All of our memberships include this story and all of the others. (We never restrict access to content, period)
We've REMADE the original teaching "novela" (story) that started it all: O Encontro (the Encounter). We wanted to update it because our teaching approach has evolved so much since the original was first published in 2008. We've redone the first 15 chapters of this classic: Bigger and better, and in HD.
Paul, an American journalist arrives in Rio de Janeiro to write a story about Ilha Grande (the Big Island - an island located off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state). Lucky for him his Portuguese skills are about to take a big leap forward as his project assistant (Raquel) is a local native - a "Carioca" (born in Rio de Janeiro's heart).
The format is our most current. Vocabulary is presented first, then the dialog followed by grammar and pronunciation teaching. Reviews & Quizzes are placed at specific intervals designed to keep you from advancing too quickly. The (only) downside to teaching with stories is the tendency to want to race ahead and consume the story. The quizzes serve as brakes as well as an opportunity for the student to practice out loud.
All vocab sessions now use the new spaced-interval-repetition method. We serve you words from the current dialog, plus missed words from previous dialogs, plus calculated repeats of correctly answered words. Words are served until_they_are_committed_to memory. If you're using a different vocab method that does not allow you to speak the words: PARE! (stop). The connection formed in your head is much stronger when you are forced to vocalize it.
The 1st play of every dialog is done with English subtitles ON. The goal is to understand the story and just hear the sound of the sentences. When you see the word on-screen and hear it simultaneously they become linked sub-consciously.
Repetition is the secret sauce. When you're repeating content that's not boring to watch you are much more likely to pay attention. Download links for the video, an mp3 version, and a PDF are provided on these dialog lessons.
Line-byline, I explain what you need to know. Sometimes you've seen something before and we're just reminding you - other times it's a new piece of grammar. In either case there are always links and reference materials at the end of the dialog script that will take you deeper. People often want a fixed study-list. My answer is this: Do you want to be told what to study or, do you want access to everything and a map that guides you to what you truly need? Everyone comes to the program with different abilities, capabilities, and experience. We don't provide a one-size fits all system.
We'll prompt you to speak some of the most useful phrases presented in the current dialog. Usually, ~3-5 phrases that cycle through until our Google-powered language monster says tudo bem!
Contextual grammar examples are proving to be the best approach for teaching grammar rules. The teaching video, as well as an mp3 audio-only version, are offered for download on these teaching lessons.
We pull out the core concepts and phrases from within the script that we want to emphasize and turn then into a sort of slow-motion mantra. A narrator will ask you to repeat certain things and make up others. This part does not rely on speech recognition but rather call-and-response to get you to interact. It's oddly addictive!
We're using all-quizzes here (no tests). Quizzes cycle through the ones you got wrong until they're corrected. As an option, they can be skipped as well. You can advance at will - even when there are some quiz questions you simply cannot get right 😉
Lots to download!
The best thing about studying offline is: NO INTERRUPTIONS. I cannot get a thing done with alert messages tempting me all the time. We've added a full stack of downloadable files: videos, mp3s, and PDFs are available for all the lessons. The audio-only versions are great for multi-tasking study, and PDFs of each dialog make it easy to review the written word. ***The 12-month and Lifetime memberships allow immediate download rights; shorter-term members can download after having been active at least 30 days.
