portuguese Blog, so that you will hopefully remember the new words in context. But you can also take what you learn here and use it so that you’ll remember by association, like taking a new slang phrase and using it when chatting online with Brazilian friends, or by saying the Portuguese words out loud for ingredients when you cook.

When learning a new language, you have to be creative, especially when you’re not in an immersion situation. Learning by association doesn’t work for everyone, but it can be really useful and sometimes more fun that using more academic methods like flash cards or drills.