Student of the Semester: Summer 2024
As the Summer Semester is drawing to a close it’s time to reveal our Student of the Semester… Ruth!
Ruth was inspired to start learning Portuguese ahead of her honeymoon in Lisbon and Cascais! Since then she’s continued learning with us and been able to put her knowledge to the test on many Portuguese holidays!
We asked Ruth a few questions about her experience learning with us and her top tips for a successful language journey!
What made you start the classes at Lingo Flamingo?
Like a lot of people over the Covid years my partner and I hadn't been abroad on holiday for a number of years, and when we decided to get married in summer 2023 we booked our honeymoon in Lisbon and Cascais. I was so excited about it all that I thought it would be fun to learn some Portuguese in advance. I started the online class at Lingo Flamingo in January 23 and am still going a year and a half later!
Where did your language journey take you?
Well, we loved our first trip to Portugal so much that we visited again at Easter, this time to Porto (also great!) and we are going back to Lisbon and Cascais this summer. It was really good to be able to practise some of what I have learned and being able to try and speak in Portuguese was fun, I had varying responses to my attempts, but everyone was so friendly and I did get some tips and help with pronunciation from people I spoke to.
Do you have any tips for continued learning?
My main tip would be just to try and practise as much as you can, I use language app Duolingo for 5 mins every day and I spend time on the homework and videos that Paula shares with us on Padlet. I love playing word games on my phone, like Spelling Bee, and I recently found a Portuguese version that I have been playing badly!
How do you find the Lingo Flamingo classes?
I enjoy the class as it feels very relaxed and Paula is a friendly and welcoming tutor. I like the way we mix vocabulary and grammar etc, and the topics we do are repeated and woven back through the classes in different ways to help us revise. The online class is very convenient and an hour and a half is the perfect length to feel like you can get a lot done, but not long enough to get tiring.
When you’re not at Lingo Flamingo, what do you get up to?
I run my own woodcarving and foundry patternmaking business, so most of my time is spent in my workshop, and I am really happy pottering away in there. Outside of work I like to exercise and love taking care of my garden - food and drinks in the garden with friends can't be beaten really. Fingers crossed for some more sunny weather!
Thanks for speaking to us Ruth and good luck as you continue your language journey!