The LH in the middle of a word is one of the trickiest pronunciations. Really though, it’s not that hard. You just need to remember to half-pronounce the ‘L’. So, it’s not trabayar it’s, trabaLHar. Feel yourself saying the L. But don’t dwell on it. As soon as you feel the L, continue right into…
Read more...I’ve posted about FICAR before – Ficar Grammar & Portuguese Verb Ficar. FICAR is a big deal and using it correctly can be powerful. Italians have a big problem with this verb because apparently, it means to fuck in Italian. That’s their problem, not yours. Actually, Brazilians do use FICAR to talk about casual hook-ups…
Read more...The phrase “Um ao Outro” in Portuguese can be translated as “each other” or “one another.” In this post you’ll see exactly how it’s commonly used, and how to deal with different genders and variations. “Um ao Outro” is crucial for expressing reciprocal actions or relationships in Portuguese, allowing for more accurate and natural communication.”
Read more...Many Portuguese learners get tripped-up with the past tense. But there are some hacks that can get you speaking quickly. One of them is learning to use Portuguese participles. The past participle is just a verb conjugation that describes something that is over and done: written, said, cooked, closed etc. Learning the Portuguese participles is…
Read more...No amount of “hacking” and optimizing the process of learning Portuguese will get you to fluency without first constructing a foundation. And that foundation has to be made of the most-used words and phrases. This base of vocabulary is the most important ingredient in the recipe for language acquisition. Once this solid base has been acquired, all pathways to learning the language are open.
Read more...Great alt-travel blog, The Locales brilliantly leverages local guides and country experts to bring a fresh perspective to many travel destinations. Founder, Weston Moody has posted audio travle-guides and travel advice about subjects such as budget travel, kayaking in Angola, and visting remote areas of the Nepalese Himalayas. The Locales goal is to empower people…
Read more...You can score BIG points just being able to meet & greet in Brazil. Before you even know how to say anything else, learn these. Use them to practice your pronunciation – you’ll be using them over and over. For example — Tudo bem is the main thing everyone says when seeing someone you know…
Read more...This post is making me extremely hungry. Here’s the deal: once you know these you don’t have to bother to learn the Portuguese equivalents. No need to. They are already in use in the common vocabulary here. Just be sure to say these words with your best brazilian accent. We’ve gotten a native to record…
Read more...at the store in the restaurant on the subway For some reason I just can’t stop thinking about prepositions of place: in, on & at Right in the middle of a hike. In the middle of my friend telling some crazy story about getting arrested on New Year’s eve here (Rio de Janeiro). O quê?…
Read more...The Portuguese Present Progressive is one of the first conjugations you will learn, but many students are afraid to actually use it. I was too, until I could really hear/see someone using them! *Taken from a longer dialog. The Present Progressive (ing): -ar verbs: ando / -er verbs: endo / -ir verbs: indo » From…
Read more...What is fluency? What does it take to be fluent in Portuguese? When exactly will that happen? Boa pergunta. When I first came here I was obsessed with asking every single foreigner I came across in Brazil: So, how long it did it take you to get fluent in Portuguese? Looking back, so many of…
Read more...I hear from so many people that are either (a) unable to wean themselves from using subtitles, or (b) not taking advantage of the power of subtitles. There is actually a specific process for Learning Portuguese with subtitles, and it’s not that obvious. Using movies, tv shows and YouTube to teach you the language is…
Read more...In the previous post I presented some really solid, but basic conversation starters. Now it’s time for some Portuguese Sentences that are also very common, but more complex. These are for the intermediate-advanced level learner. Vamos nessa. Just as the previous post, these sentences are linked to Google translate, and if you click the speaker…
Read more...If you’ve already got some of the basics down and are looking for ways to get into a conversation, I’m going to give you a list of very common Portuguese sentences that you can use as openers. These are all simple, yet powerful and: interesting openers. This list will give you some great openers and…
Read more...Stephen Krashen presented his Theory of Second Language Acquisition back in the 1980′s. His work has been very influential and stood the test of time. It’s also heavily influenced our approach, the Semantica Method. Dr. Krashen, in his very popular little book Foreign Language Education the Easy Way says: “We acquire language in only one…
Read more...The students that are on the road to speaking Portuguese fluently do several key things differently. I see these over and over again. They are so striking that I’m going to call them, The 3 habits of successful learners. These people are among the few that actually get to the ultimate goal: fluency. They ask…
Read more...When it comes to learning Portuguese, you need to do it all. You can’t just study vocab or practice sing-a-longs. Here’s what we recommend: Use flashcards to memorize core vocabulary. Watch video dialogs that are interesting and tell a story. Analyze what happened and what was said in the dialog. Practice pronouncing the most difficult…
Read more...We’re starting to post the first pronunciation videos! The first 10 lessons of A Virada now have the corresponding pronúncia training. They look just great. Luciana and Andre have done an amazing job at showing us the language in all it’s GLORY. This is like watching bees pollenate flowers in super-slow motion. Everything is there…
Read more...My wife just asked me to translate this from English to Portuguese. ‘What?’, I said. Turns out, ‘Juweet’ = ‘did you eat?’ Oh. And we say it all the time. True. It reminded me of the many, many confusing Portuguese language-transformations /convolutions that I hear every day. If you’re trying to get to an advanced…
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