The Joy of Learning Portuguese with My Sons

One of the most rewarding things I’ve been doing lately is teaching my sons Portuguese with a Bee’s Knees Portuguese mini-course called Moda e Expressão. I designed it to help them talk about clothes, colours, and self-expression — and while I had clear language goals in mind, the real magic has happened in the moments I didn’t plan.

As we moved through the activities, I saw genuine learning take place. My sons began to understand how adjectives like colours agree with nouns in Portuguese, which is quite different from English. They picked up vocabulary and sentence structure quickly — but even better, they were enjoying themselves.

What I didn’t expect were the small discoveries that turned into meaningful learning moments.

For example, they didn’t know what jeans were — or what a catwalk was! Why would they? Their everyday wardrobe is all tracksuit pants and shorts. That opened up conversations about different clothing styles, where language and culture meet, and even quirks like how pants and shorts are plural in English but singular in Portuguese. Those lightbulb moments really stuck with them.

The boys loved getting dressed up and describing their outfits in Portuguese. We even filmed a mini fashion show and sent the video to our friends in Brazil. When they received a message back in Portuguese — complimenting their fashion and their improved language skills — their faces lit up. It was a moment of pure pride and joy.

One afternoon, one of my sons cut out a photo of his teacher from the school newsletter and glued it onto a new piece of paper. He added a speech bubble and, in Portuguese, wrote a description of what she was wearing. He brought it to school, and his teacher absolutely loved it. He even read it aloud to the class — and they thought it was so cool that he was learning Portuguese.

Another special moment came when we talked about wearing ties. I’d picked up a handful of ties from a second-hand shop to use during this mini-course. I showed the boys how to tie them — a skill I hadn’t used since my own school days. One day, while we were all wearing ties, our neighbour stopped us and said how impressed he was that the boys had learned to tie a dress tie. He told us he knew how to tie all sorts of rope knots but never learned how to tie a tie. I suggested we swap skills: we’d teach him how to tie a tie, and he could teach us a special knot.
Just like that, another little learning adventure unfolded.

These Bee’s Knees Portuguese mini-courses aren’t just about language. They’re about connection, curiosity, and creativity. They’ve taken us on a journey that blends structured learning with spontaneous moments — from fashion and grammar to hands-on fun and cultural exchange.

If you're thinking about teaching Portuguese to someone you love, I wholeheartedly recommend giving one of our mini-courses a try. Jump in, enjoy the ride, and don’t be afraid to bring your own twist to the experience — you never know where the learning will lead.