For listening practice try the Lyrics Training app where you watch a music video with the lyrics scrolling and you have multiple choice to fill in the missing lyric. Be mindful to choose the Euro Portuguese videos. Also, Mia at learn-portuguese.com has a nice program for A1 to B2. She offers sales on bundles at times but you can at least check out her free Kickstart video. She also has a Youtube channel with lots of free stuff.
I’m onBabbel. They do a great job. I’m studying 3 hrs a day and eat a lot of Mexican food In order to speak Spanish. I hope it’s as fun for you as it is for me. I’m injured. Cannot play PB so why not study. You go girls.
Hi girls. Yes learning a new language has it’s difficulties at our age 🤣Liz has over the past few months learning French with duolingo . We went to Paris a few years ago and had a lovely holiday and would someday love to return but feel it would be nice to at least try and speak the language. Feeling I should make an effort I have started also but must admit very lazy and not as disciplined as Liz. You are an inspiration to us all . Not only up sticks and move house to another country during this horrendous pandemic but to embrace it and learn the language .
The older we get, the harder it is. Unfortunately, my parents, whose first language was Spanish, didn’t speak it in my home when I was growing up. Wished they had. So much easier to learn when you’re a child. I’ve been using the Duolingo app for several months now. Good luck Nancy.
I recently joined Michael Moore's sub stack newsletter so I could find a way to get through the midterm elections without having a heart attack. Now that it's mostly over, I searched for other newsletters that might interest me, and came upon yours. No, I'm not related to you, but having read a number of your posts, you're not only an engaging writer (It's a gift), but very likable, and actually inspirational. I'm not planning on moving to Portugal, and am not sure I ever will visit there, but my husband of 40 years died almost two-and-a-half-years ago, and I am having to build a new life for myself. And, rather than reading newsletters about widowhood--which is not the most upbeat topic--yours captured my imagination. And, I imagine it's because we both are changing our lives, and perhaps reinventing ourselves. So, I decided to start at the beginning of your journey. While I don't have to learn a new language to communicate, my survival seems dependent upon my changing in every other way. Just want to say hi, and thank you!
Como esta is the formal way of saying how are you. With friends or close acquaintances, you would use the informal congugation of the verb -- tu. Como estas? Verb is estar
Present tense:
Eu (I) estou
Tu (you informal) estas
Voce (you formal) esta
Nos (we) estamos
Voces (they) estao (tilde over the a)
Cascais and Estoril are the most expensive areas as well as they have the most foreigners living there...thus have more English speaking people. I wouldn't recommend people to move to those areas as they will find it hard to find the motivation to speak Portuguese and others don't want to have to try so hard to figure out what you are saying....especially if they have limited time.
I have done this to Brazilians who called my place of employment in US, stumbled a bit and I could tell they spoke Portuguese by their accent of how they spoke English....so if they stumbled, I would ask if they speak Portuguese and if they would rather speak in Portuguese. Since they were calling from Brazil and it was likely an expensive venture, they usually agreed...after their shock that they called somewhere where they Portuguese...however my accent was a continental accent so a wee different.
One correction: Stop here please - Parar aqui, por favor
You need to use the command form of the verb parar which is para aqui, por favor!
In the US, on Saturday mornings between the cartoons, they had something called conjunction junction what's your function. Look up on youtube, it might come back to you. It reviews all the parts of speech. When learning a language, one needs to first review their English grammar....and then that will help inform your learning of Portuguese. Too many people skip learning the alphabet too. Kids learn the alphabet first...there is a reason for that. Try Rua de Sesamo (Sesame Street in Portuguese). You can learn the alphabet, numbers, feelings, and all the typical things sesame street teaches.
Another good thing to learn is where is the bathroom please? Onde fica a casa de banho por favor?
Also if you are trying to get through a crowd of people (after covid) or trying to get a waiter's attention, excuse me....com licenca (both c are pronounced like s)
I learned Portuguese in college (2 yrs prior to studying abroad in Lisbon in 1990). The teaching assistants were quite upset that they had to teach us english grammar...when we were supposed to have learned it in school before we got to college. Needless to say I think that in the US they should have taught us a foreign language in elementary school and also when we learned English grammar, they could have made a direct comparison to the foreign language.
Thank you for the additional language resources - I am afraid that I’ve been using Duolingo and a friend who is originally from Brazil, so not only is my Portuguese suffering from learning it in my 50’s, it’s full of all those New World/Old World differences. I’m going to check out your suggestions right away.
For listening practice try the Lyrics Training app where you watch a music video with the lyrics scrolling and you have multiple choice to fill in the missing lyric. Be mindful to choose the Euro Portuguese videos. Also, Mia at learn-portuguese.com has a nice program for A1 to B2. She offers sales on bundles at times but you can at least check out her free Kickstart video. She also has a Youtube channel with lots of free stuff.
I’m onBabbel. They do a great job. I’m studying 3 hrs a day and eat a lot of Mexican food In order to speak Spanish. I hope it’s as fun for you as it is for me. I’m injured. Cannot play PB so why not study. You go girls.
Hi girls. Yes learning a new language has it’s difficulties at our age 🤣Liz has over the past few months learning French with duolingo . We went to Paris a few years ago and had a lovely holiday and would someday love to return but feel it would be nice to at least try and speak the language. Feeling I should make an effort I have started also but must admit very lazy and not as disciplined as Liz. You are an inspiration to us all . Not only up sticks and move house to another country during this horrendous pandemic but to embrace it and learn the language .
Press on. 😊
never give up!
The older we get, the harder it is. Unfortunately, my parents, whose first language was Spanish, didn’t speak it in my home when I was growing up. Wished they had. So much easier to learn when you’re a child. I’ve been using the Duolingo app for several months now. Good luck Nancy.
Hmm... just think of all the exercise your brain cells are getting - lol.
Thank you for sharing!!!
Não faz mal is literally “ no does badly”
I recently joined Michael Moore's sub stack newsletter so I could find a way to get through the midterm elections without having a heart attack. Now that it's mostly over, I searched for other newsletters that might interest me, and came upon yours. No, I'm not related to you, but having read a number of your posts, you're not only an engaging writer (It's a gift), but very likable, and actually inspirational. I'm not planning on moving to Portugal, and am not sure I ever will visit there, but my husband of 40 years died almost two-and-a-half-years ago, and I am having to build a new life for myself. And, rather than reading newsletters about widowhood--which is not the most upbeat topic--yours captured my imagination. And, I imagine it's because we both are changing our lives, and perhaps reinventing ourselves. So, I decided to start at the beginning of your journey. While I don't have to learn a new language to communicate, my survival seems dependent upon my changing in every other way. Just want to say hi, and thank you!
Another correction: How are you? - Como está?
Como esta is the formal way of saying how are you. With friends or close acquaintances, you would use the informal congugation of the verb -- tu. Como estas? Verb is estar
Present tense:
Eu (I) estou
Tu (you informal) estas
Voce (you formal) esta
Nos (we) estamos
Voces (they) estao (tilde over the a)
Cascais and Estoril are the most expensive areas as well as they have the most foreigners living there...thus have more English speaking people. I wouldn't recommend people to move to those areas as they will find it hard to find the motivation to speak Portuguese and others don't want to have to try so hard to figure out what you are saying....especially if they have limited time.
I have done this to Brazilians who called my place of employment in US, stumbled a bit and I could tell they spoke Portuguese by their accent of how they spoke English....so if they stumbled, I would ask if they speak Portuguese and if they would rather speak in Portuguese. Since they were calling from Brazil and it was likely an expensive venture, they usually agreed...after their shock that they called somewhere where they Portuguese...however my accent was a continental accent so a wee different.
One correction: Stop here please - Parar aqui, por favor
You need to use the command form of the verb parar which is para aqui, por favor!
In the US, on Saturday mornings between the cartoons, they had something called conjunction junction what's your function. Look up on youtube, it might come back to you. It reviews all the parts of speech. When learning a language, one needs to first review their English grammar....and then that will help inform your learning of Portuguese. Too many people skip learning the alphabet too. Kids learn the alphabet first...there is a reason for that. Try Rua de Sesamo (Sesame Street in Portuguese). You can learn the alphabet, numbers, feelings, and all the typical things sesame street teaches.
Another good thing to learn is where is the bathroom please? Onde fica a casa de banho por favor?
Also if you are trying to get through a crowd of people (after covid) or trying to get a waiter's attention, excuse me....com licenca (both c are pronounced like s)
I learned Portuguese in college (2 yrs prior to studying abroad in Lisbon in 1990). The teaching assistants were quite upset that they had to teach us english grammar...when we were supposed to have learned it in school before we got to college. Needless to say I think that in the US they should have taught us a foreign language in elementary school and also when we learned English grammar, they could have made a direct comparison to the foreign language.
Thank you for the additional language resources - I am afraid that I’ve been using Duolingo and a friend who is originally from Brazil, so not only is my Portuguese suffering from learning it in my 50’s, it’s full of all those New World/Old World differences. I’m going to check out your suggestions right away.