Portuguese Year 4: Listening and noting the essentials
Portuguese, Year 4 (Portugal): Listen with a goal, keep what answers it, leave the extras out and note it in a list, a table, a diagram or a drawing.
The essential and the extra
When you listen, you do not keep everything: you keep what serves your goal. What answers what you need is the essential; the rest is extra (acessório), for example a curious detail. Then note the essentials in the way that helps most: a list of key words, a table with columns, a diagram with arrows or a quick drawing.
What you hear does not come back
You can re-read a text; what someone says goes by and does not come back. So your note has to be useful. Each technique suits something different: a list for loose items (what to bring); a table for data you compare (day, time, place); a diagram for an order or a cause (first… then…); a drawing for a shape or a place.
Returning books: a table
The librarian says: «Amanhã a biblioteca fecha às 17 horas. Devolvam os livros na mesa da entrada e tragam o cartão de leitor. E as novidades chegam na quinta-feira!» (Tomorrow the library closes at 5 pm. Return the books at the table by the entrance and bring your reader's card. And the new books arrive on Thursday!) Your goal: to return your books. Step 1: ask yourself when, where and what to bring. Step 2: the essentials are tomorrow · 5 pm · table by the entrance · reader's card. Step 3: the extra is the news about Thursday. Step 4: note it in a table: When: tomorrow, by 5 pm | Where: entrance table | Bring: card and books.
More words is not a better note
Many people think that whoever writes more catches more. But the page fills up and you can no longer see what matters. Another mistake is to think the extra is rubbish: it depends on your goal. If you want to know when the new books arrive, “Thursday” becomes essential. So decide your goal before listening, and redo your note if the goal changes.
Messages, explanations and games
You use this when someone leaves a phone message, when the teacher explains an assignment, when you hear the weather forecast, when a coach explains a play or when someone dictates a recipe. A list for messages, a table for timetables, a diagram for an order, a drawing for a route. Whoever noted the essentials can later tell others what they heard.
Test what you learned
You will hear three bus timetables (day, time, stop) and you need to compare them. Which way of noting helps most?
- a) A drawing of a bus
- b) A list of loose words
- c) A table with columns: day, time, stop
- d) Copy everything in the order I hear it
Correct answer: c) A table with columns: day, time, stop — Yes: each column is one kind of data and each row one bus, so you compare at a glance.
The teacher says: «Na visita, tragam lanche e chapéu. O autocarro sai às 9 horas. O guia chama-se Pedro.» (On the trip, bring a snack and a hat. The bus leaves at 9. The guide is called Pedro.) Goal: what to bring and when to leave. Best note?
- a) lanche · chapéu · 9 h
- b) guia · Pedro
- c) lanche · chapéu
- d) visita de estudo · lanche · chapéu · autocarro · 9 h · guia · Pedro
Correct answer: a) lanche · chapéu · 9 h — Yes: it has what to bring and the time. The guide's name is extra, so it stays out.
Marta says: “What is extra never matters, so I always throw it away.” Is she right?
- a) Yes, the extra is useless in every situation
- b) No: what is extra depends on my goal and can become essential
- c) No, because I should note everything I hear
- d) Yes, because only the first sentence matters
Correct answer: b) No: what is extra depends on my goal and can become essential — Yes: if your goal changes, for example to find out when the new books arrive, that detail becomes essential.
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