Hi, my name is Ed and in May last year, I received the result of my CAPLE[1] A2 Portuguese proficiency exam – Bom – a pass – hooray. Since that date, I’ve made sure I listen to the news, read and chat whenever I can to keep my Portuguese going. I accept that I’ll never be fluent, but I think this is pretty normal for anyone learning another language later in life.
My first Portuguese course was at the Centro de Línguas de Lagos in November 2016 – the beginners’ course – which was taught by Sónia. Over the next 2 years, I worked my way through the school courses (taught by Sónia and Pedro) until I reached the A2 level in November 2018. I was tempted to take the A2 exam at that point but hesitated as I was wanting to gain more confidence listening and speaking the language. These two elements of the language are the most difficult to learn, at least that’s my experience, especially as everyone here in the Algarve happily defaults to English as soon as you stumble.
Covid didn’t help and work got in the way. I was also working on academic projects so, sometimes, it was easier to push learning Portuguese into the background. I found myself having peaks of enthusiasm, followed by periods of nothing.
Finally, frustrated with myself, I took the decision to take the A2 exam – I needed a deadline. So, to help with my speaking and listening skills, and to provide a degree of confidence and reassurance, I took some private lessons with Pedro at the Centro de Línguas de Lagos, not a huge number, but enough to get myself talking with a degree of confidence.
I booked the exam, which took place in Faro in the February. The exam is in four parts. The reading comprehension and writing elements I found OK, but you need to practice using test papers. The listening exam was horrible (other attendees thought the same that day) – and the speaking was difficult too for the examiner spoke quietly and that made things more difficult for me. I left Faro that day thinking if I’d passed, it would be a miracle.
Happily, the result was a ‘good’ pass – and a big thank you to everyone at the Centro de Línguas de Lagos for all your help. It had taken me 7 years, of course it doesn’t need to, but that is not important now.
[1] Centro De Avaliação E Certificação De Português Língua Estrangeira – CAPLE – https://caple.letras.ulisboa.pt