by Antonio Carlos Rix

Created on: March 05, 2008   Last Updated: October 03, 2011

Using the Bible to Learn Languages: Is That Possible?

There Are Many Interesting Ways of Leaning a New Language

Lets take Portuguese for example. It could be any language actually. I just know more about this one in terms of links, tips and so on that is why it will be my example target language.

First, some data:Portuguese ranks sixth among the world's languages in terms of the number of native speakers. More than 200 million people speak Portuguese today. So there is a market for Portuguese and opportunities related to its learning.

Now some history: Portuguese originates from the Iberian peninsula in southern Europe and is often described as an Iberian Romance language. There is a page from Wikipedia explains the language's roots in the Roman empire.

Today, like English, it has spread far beyond Europe, and in addition to being the official language of Portugal, it is also the official language in Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Sao Tome and Principe, and is spoken in many other countries. For example there is a Portuguese-speaking community in South Africa! (On that you may find out more here.)

Why learn other languages?  Knowing more languages will open more opportunities for you in terms of personal and work related matters. We use words to express ourselves, communicate. The more vocabulary you handle the better you express yourself, the better you understand the world around you, you can see more, grasp more of what is around you. So, clearly, if you have two languages you may double it all up, right?

Now, pratically speaking, if you are planning on going to a Portuguese-speaking country, for example, for whatever reason: on business, missionary work, or - better yet - for fun! Of course, you will enjoy much more your trip and benefit more from it also if you are able to communicate with the locals.

Where can I get help? Moving on, practicing is the most important part of the process of acquiring a language, any language. Now when you are in America, China or Lebanon it probably isn't that easy to find a native speaker to talk to, right? There are many places where you can read, listen and watch Portuguese in real time. (I found all the links I mention here on the web, so you can do the same for the language of your choice.)

Reading: Reading is a great way to acquire vocabulary and internalize grammar, the best kind of grammar actually is the empirical one - you know it is that way, but not necessarily

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