Portuguese Year 1: Listening carefully and doing what is asked
Portuguese, Year 1 (Portugal): Listen to the end, keep who, what and where, pass on a message and follow instructions in order.
Listening well
Listening well means looking at the person who speaks, staying quiet until the end and keeping what matters most: who, what and where. If you are asked to pass on a message, you say the same thing in your own words. If you are given instructions, you do one at a time, in the order you heard them. And if someone asks you a question, you answer what was asked.
You only hear it once
When the teacher speaks, the words go by and do not stay on paper. So someone who listens to the end and keeps only what matters does not get lost. A message that was badly heard arrives at home mixed up, and an instruction that was badly heard makes you do the job the wrong way round. Listening well saves mistakes and shows respect for the person who is speaking.
Rita and the hat
The teacher tells a story: «A Rita perdeu o gorro no parque. O Tomás encontrou-o debaixo de um banco e devolveu-o.» (Rita lost her hat in the park. Tomás found it under a bench and gave it back.) Step 1: who? Rita and Tomás. Step 2: where? In the park. Step 3: what happened? Rita lost her hat and Tomás gave it back. Step 4: she asks «Quem encontrou o gorro?» (Who found the hat?) and you answer «Foi o Tomás.» (It was Tomás.) For a message you do the same: who, what, where.
Pretending you understood
Sometimes you do not understand an instruction and, so as not to look as if you do not know, you glance at a friend or do anything at all. That usually goes wrong. Asking for help is nothing to be ashamed of: you say «Pode repetir, por favor?» (Can you repeat, please?) or «Não percebi a segunda parte.» (I did not understand the second part.) Whoever asks understands better and gets it right the first time.
Where you listen like this
At home, when someone asks you to tell grandma that dinner is at eight. At school, when the teacher explains a game. In the street, when someone warns you of danger. On the phone, when you take a message. Everywhere, listening to the end and keeping the most important part avoids mistakes.
Test what you learned
The teacher is about to explain a game. What is the best way to listen?
- a) Talk to the friend next to me
- b) Look at her and listen until the end
- c) Start playing as soon as she says the name of the game
- d) Think about what I will do at break
Correct answer: b) Look at her and listen until the end — Yes: looking and waiting for the end lets you keep who, what and how.
You hear: «O Luís foi à padaria com o pai. Comprou pão e um bolo.» (Luís went to the bakery with his dad. He bought bread and a cake.) What did Luís buy?
- a) Bread and milk
- b) A cake and fruit
- c) Bread and a cake
- d) Only bread
Correct answer: c) Bread and a cake — Yes: those are the two things he bought, and you kept both.
The teacher gave three instructions and you did not understand the second one. What do you do?
- a) Ask her to repeat the second one
- b) Look at my friend and copy
- c) Do only the first and the third
- d) Do the second one any way I like
Correct answer: a) Ask her to repeat the second one — Yes: asking is how you understand, and a teacher is glad to repeat.
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