Today, you will learn how to develop your conversational skills using an imitation exercise, which is my favorite way to study languages.
I’ve prepared a PDF with some exercises to help you practice what you learn in this lesson. Fill out the form below to download your PDF.
Let’s get started!
The imitation exercise has helped me so much in improving the languages that I’ve learned. In my opinion, imitation is the best exercise to improve pronunciation, improve your accent, increase your vocabulary, and practice speaking, even when you don’t have anyone to talk to.
Today, we’re going to do this exercise together. I have divided this activity into 4 parts, and I’ll guide you all step by step.
Step 1 – Listen and read
Since we are getting close to the end of the year, our topic of conversation today will be about the end of the year holidays, Christmas, New Year’s, and other celebrations. Since I’m not going to Brazil this year, I’m going to share with you all what I did last year. It will be good practice for you on how to use verbs in the past tense.
In this first part of the exercise, you should simply listen and read the text closely. You don’t need to do anything else.
Are you ready? Let’s get started. Play the audio and read the text.
No ano passado, eu passei o Natal com a minha família em Florianópolis, no sul do Brasil. Foi um dia muito especial para mim porque eu não passava o Natal com a minha família havia muitos anos. Toda minha família mais próxima estava lá! Minha mãe, meus três irmãos, minhas cunhadas e meus sobrinhos. Minha mãe preparou uma ceia de Natal deliciosa, mas sem o tradicional peru porque ela é vegetariana. Nós comemos muito e passamos horas conversando. Foi maravilhoso!
Depois, meu marido e eu fomos para Indaiatuba, no interior de São Paulo, para passar o Ano Novo com a família dele. Meus sogros prepararam uma ceia de Ano Novo especial. Como bons brasileiros, nós comemos lentilha para atrair prosperidade, e quando o relógio bateu meia-noite, comemos 12 uvas para atrair sorte! Eu não acredito em superstições, mas essas tradições são divertidas! Eu amo passar tempo com minha família. E você? O que você fez no último Natal e Ano Novo? E quais são seus planos para este ano?
Last year, I spent Christmas with my family in Florianopolis, in southern Brazil. It was a very special day for me because I hadn’t spent Christmas with my family for many years. All of my close family were there! My mom, my three brothers, my sisters-in-law, and my nieces and nephews. My mom prepared a delicious Christmas dinner, but without the traditional turkey because she is vegetarian. We ate a lot and spent hours talking. It was wonderful!
Afterwards, my husband and I went to Indaiatuba, in the interior of Sao Paulo, to spend New Year’s with his family. My in-laws prepared a special New Year’s Eve dinner. Like good Brazilians, we ate lentils to attract prosperity, and when the clock struck midnight, we ate 12 grapes to attract good luck! I don’t believe in superstitions, but these traditions are fun! I love spending time with my family. And how about you? What did you do last Christmas and New Year’s? And what are your plans for this year?
Step 2 – Listen, pause, and repeat
Let’s move on to the second part of this exercise. In this second part, you should repeat aloud everything that I say.
We’re going to listen to the same story, but this time, I’m going to add a pause after each sentence so you can have time to repeat after me.
In this part of the exercise, it’s important for you to imitate how I’m speaking. Try to imitate my pronunciation and intonation.
Are you ready? Then, let’s go! Play the audio and repeat after me.
No ano passado, eu passei o Natal com a minha família em Florianópolis, no sul do Brasil. Foi um dia muito especial para mim porque eu não passava o Natal com a minha família havia muitos anos. Toda minha família mais próxima estava lá! Minha mãe, meus três irmãos, minhas cunhadas e meus sobrinhos. Minha mãe preparou uma ceia de Natal deliciosa, mas sem o tradicional peru porque ela é vegetariana. Nós comemos muito e passamos horas conversando. Foi maravilhoso!
Depois, meu marido e eu fomos para Indaiatuba, no interior de São Paulo, para passar o Ano Novo com a família dele. Meus sogros prepararam uma ceia de Ano Novo especial. Como bons brasileiros, nós comemos lentilha para atrair prosperidade, e quando o relógio bateu meia-noite, comemos 12 uvas para atrair sorte! Eu não acredito em superstições, mas essas tradições são divertidas! Eu amo passar tempo com minha família. E você? O que você fez no último Natal e Ano Novo? E quais são seus planos para este ano?
Last year, I spent Christmas with my family in Florianopolis, in southern Brazil. It was a very special day for me because I hadn’t spent Christmas with my family for many years. All of my close family were there! My mom, my three brothers, my sisters-in-law, and my nieces and nephews. My mom prepared a delicious Christmas dinner, but without the traditional turkey because she is vegetarian. We ate a lot and spent hours talking. It was wonderful!
Afterwards, my husband and I went to Indaiatuba, in the interior of Sao Paulo, to spend New Year’s with his family. My in-laws prepared a special New Year’s Eve dinner. Like good Brazilians, we ate lentils to attract prosperity, and when the clock struck midnight, we ate 12 grapes to attract good luck! I don’t believe in superstitions, but these traditions are fun! I love spending time with my family. And how about you? What did you do last Christmas and New Year’s? And what are your plans for this year?
Step 3 – Shadowing: listen and speak at the same time.
Let’s now move on to the third part of this exercise. In this part, you should repeat aloud everything that I say at the same time as me. You should listen to me and say what you’re hearing at the same time. This exercise is called “shadowing.”
Shadowing is much more difficult than the previous steps, but it’s an amazing exercise to develop your fluency in Portuguese.
Are you ready? Then, let’s go! Play the audio and repeat along with me.
No ano passado, eu passei o Natal com a minha família em Florianópolis, no sul do Brasil. Foi um dia muito especial para mim porque eu não passava o Natal com a minha família havia muitos anos. Toda minha família mais próxima estava lá! Minha mãe, meus três irmãos, minhas cunhadas e meus sobrinhos. Minha mãe preparou uma ceia de Natal deliciosa, mas sem o tradicional peru porque ela é vegetariana. Nós comemos muito e passamos horas conversando. Foi maravilhoso!
Depois, meu marido e eu fomos para Indaiatuba, no interior de São Paulo, para passar o Ano Novo com a família dele. Meus sogros prepararam uma ceia de Ano Novo especial. Como bons brasileiros, nós comemos lentilha para atrair prosperidade, e quando o relógio bateu meia-noite, comemos 12 uvas para atrair sorte! Eu não acredito em superstições, mas essas tradições são divertidas! Eu amo passar tempo com minha família. E você? O que você fez no último Natal e Ano Novo? E quais são seus planos para este ano?
Last year, I spent Christmas with my family in Florianopolis, in southern Brazil. It was a very special day for me because I hadn’t spent Christmas with my family for many years. All of my close family were there! My mom, my three brothers, my sisters-in-law, and my nieces and nephews. My mom prepared a delicious Christmas dinner, but without the traditional turkey because she is vegetarian. We ate a lot and spent hours talking. It was wonderful!
Afterwards, my husband and I went to Indaiatuba, in the interior of Sao Paulo, to spend New Year’s with his family. My in-laws prepared a special New Year’s Eve dinner. Like good Brazilians, we ate lentils to attract prosperity, and when the clock struck midnight, we ate 12 grapes to attract good luck! I don’t believe in superstitions, but these traditions are fun! I love spending time with my family. And how about you? What did you do last Christmas and New Year’s? And what are your plans for this year?
Step 4 – Practice talking about yourself
This last step isn’t exactly an imitation exercise, but you can use my story as a model to talk about yourself. It’s highly important that you practice how to talk about your experiences, so that you feel confident having a conversation in Portuguese.
I recommend that you get a paper and pen and write a small paragraph talking about last year’s end of the year holidays. Answer the questions:
– Onde você passou o Natal e o Ano Novo? Com quem? O que você fez? (Where did you spend Christmas and New Year’s? With whom? What did you do?)
Afterwards, write another paragraph talking about your plans for the upcoming end of the year holidays. Answer the questions:
– Você vai passar o Natal com a sua família? Você tem planos para o Ano Novo? (Are you going to spend Christmas with your family? Do you have plans for New Year’s?)
After that, read your text aloud a few times until you feel comfortable speaking about the subject without reading it.
This exercise will help you feel more confident when you have the opportunity to have a conversation with a native speaker.
Remember to download your PDF so you can practice what you learned in this lesson.
Boas Festas! Happy Holidays!
Sua professora,
Virginia
