🐝 The Buzz of Learning a New Language (ou la Beauté des Phrasal Verbs #2 et Mon Parcours en Portugais 🛣️)

✍️ My Story (en anglais, avec les phrasal verbs en contexte)

I’ve always been a bit extreme when I take up a new activity, whether it’s sport, a diet or a hobby. Even when I was a pre-teen. I had an idol ​​​​🤩​ ​​ (the first of a few): Donny Osmond (WHO ❓​​), a young singer, and he took over my life. No, I’m exaggerating, but his posters certainly took over my bedroom. They were on every possible surface. I was heartbroken ​​​💔​ when I had to take them down to have the wallpaper changed ​​​​​😆​.

So, how did I take up Portuguese? It was a few years ago. I was going on holiday to Cyprus and in the airport, we had a few hours to wait before the plane took off ​​​​​​​🛫​. To kill time, I took out my phone, like everyone, and started perusing. At that time there was an application called “24 hours free” where a guy found interesting applications and negotiated with the developers to offer them free for 24 hours. It was the year of the Olympic games in Brazil, and I came across “Mosalingua Brazilian Portuguese” an innovative application for learning languages. I had always said that learning a language was for my students ​​​​​​🤭. (I was already an English teacher 🤓​​🎓​) I spoke French, but it had been easy as I had been living in France when I learnt the language, so I took it in like osmosis. But when I downloaded Mosalingua I took back what I had said. It was like a revelation for me, like a game, or a puzzle ​​​​​​​​​​🧩​ that you had to put together, take apart and put together again in another way to make sense. It was the first time I’d learnt a language from scratch, and I loved it ​​​​​​​​🩷​. I took to it immediately.

I did it everywhere and in all my spare minutes. Portuguese took over everywhere. On the beach ​​​​​🏖️​, at the hotel bar ​​​​🍹. I’m sure everyone took me for a geek 🤓 on my phone all the time. And I certainly didn’t stop when I came back from my holiday. What helped me I think was the fact that as I was a teacher I could see patterns between English and French, so I just copied the patterns and reproduced them with new words. And as I spoke French and it’s also a Latin-based language I could understand a lot of the vocabulary because it was similar.

The most important thing that took me through the early learning stages was my extreme motivation. There was a moment when I asked myself (like many learners) but why am I doing this? I loved it but was there any purpose in learning Portuguese? I mean, I couldn’t imagine going to Brazil, perhaps Portugal, geographically closer? I remember saying that to my sister and she was taken aback with my question because for her it was obvious. She said that it would help me see the world ​​​​​​​​​​​​​🌎​ through a different cultural lens. It would change the way I think and broaden empathy. It would help keep my memory sharp and learning a new skill would give me confidence, a sort of buzz 🐝 (there are so many reasons ​​​​​​​​😃​great idea for another article ​​​​​​​💡)​

Anyway, after a couple of months, Mosalingua proposed another application to take me further ​​​​​​​​​​​​💨​ and begin communicating with natives (all Brazilian in my case) who in exchange wanted to learn my language. Here my Portuguese really took off 🛫 and here also began my passion for Brazil and all things Brazilian. 🪇 🎉 🇧🇷⚽

I could go on for ages, but I don’t want to bore you ​​​​​​​​​​​😴​so, to cut a long story short, I was conversing in around 6 months and a year later I went to Brazil to visit. After this first visit I turned my life around, looked for work and took on a job as consultant in a Brazilian Language school which as well as being a challenge linguistically, completely revolutionized my way of teaching!

So, in conclusion learning a language isn’t just about words — it’s about opening doors. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​🚪​ Even if you never set foot in the country, it can change the way you think, the people you meet, and even the course of your life. That’s the real buzz of learning a language.

Phrasal verbs avec ‘take’

Comme tu peux le constater dans ce récit de mon apprentissage du portugais, les phrasal verbs s’intègrent naturellement à l’oral comme à l’écrit. Chaque phrasal verb a généralement un équivalent plus « formel », mais au quotidien on utilise beaucoup plus les formes avec particule.

Ils sont formés d’un verbe de base + une particule, et cette petite particule change totalement le sens du verbe. C’est ce qui les rend difficiles : un seul petit mot peut transformer complètement la phrase !

👌 As-tu compris le sens des phrasal verbs dans l’histoire grâce au contexte ?

Si ce n’est pas le cas, voici la liste avec une définition pour chacun (et un petit quiz en bonus 🎁).

📘 Phrasal Verbs en Contexte

Voici les phrasal verbs avec take qui apparaissent dans mon histoire, avec leur signification et la phrase d’exemple du texte :

• Take in – assimiler / comprendre ; recueillir ; rétrécir des vêtements

  • “Phrasal verbs are a lot to take in 😊.”

  • “We took in a couple of stray cats when my kids were small.”

  • “She went on a diet and had to take in all her clothes 👗👚.”

• Take up – commencer une nouvelle activité

  • “I’ve always been a bit extreme when I take up a new activity…”

  • “So, how did I take up Portuguese?”

• Take over – prendre le contrôle, envahir

  • “…Donny Osmond… and he took over my life.”

  • “…his posters certainly took over my bedroom.”

  • “Portuguese took over everywhere.”

• Take down – décrocher, enlever

  • “I was heartbroken 💔 when I had to take them down to have the wallpaper changed.”

• Take off – (avion) décoller ; avoir du succès rapidement

  • “…we had a few hours to wait before the plane took off 🛫.”

  • “Here my Portuguese really took off…”

• Take out – sortir, retirer

  • “…I took out my phone, like everyone, and started perusing.”

• Take back – retirer ce qu’on a dit, admettre son erreur

  • “…so I took back what I had said.”

• Take apart – démonter, séparer en morceaux

  • “…like a game, or a puzzle 🧩 that you had to put together, take apart and put together again…”

• Take to (something) – se prendre de passion pour, adopter spontanément

  • “I took to it immediately.”

• Take on – accepter une responsabilité ou un défi

  • “…looked for work and took on a job as consultant in a Brazilian Language school…”

ℹ️ NB : Ces phrasal verbs ont d’autres sens possibles — ici je n’ai gardé que ceux utilisés dans le contexte de l’histoire.

📝 Petit Quiz : Phrasal Verbs avec Take (réponses à la fin : ne triche pas, ne regarde pas trop tôt ! 👀)

Complète les phrases avec le bon phrasal verb (choisis dans la liste).

(take in – take up – take off – take down – take over – take out – take back – take apart – take to – take on)

1. The plane _______ at 3 p.m. and landed two hours later.

2. She _______ yoga last year and now practices every day.

3. We had to _______ the old posters before painting the walls.

4. The company was small at first, but it really _______ after it launched its new app.

5. He didn’t like jogging at first, but he quickly _______ it.

6. Don’t forget to _______ the trash before you leave.

7. I shouldn’t have said that — I _______ my words.

8. As a new teacher, she had to _______ a lot of responsibilities.

9. It’s a lot to _______ at once, so take your time learning.

10. Kids love to _______ toys to see how they work inside.

✅ Réponses du Quiz

1. took off

2. took up

3. took down

4. took off

5. took to

6. take out

7. take back

8. take on

9. take in

10. take apart

👋 Pour conclure…

Les phrasal verbs avec take sont partout en anglais ! En les apprenant dans un vrai contexte et en les pratiquant avec des exemples concrets, tu commenceras à les utiliser naturellement à l’oral comme à l’écrit. Retiens bien take up, take off et take over — tu les croiseras sans cesse dans la vie quotidienne et dans ton travail. Avec un peu de pratique, ces expressions deviendront vite une seconde nature.