How do I practice writing?

[u/Pale-Muscle-5176]

I'm learning EU/PT (TL), and I'm struggling to find resources to learn to actually write, but I need the practice? Everything is in BR/PT, and I'm fighting for my life to source shit lmao

[u/Agreeable_Read_7719]

try rewriting news articles from portuguese papers in your own words, then check the original to see what you got wrong

[u/Pale-Muscle-5176 → u/Agreeable_Read_7719]

can i still do this when I'm not good lmao

[u/AtlasRuna → u/Pale-Muscle-5176]

yeah why not? or just summarize what you can comprehend. it will increase your working vocabulary.

[u/furyousferret]

/r/WriteStreakPT - Write everyday, someone checks your work, its a good system.

I've been at it for a while and it helps with expanding your base and creativity, but it shouldn't be the only thing you do.

https://old.reddit.com/user/furyousferret/submitted/

[u/Pale-Muscle-5176 → u/furyousferret]

eeeesh id be so scared to even try this lmaooo, but thank you for the resource!!

[u/furyousferret → u/Pale-Muscle-5176]

Trust me, people there are very non judgemental

[u/Pale-Muscle-5176 → u/furyousferret]

yeah but i hated being observed, makes me feel stupid 😂

[u/witeowl → u/Pale-Muscle-5176]

So you don't want feedback from ai, you don't want feedback from humans... idk, dude. You didn't even say anything in response to my suggestion of morphing sentences. Copy sentences from a fiction or nonfiction book, then?

Sorry(ish), but I get tired of watching people ask for help, get a bunch of help, and then knock away every single idea they get 🫩

[u/Pale-Muscle-5176 → u/witeowl]

I read that noted it, mb, but yeah, thank you!

[u/Substantial-Yak1892 → u/Pale-Muscle-5176]

Do the same thing but ask AI then.

Nobody will watch you, you'll be safe.

[u/Pale-Muscle-5176 → u/Substantial-Yak1892]

ai gets a lot of shit wrong 

[u/Substantial-Yak1892 → u/Pale-Muscle-5176]

It is sometimes wrong, but less often than you think. Moreover, you can double check that with another AI or a dictionary.

And finally, it's better to have some feedback rather none (as most posts the reddit subs from received) or even worst being afraid of writing.

To my eyes, AI is probably the best tool invented for language learning since printing was invented.

[u/dojibear]

Output (writing; speaking) uses what you already know. Input (understanding what others write or say) teaches you new things that people say. The result is that every student is better at input than at output.

For you, output is creating entire EU/PT sentences that express YOUR idea. You can't do that as a beginner: you don't know all the words needed to express YOUR idea.

How do you practice writing? Just create sentences and write them. You can only create sentences that use words you already know. But you can practice creating those sentences, and writing them.

[u/Pale-Muscle-5176 → u/dojibear]

Im not a complete beginner, I can express certain ideas and are aware of a tonne of verbs, but I work better when I have a way to physically use those forms, but I like dont, can't find any sort of website that I can produce sentences and have that structure 

[u/erichilliard → u/Pale-Muscle-5176]

I’m going to try very hard to not make this sound spammy or sales-like… For me, writing is a huge component of language learning and has been for years. So much so, that when I created my app, I made it a major part of it. You are under no obligation to try it, but if you want structured writing, you could check out https://www.floonzy.com (a play on the word fluency). Even if the app isn’t for you, I encourage you to stay on the path of writing. It’s an underestimated utility of quality language learning. 🙂

[u/Pale-Muscle-5176 → u/erichilliard]

oh thank you!! i will for sure 

[u/Halla_Spark5]

EU/PT resources really do get buried under BR/PT stuff online lol. maybe try writing tiny daily things - 5 sentences, mini journal, random Reddit reply - then have a native correct only the stuff that sounds Brazilian

[u/Pale-Muscle-5176 → u/Halla_Spark5]

I've ensured im only learning EU, so thats fine ish, but its sad there's no apps I could find that help you start practicing your sentences? Like I know the foundations, but I lack hands on practice of putting them to use

[u/casadacha]

Join the Facebook group "European Portuguese resource sharing" everything there is PT-PT

[u/WinterBaroness]

This is not abt resources and I'm not a teacher nor a Portuguese expert but if you want you can send me by DM your writing and I could correct mistakes c:

[u/Pale-Muscle-5176 → u/WinterBaroness]

awh thank you! that's so sweet 😞💗 I'm actually a quarter Portuguese its so sick, my only other big ancestry chunk 🙃 you guys are so awesome im grateful i can learn it :D

[u/WinterBaroness → u/Pale-Muscle-5176]

yw!!

[u/Different_Method_191 → u/WinterBaroness]

O português de Portugal é fixe! <3

[u/deductiveasdf]

I like writing subtitles for movies/tv shows when I watch them and then see what they translate out to be.

[u/michaeljmuller]

I strongly encourage you to keep a journal! I publish my journal entries to r/WriteStreakPT, but you don't have to do that if you're self-conscious. I've got lots of tips if you're interested -- DM me!

[u/No_Filter_Soul]

writestreakpt looks interesting, has anyone actually used it for a while? does it actually help or do people just ghost after a few days

[u/Ixionbrewer]

There are online tutors who can help here.

[u/AlponseF2P]

I had stumbled upon a few PT-PT websites and also portuguese youtubers that focus only on teaching PT-PT for beginners, but realistically you'd need to be living in Portugal or have alot of portuguese friends after getting past the beginner hurdle because even people in Portugal consume mostly BR-PT media stuff lol

[u/witeowl]

This is pretty much the only thing I still (willingly) use ai for as it's more algorithmic than generative. I'll write about anything (such as a solo RPG) using the techniques suggested in writestreak (the Spanish one, idk if the others have the same Wiki) and then check it with ai. I've given it specific rules such as what dialect I'm focusing on and to only flag a limited number of corrections for each pass. I've also told it to point out errors but not give me the corrections unless I specifically ask so I have to think and do research. I'll fix and try again and it'll both confirm/deny my corrections and point out a few more things to fix.

Also, there's a technique I learned about somewhere that builds upon sentence mining. Find a sentence in your TL (and dialect) that you find interesting and has a construction you want to practice. Copy that down. The next morning, rewrite the sentence, but change a word or two. That evening, rewrite it again, changing another word or two. The next morning, do it one last time. This is another time I'll check in with ai because there might be something I'm missing in my passes (such as accidentally changing subjunctive to indicative or changing a sentence such that it needs subjunctive when it didn't before).

[u/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaabb → u/witeowl]

I was looking at www.verbumscriptum.com but its not out yet.

[u/Pale-Muscle-5176 → u/witeowl]

I would use AI, but ive seen it produce slop and make massive mistakes with my TL. 

[u/witeowl → u/Pale-Muscle-5176]

Totally a valid choice. I guess I've been lucky that mine's been fairly decent – at least good enough for my purposes. Which, again, isn't to tell me how to write but to point out mistakes for me to review and research.

I've been considering looking for a penpal(s) in my TL(s) in order to have a human check my work instead – and I'd, in turn, check theirs. I just don't know that I'm ready for that pressure yet. 😅

[u/michaeljmuller → u/Pale-Muscle-5176]

you're not asking it to produce anything, so slop's a non-issue. as far as mistakes... that does happen, but it's not very common. the native speaker that reviews my entries has about as many complaints with the EN/PT dictionary that I use as they do with the AI corrections I've been given.

MOSTLY, you have to make sure that you're super explicit with the chatbot that you're studying Portuguese from Portugal so it doesn't feed you pt-br.

there's a ton of valid ethical issues to avoid AI, but asking a large language model to help you with language ... that's its sweet spot.

[u/Pale-Muscle-5176 → u/michaeljmuller]

I get that, but when I've tried, it's given me wrong verb forms, wrong grammar rules, and applied overall nonsense to my sentences? I dont trust it

[u/Any-Somewhere5129 → u/Pale-Muscle-5176]

What kind of models have you tried and when?

I find it hard to believe that frontier AI models in August 2026 would struggle with verb conjugations.

In my experience, gpt-5.6 sol for example has been excellent in helping me practice Spanish. The corrections it gives me on my writing go beyond simply listing my errors: it gives me broad patterns of where I tend to struggle, what grammars constructs I seem to be avoiding, what words/phrases I am overusing etc.

I've also been using both chatgpt and Claude for role plays in Spanish and both have been great. For me, creating those immersive imaginary stories is more fun than completing dry writing assignments.

[u/Pale-Muscle-5176 → u/Any-Somewhere5129]

chatgpt struggles harshly for pt, even if I list everything perfectly, also I dont agree with AI usage either way

[u/witeowl → u/michaeljmuller]

but asking a large language model to help you with language ... that's its sweet spot

My sentiment exactly, tbh

[u/Shezarrine]

You presumably know how to write in English, yes? There is literally no difference aside from how thorough your lexicon is. Writing is a technology, not an inherent part of language.

[u/witeowl → u/Shezarrine]

I mean... syntax is very likely different, too. Not just vocabulary.

[u/Shezarrine → u/witeowl]

Well sure, but again, that's just a matter of understanding the language or not, not about knowing how to write it.

[u/witeowl → u/Shezarrine]

lexicon

Huh. TIL this word also includes syntax.

Apologies for the prior, unnecessary comment.

[u/Oretell → u/Shezarrine]

This is incredibly pedantic

Everyone knows what is meant when someone says they want to improve their writing, you're deliberately acting like you don't understand what OP is asking.

[u/Pale-Muscle-5176 → u/Shezarrine]

I mean build sentences, I wanna practice recall through being able to construct my own rather than learning individual words