I figured it would be a good idea to use my first entry to introduce myself and talk about my relationship with each of the languages I'm learning.
My name is Juliana, I'm 21 years old and I was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I am currently majoring in French and Portuguese (more on that another time). I'm a massive language nerd, my favorite subject at Uni is Linguistics. I also research French literature, more specifically Marcel Pagnol's autobiographies.
Although I absolutely love learning languages, I struggle with language anxiety and it's the worst. I'm working hard to overcome that and I've found building strong friendships with people I can feel comfortable with helps the most, so... please do reach out if you'd like me as your friend! Some of my other interests besides languages are politics/human rights, food and music.
English
I started learning English with my mother when I was about 5 years old, just very simple words and expressions. Once I learned how to read, I began reading some English comics and textbooks we had at home. Learning through exposure was great but it took a very long time. I only started considering myself fluent at 13 years old, when I realised I could watch TV shows and films without subtitles.
French
I fell in love with French the first time I heard it. I started learning it for fun through apps and Youtube videos when I was 15 or 16. At 18, when it was time to choose my major, I had 2 options in mind: English and French. I decided to go with French and I don't regret that decision, but it did kind of ruin the fun for me, LOL. I'm on my 3rd year now and even though my relationship with French has changed a lot, nothing could make me dislike it. It is a beautiful language and I'm working hard to become fluent in it. I consider myself an intermediate (probably B1? B2?)
Korean
I started learning Korean when I was 17. I was literally the only one in my group of friends who wasn't into Kpop or dramas. One day, one of my friends offered to teach me 한글 during maths class and I absolutely loved the shapes and the sounds of the language. I had been wanting to learn an Asian language for some time and even tried learning Japanese but I had a lot more friends who were interested in Korean, so I decided to drop Japanese and give Korean a chance instead. It is a lovely language and I've made amazing friends thanks to it. I am intermediate (B1 or TOPIK level 3), but one of my main goals for this year is to pass TOPIK level 4 (B2).
(UPDATE: New languages below, haha)
Swedish
I had been wanting to learn a Scandinavian language since 2017 but, at the time, I had Norwegian in mind. After some research, I decided to give Swedish a try instead for 2 reasons: Norwegian dialects are very complex and the fact that Sweden is the EU, Norway isn't. Turns out I absolutely fell in love with Swedish and I'm having the best time studying it. It's very complex and nothing like I've ever studied before. I can't wait to write my first entry in Swedish here!
Spanish
As a Portuguese speaker, I always felt like I could understand enough Spanish to get by. I listen to a lot of latin music, I have pretty good listening skills and not a lot of problems communicating. However, I recently made a Venezuelan friend and she really inspired me to try and go a bit further, which to my surprise, has been really challenging. I'm not doing much active learning though, at the moment I'm focusing on reading and listening things which don't feel much like studying, but I do plan on getting a textbook in the future.
--
And that's about it for now! If you have any questions or comments to make, please feel free to do so below.
Have a good day! x
Hey Juliana! Welcome to Journaly and I must say, by your writing style, I would have thought you were a native English speaker. ...and I'm not just saying that, I genuinely had no feedback. Ha! Your intro was quite interesting and your thoughts flowed so well. Looking forward to seeing you around!
Yeah totally agree with @Candance, your English is absolutely flawless, huge well done to you! If I can reach the same level in French in a year or so I'd be very happy :)
@Candace, that's very sweet of you to say! Thanks a bunch, see you around!!!
@Brady Aw, thank you! Best of luck in your French journey, I struggle a lot with it myself hah But we'll get there eventually. x
Your English is great! I agree with you completely about anxiety with languages. One of the reasons I decided to start learning a foreign language to a high level was because I knew that it would also give me more confidence and make me more comfortable making mistakes.
@thirteen Thanks!!! You're sweet. And yeah, it can be really frustrating... We can't let that stop us from learning, though!
Hey, Juliana. Good job. This language anxiety is a real thing. I struggle with it too. I started to learn English by myself because I wanted to understand what my teenage idols were saying ahahah. I know I can have conversations (not 100% correct but...), read and listen to things almost with no problems. But most of the time I feel like I don't know anything and don't give myself the credits I deserve for my knowledge. This quarantine, when I started to learn French and also started to go deep with my Spanish, I realized I can change that. Giving myself a little bit of credit for my effort and giving me a chance to having conversations and making mistakes. It's a long journey but at least we're trying, no? Lots of love.
Hi Juliana, welcome to Journaly! I agree with everyone else who's already commented that your English is fantastic :) It is very clear how much effort you have put into your language learning. I totally understand what you mean with language anxiety (I get it sometimes too), so I hope that having all of this wonderful feedback can help to lower any of the anxiety you feel around English in particular. I wish you the best with your goals in 2021!
Hi @Bruna!!! Thanks for taking the time to write this comment, I really appreciate it. I totally know what you mean, we tend to pay more attention to our flaws rather than our accomplishments.... I'm so glad you are now giving yourself the credit you so rightfully deserve!!! Well done, your English is really really good :D
@rhys_jasper Thank you so much for your comment and help! Very kind of you. Have a great weekend and best of luck with your 2021 goals as well!!!
Your English is as good as that of a native speaker. I am trying to learn portuguese and hope to have some tips from you.
Hi Juliana! What a great post! I couldn't tell that English isn't your native language. Really incredible writing!!
@Guru Thank you very much!!! And sure, I'll be very glad to give you tips on how to learn portuguese!
@Luv That's so sweet of you to say, thank you so very much<3
I just came here from a more recent comment of yours in a Korean post. You're so lucky to have reached Topik level 3 in only 3 years. That must have been a lot of hard work! Anyway, see you around!
@eco-erich Thank you very much for your comments on my entries! It means a lot. The youtube video you recommended is 10/10, enjoyed it very much! You're very kind, thank you.