Learning the English language is not an easy task, especially when you’re trying to learn it on your own.
Mary Gomes knows this firsthand and is sharing her journey on TikTok. Many of her videos have gone viral and she credits her TikTok community for helping her learn English faster and in a fun way.
Gomes recently talked to The Blast about her journey and the process of learning English after speaking only Portuguese her entire life, and how TikTok and “Friends” has helped her progress.
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Mary Gomes Is Teaching Herself English With Some Unexpected Help
TikTok | Mary Gomes
If you’ve ever encountered Gomes on your TikTok FYP then you know her energy is out of this world! She’s bubbly, upbeat, and inspiring to anyone and everyone. You can’t help but smile while watching her videos, because her infectious attitude and excitement about learning the language is undeniable.
Gomes decided only three months ago to start learning the English language on her own. In the past when she would begin learning English, she would stop and then start again, but she wanted to find the motivation she needed to stop quitting and keep going. That’s where TikTok comes into the picture.
“I think, well, I’m going to start on TikTok and record my journey for myself,” she exclusively told The Blast.
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“I posted two or three days, more or less, and then I think. When I started, TikTok started delivering my videos. I have never imagined this could happen. I found a way to motivate me.”
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Her TikTok Followers Became More Than Just Followers
She decided it would be beneficial to record herself learning English and share it on TikTok because she can refer back to her videos to see just how far she’s come in this journey. And then something incredible happened.
“I don’t have followers. I have teachers. They’re teaching me. They’re correcting me. They support me when I don’t believe in me. They believe in me. That’s amazing,” she said.
“Sometimes I get sad because it’s hard but they tell me, ‘No, you’re great. You can do it.’ That’s the best part. My teachers are teaching me.”
Many of her TikTok followers began dropping into the comment sections of her videos to help her out when she needed it and to make sure she knew how great she was doing.
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“I’ve never been this proud of someone I don’t know,” one viewer shared in the comments. Another said, “Your pronunciation is getting SO MUCH BETTER SO FAST.”
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Mary Gomes Also Learns English From Watching TV Shows And Movies!
Gomes also told The Blast that she watches television shows and movies to help her further her English skills in a fun way.
“I’m watching ‘Friends.’ I love ‘Friends,'” she said. “My whole life, I watched movies only in Portuguese, and now, I’m watching movies in English. This is helping, watching movies and watching ‘Friends.’ It’s the way I’m teaching myself.”
In a TikTok video that Gomes posted recently, she shared, “I literally feel like I’m in that episode of ‘Friends’ when Phoebe tries to teach Joey French.”
After working on a few pronunciations, she said, “Guys, can you remember the ‘Friends’ episode when Phoebe’s teaching Joey to learn French? And that’s me. I’m Joey!”
TikTok Viewers Step In To Help Mary Gomes With Pronunciation Struggles
TikTok | Mary Gomes
Gomes has more than 864,000 followers and many of them have become her English language teachers. They jump in to help her with anything she’s struggling with often.
In one video, she asks her followers to check her pronunciation to see if it’s improving.
“Please check if my pronunciation is improving and correct me and teach me, I memorize much faster,” she wrote on her video.
Gomes told The Blast that pronunciation is the hardest part of this journey.
“You guys write a thing, but you speak another thing. I think it’s so hard,” she said. “In Portuguese, we write and we speak the same way, but English is completely different. This is the hardest part of learning English.”
Viewers have been sharing tips for Gomes to help her learn faster.
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“In this instance, try saying ‘nerves’ instead of nervous. You HAVE nerves, but you can FEEL nervous. I hope this helps, you’re doing AMAZING!” one viewer shared in the comments of her video. Another person said, “I like every single video you put up, you’re doing amazing!”
TikTokers Are Impressed With How Far She’s Come Already!
Gomes shares videos often and in each video, she’s super enthusiastic, upbeat, and genuinely excited to learn. She also really enjoys her TikTok community jumping in to help. Many of them make sure that she remembers how wonderful she’s doing.
“Learning English on your own is a HUGE achievement, and you sound incredible! I love your accent,” one viewer shared. Another added, “Give this woman a medal RIGHT NOW.”
While everyone is helping her on her journey to learning and mastering English, she has advice for anyone who is traveling the same road to learn a new language.
“Don’t give up. When we learn a new language, it’s very hard. Teaching and frustrating work together, so don’t give up,” she said.
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“Read books, watch TV, have some friends in the new language. I have a lot of friends now and I can manage a conversation with natives. That’s helping a lot.”