Hi, LoaDyron. Albion tongue student here, I understand your need of a quick word toolbox. I know how it feels been totally blank and unable to write a single whole sentence as a reflection of your thoughts. But my advice is not just collecting sets of phrases, but embedding them in your lexical brain (is it the occipital lobe?). The key, of course, is practice, time and having fun in between. Here's my totally disposable turbo-language-learning-for-writing program. Spoiler: My (Insert Language Here) Program (1) Be sistematic: Read a lot of English books that YOU LIKE (not the ones that you DON'T LIKE and that someone have force you to, because they are master pieces or something) and understand every single word in them. Sometimes one read unknown words that can be "understood" by context. Oh,Mmm... that X must mean Y, let's keep going. (MOOOOK) System Error. Our brain need to be properly shaped from the beginning, so... (2) Solve what you don't understand: Good English-Portuguese Dictionary under the pillow. Keep the pace you're confortable with. There's no need to learn every synonym of each unknown word, just focus in the meaning related to the context in which you've found that particular word and save it in memory... OR NOT. It doesn't matter if you keep searching the same word over and over again while reading the same book. This is totally normal (I hope so, otherwise, I'm a weird specimen). Understanding the sentence is fair enough, and you can go on reading. Your vocabulary will grow faster if you have fun learning. Eventualy, you'll notice that you can read one book without having to catch a glimpse at the dictionary at every page. You're the one deciding to go for... (3) Write Simple Stories / Notes / Thoughts: Anything you write (and that one can understand the next day) plays at your side. Again, have fun with it, but write ALWAYS respecting the rules: grammar and punctuation. Don't look for excellence, just challenge yourself whether you can write something you have in mind. Soon you'll be able to see what you're not able to say and why. If you identify your writing problem, then it's not a problem anymore, it just another challenge. You can work on it. (4) Read Differently: Pick some of your favourites again but don't pay more attention about WHAT the story's telling you than HOW the author is telling it. This is a matter of Learning How To Solve Every Problem That Has Been Solved. Think of particular sentences/expressions you like of your favourites and write them in Portuguese, but not to use them as a copy-and-paste resource. NEVER DO that. GET INSPIRED (not TRAPPED) by them. The activity is just write them in Portuguese the way you like it the most. Writing your own translations of some excerpts or short stories will help you to write your own thougts in English. (5) Have fun in this and other writing forums because I think writing is worth doing if there's something inside that drives you to even think about it. Cheers
Hey @LoaDyron! A fellow Portuguese speaker? Be very welcome. Not many of us here. I don't know what a "turn of phrase" is, can you believe it? Can you show me an example? Does it exist in Portuguese too?
Hey! Hello! Let me thank you for your time you had to stop on my post. A turn of phrase means a sentence that when you read, it's confusing, or makes no sense. Can be because of the structure because we Portuguese tend to think in a different way than English. It does exist in Portuguese, I can't say. I'm dealing with this kind of stuff as well. Sorry if I can't give an example Any doubts, we can give me a PM.
Ok, I get it now. Nope, you can't have that. When writing in English one has to think in English (the same applies to any other language, of course). It takes a lot of reading and practice to get there. But hey, if you ever decide to write in Portuguese, let me know.
Oh, and yes, we do have a name for it in Portuguese. It's called "tradução à letra". Now that I'm thinking in Portuguese I can't remember what's it's called in English. Next time, perhaps.
