I’ve lived in Portugal for nearly a decade, and I still wouldn’t say I’m anywhere near fluent. In fact, after taking and passing the government-mandated Portuguese test for citizenship several years ago, I kind of… stalled. Instead of continuing to study, I slipped back into using Portuguese casually—for errands, appointments, and chatting with neighbors—but I didn’t move forward with it. If anything, I’ve fallen back to a point where I really only feel confident speaking in the present tense.

I decided it was time to change that. A friend mentioned they were using ChatGPT to improve their Portuguese, so I gave it a try. What an eye-opening experience! Instead of following a rigid course or app, I was able to fully customize a learning path that works for me.

I started by asking ChatGPT to give me a few short tests to figure out my current level. This helped it understand what I’m good at and where I struggle. I explained that I understand a lot, but things like sentence structure, verb tenses, and speaking fluently are still a challenge.

Then it prompted me to share a goal—something I’d like to accomplish once my Portuguese improves. I chose something useful and fun: to be able to give property tours in Portuguese, maybe even record a few for social media.

From that conversation, we built My Daily Portuguese Practice—a personalized 15-minute routine that includes a quick review quiz, three useful sentences (one each in the present, past, and future), and flashcards with only the vocabulary I actually need. No wasted time on things I already know.

I told it how I prefer to learn, how to check if I’m retaining the material, and how much time I have each day. It took all of that and created a plan that grows with me. And while it can’t send the daily lessons by email, it can generate a downloadable PDF for each session—and even organize them into a shared Google Drive folder. How cool is that?

The best part? You can do the exact same thing...

To get started, if you’re not sure what level you’re at, just ask ChatGPT to test you. It can ask you simple translation or sentence-building questions to figure out your strengths and what needs work. You can even ask it to test your vocabulary, verb conjugation, or anything else you think would be helpful. It’s totally up to you and your needs.

Next, you can tell it how you learn best—whether that’s reading, writing, listening, or speaking—and what you want to be able to do in real life with your new-found language knowledge.

You’ll get a completely customized study plan, updated daily, that evolves as you do. It’s like having a personal language coach who’s available 24/7 and totally focused on your goals!

I invite you to give it a try—and let me know how it goes!

Happy learning!

-Hollin Stafford
Blue Horizon Properties, Portugal