I am getting nearer to retirement age now and I am looking at the continent for a possible long sojurn. Portugal is the country that interests me. I have been trying to learn Portuguese (European variant, not the Brazilian variant) for the last three years and I am personally finding it a very difficult language to tune into. The written language is reasonable, having a lot of similarity to Spanish, but the spoken language is doing my head in. Anyone tried it? I really thought that I would have had a much better grasp by now than I do. I have books, podcasts, various online course membership, and I still find it bewildering aurally. Anyone got any experience or know of persons who might also have difficulties with this language or maybe have the exact opposite experience and find it a breeze. Would be very interested in your thoughts.
Portuguese phonology is actually more similar to Old Spanish (spoken in the Middle Ages) than Modern Spanish. Portuguese also has a guttural r-sound similar to French and German, in contrast with the Spanish trilled r. It also has phonemic nasal vowels written with a tilde e.g. <ã>. The letter <j> is also pronounced like French.
Practice is what you need. you'll be fine. And any difficulty you have speak in english cause in Portugal a large majority speaks english.
I’m fairly ignorant regarding languages, although I’ve traveled quite extensively I only know a few phrases and pleasantries in various tongues. As I deliver them to the locals , I can hear Del Boy in the back of my head! So needless to say I usually stick to the slow shouted English with hand gestures.
I'm like you, nothing worse they trying to say something in their language only to have a blank stare back.
I would suggest sitting in a bar in Portugal and listening to the conversation. When shopping, try to speak only Portugese, and if they reply in English, ask them to correct you in their language. By now you must have a comprehensive vocabulary, just a case of using it. Or here in the UK, try to find someone from Portugal to chat with?
You've picked up a tough one to start with! I know people who speak it, as a non-native tongue, and they all say its hard. You've just got to keep at it, especially the oral comprehension. Subscribe to a streaming service which has Portuguese films and listen every day. Mubi is one I know of which might have some. Alternatively try Spanish, its easier!
Well, it is akin to Galician rather than Castilian. But I think it is more of an issue in that it is a time stressed language (like English) rather than a syllable stressed language (e.g. French, Spanish). So many words are shortened or swallowed that it requires a level of tuning in that requires a major effort, at least for me anyway.
I used to speak Italian, fairly OK. If you get good at Italian, Spanish becomes far easier as its the same construction. Not sure about Portuguese.
Practice - absolutely. Speaking in English leaves you in the comfort zone of not really embracing the culture at all - just sunshine and expats. Not what I want - it's the interior of the country that interests me, not the Algarve or the Silver coast where tourism is king and expatenclaves abound.
Yes, I am subscribing to more content now. The majority of streaming media etc is based on Brazilian Portuguese. Fortunately, in the last few years, there is a slow but steady increase in European Portuguese material becoming available, so in a sense I shouldn't be complaining. Never heard of Mubi - thanks for that one, I'll check it out.
I've thrown my hat into Portuguese so I will continue - it shares 80% lexical similarity to Spanish but aurally it sure is different and the grammar is more complex. Apparently Brazilians find it easier to understand Galician (very similar to Portuguese but nowadays having a Castilian accent) than understanding European Portuguese!!!
I'd just stay with that bit for as long as I can. All languages sound the same after a while of that.
i know a spanish woman who is trying to get me to learn spanish, but i need a couple of clear months to concentrate on making a start. i did okay with languages at o level (french and two dead ones), but that was a long time back and i always felt like i was taking an almost mathematical view of languages. this spanish lass gave me youtube links to some spanish pop songs. they weren't really to my taste, but if you find some portuguese ones to your liking it might be that learning those helps, especially if you can find the lyrics online. it may help with abbreviations and missing bits. i recently encountered a new french lass and when i see her i've been recycling bits of french from my school days (over 40 years back) and she's finding it highly amusing, but in a good way.
