@Celio De Paula Souza Celiooooo!! I’m so happy you’re here. Look at you recording these videos and bring brave enough to continue. That is already a good step towards being more disciplined 🎉 Pronunciation tip: “Curious” Let’s practice this word by breaking it into syllables: CU-RI-OUS. Pay attention to the first syllable and try to keep the pronunciation smooth. Practice saying the word slowly first, then gradually increase your speed until it feels natural. A more natural way to say “com a idade” At one point, you used the expression “with age.” This expression is grammatically correct, but depending on the context, there may be a more natural way to express your idea. For example, you could say: “As I grow older, I believe this will get better.” À medida que eu envelheço, acredito que isso vai melhorar. Keep practicing, Célio! The more you challenge yourself to express your thoughts in different ways, the more confident and fluent you’ll become. You’re doing great!

@Celio De Paula Souza you’re doing amazing!! Yes, that is discipline! And discipline will take you very far!!

@Celio De Paula Souza WOW, Célio! When I saw 11 minutes, I literally thought, “What is he talking about?” You got me curious! And I watched your entire video. You know what I found so interesting? You described something that happened almost unexpectedly. Something you couldn’t quite believe: you suddenly realized you were speaking English, even though you used to think you couldn’t. And you know what? Something similar happened to me too! I think one of the most interesting things about learning a language is that we don’t always realize how much we’re actually acquiring. English isn’t something where you wake up every day and suddenly notice a huge difference. It’s a process of doing small things consistently, day after day. That’s exactly why our motto here is: Consistency today, fluency tomorrow. And I think your experience perfectly summarizes what that means. When you commit to something consistently, you don’t always see immediate results. You keep showing up, practicing, making mistakes, and learning. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, everything starts coming together. It’s almost like the results appear all at once, and you can’t even explain where all that progress came from. LOOK AT YOU! Less than a month ago, you couldn’t record a one-minute video. Today, you recorded ELEVEN MINUTES! And let me tell you something: this was a really good video. You made very few mistakes, communicated your ideas beautifully, and kept going for eleven whole minutes. You’re becoming a very confident communicator, Célio. You are truly one of my proudest students. It’s such a pleasure having you in Fluent & Free and being able to follow your progress. And I’m telling you, I know that at some point in the future, you’re going to experience this same feeling again. People will ask you, “Oh my God, how did you learn to speak English so well?” Of course, you’ll remember everything you’ve been doing here, all the videos, all the practice, all the feedback. But explaining how you got there might actually be difficult.

@Thalyta Lima Thalyta, there’s something I really want to share with you because I think it’s very connected to what you described in your video. During my master’s degree, I actually defended a thesis about being yourself while speaking another language. And I chose this topic because I know how much of a struggle this can be for so many language learners. Sometimes, when we’re speaking another language, we feel like we’re a different person. We don’t express ourselves the same way, we can’t always find the words we want, our personality doesn’t come through the way it does in our native language, and sometimes we even feel less intelligent or less confident. I honestly believe that you can only fully overcome this when you reach a very high level of fluency. Today, I can say that I feel comfortable being myself in English, but even now, sometimes, I still struggle with that feeling. It’s almost like having two different personalities! But I want you to understand that this is part of the process. You’re not losing your personality. You’re simply still developing the language skills that will allow you to express everything that’s already inside you. And I promise you, that level of confidence is achievable! A FEW CORRECTIONS: 1. “I raised in Brazil” → “I was raised in Brazil.” Remember that raise in this context is passive. Someone raised you, so we need the verb to be. Example: - I was raised in Brazil. - I was born and raised in Brazil. 2. “I have a hard time to learn” → “I have a hard time learning.” After the expression have a hard time, we use a verb ending in -ING. Examples: - I have a hard time understanding fast English. - I have a hard time expressing myself. - I have a hard time remembering new vocabulary. 3. “My biggest struggle was to find…” → “My biggest struggle was finding…” Here, using the -ING form sounds more natural. Example: - My biggest struggle was finding the right words. - My biggest struggle was understanding native speakers.

@Silvia Martins I use it all the time lol

@Luciano Paes I’ve never watched this movie!!! Now you just made me wanna do it so bad! I have a friend who loves this movie also!

@Emmanuelle Groszewicz Hi, Manu! I loved listening to you talk about your favorite food! Guess what? My favorite food is stroganoff too, especially beef stroganoff! We have that in common! I have just two small corrections for you today: 1. “All foods” → “All food” You said “all foods,” but food is usually an uncountable noun in English, so we normally don’t add an -s. For example: - I like all food. - I love Brazilian food. - My favorite food is stroganoff. We can use foods when we’re talking about different types of food, but in your sentence, all food sounds more natural. 2. “China food” → “Chinese food” When we talk about food from a specific country, we normally use the adjective that describes its nationality. For example: - China → Chinese food - Brazil → Brazilian food - Italy → Italian food - Mexico → Mexican food So, instead of saying “China food,” you should say “Chinese food.” Great job, Manu! Keep practicing and sharing your thoughts in English. You’re doing great!

@Regina Lacerda Hi Regina! I’m so happy you discovered that sushi is really good because, honestly, it really is! I love sushi too! I have a few pronunciation tips for you: 1. Favorite Pay attention to the pronunciation of this word. It’s favorite (FEI-vrit). Try not to add an extra syllable. Practice saying it naturally! 2. Lasagna This word is pronounced lasagna (la-ZÂ-nha). Pay attention to the middle sound, which is similar to the Portuguese “nh” in the word “lasanha.” 3. Vegetable This is another word I’d like you to focus on. It’s pronounced vegetable (VÉJ-ta-bol). Notice that we don’t pronounce every vowel separately. It has only three syllables: VEJ-TA-BLE. Try practicing these three words a few times, paying attention to the sounds and syllables. One more tip about vocabulary! When you wanted to say that you discovered how good sushi is, you could express that more naturally by saying: - I recently found out how good it is. - I recently realized how good it is. Both expressions sound very natural! Great job, Regina! I love seeing you sharing your experiences and becoming more comfortable expressing yourself in English. Keep it up!

I personally don’t like translating “two peas in a pod” as “farinha do mesmo saco” because I think that expression has a somewhat negative connotation in Portuguese. It almost sounds like you’re saying two people are from the same crowd, or even the same bad kind. But “two peas in a pod” is actually a sweet expression! It’s used when two people are very much alike, when they have similar personalities, think alike, or just naturally get along. And it’s meant in a positive way, not a negative one. Actually, one of my favorite poems in the book Brown Girl Dreaming uses this expression. Jacqueline Woodson talks about how she and her Grandpa Gunnar were like two peas in a pod. It’s such a beautiful way to describe the special connection between two people who are so much alike. So, I would translate it more like “somos muito parecidos”, “somos a cara um do outro”, or “somos praticamente iguais”, depending on the context.