One of the things I do at the beginning of learning a language is I watch kids shows and try to repeat key words after they say them. It's easy to get into the habit of doing, it's made with simpler language, and it helps my mouth get used to forming words as well as helps my ears distinguish different words. It has been really helpful for other languages I've learned.

I had been doing this in Portuguese for about 6 months when I went to a party and met an old friend from Brazil. We talked for a bit and she said my accent was "weird" and something she wasn't expecting. I said "That makes sense, I'm American and my Portuguese is still trash" but she insisted that it was correct but just weird.

Later on, I described some of my learning method and that I had been doing my "shadow speaking" with spongebob recently. Her eyes lit up and she said "That's the accent! You sound exactly like spongebob!"

I have been speaking like spongebob for 6 months.

I have since diversified my cartoons

Boa tarde,

A little background about me. South America. First language is Spanish, second language is Italian and third language is English. I learned Portuguese about 7 years ago basically watching Globo (I have a strong carioca influence specially "R" and "S"). I've been three times to Brazil (São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná). I understood everyone and everyone understood me even if it was obvious I wasn't a native. I even use gírias like "eu não tô nem aí".

I am in Portugal right now. I didn't understand at all when people started to speak. I have switched to English and everything went smoother. People are friendly and I wish we could communicate in Portuguese, but it's impossible, we communicate better in English.

European Spanish and Latin American Spanish (all variations) have differences, but not like this. British English can be complicated, but when I visited London I was able to communicate with people (unless they had a super thick accent). Not in Portuguese.

I used to make fun of the people who said that Portuguese from Brazil and Portuguese from Portugal were two different languages, but now I am the one feeling like an idiot for making fun of them.

I hope this discussion stays civil.

"PORTUGUÊS" É O ÚNICO IDIOMA EM QUE SE PODE ESCREVER UM TEXTO SÓ COM A LETRA "P".

PODEMOS PARTIR?

Pedro Paulo Pereira Pinto, pequeno pintor português, pintava portas, paredes, portais. Porém, pediu para parar porque preferiu pintar panfletos. Partindo para Piracicaba, pintou prateleiras para poder progredir. Posteriormente, partiu para Pirapora. Pernoitando, prosseguiu para Paranavaí, pois pretendia praticar pinturas para pessoas pobres. Porém, pouco praticou, porque Padre Paulo pediu para pintar panelas, porém posteriormente pintou pratos para poder pagar promessas. . Pálido, porém perseverante, preferiu partir para Portugal para pedir permissão para papai para permanecer praticando pinturas, preferindo, portanto, Paris. Partindo para Paris, passou pelos Pirineus, pois pretendia pintá-los. Pareciam plácidos, porém, pesaroso, percebeu penhascos pedregosos, preferindo pintá-los parcialmente, pois perigosas pedras pareciam precipitar-se principalmente pelo Pico, porque pastores passavam pelas picadas para pedirem pousada, provocando provavelmente pequenas perfurações, pois, pelo passo percorriam, permanentemente, possantes potrancas. Pisando Paris, pediu permissão para pintar palácios pomposos, procurando pontos pitorescos, pois, para pintar pobreza, precisaria percorrer pontos perigosos, pestilentos, perniciosos, preferindo Pedro Paulo precaver-se. Profundas privações passou Pedro Paulo. Pensava poder prosseguir pintando, porém, pretas previsões passavam pelo pensamento, provocando profundos pesares, principalmente por pretender partir prontamente para Portugal. Povo previdente! Pensava Pedro Paulo… "Preciso partir para Portugal porque pedem para prestigiar patrícios, pintando principais portos portugueses". . Passando pela principal praça parisiense, partindo para Portugal, pediu para pintar pequenos pássaros pretos. Pintou, prostrou perante políticos, populares, pobres, pedintes. - "Paris! Paris!" Proferiu Pedro Paulo. -"Parto, porém penso pintá-la permanentemente, pois pretendo progredir". Pisando Portugal, Pedro Paulo procurou pelos pais, porém, Papai Procópio partira para Província. Pedindo provisões, partiu prontamente, pois precisava pedir permissão para Papai Procópio para prosseguir praticando pinturas. Profundamente pálido, perfez percurso percorrido pelo pai. Pedindo permissão, penetrou pelo portão principal. Porém, Papai Procópio puxando-o pelo pescoço proferiu: -Pediste permissão para praticar pintura, porém, praticando, pintas pior. Primo Pinduca pintou perfeitamente prima Petúnia. Porque pintas porcarias? -Papai, proferiu Pedro Paulo, pinto porque permitiste, porém preferindo, poderei procurar profissão própria para poder provar perseverança, pois pretendo permanecer por Portugal. Pegando Pedro Paulo pelo pulso, penetrou pelo patamar, procurando pelos pertences, partiu prontamente, pois pretendia pôr Pedro Paulo para praticar profissão perfeita: pedreiro! Passando pela ponte precisaram pescar para poderem prosseguir peregrinando. Primeiro, pegaram peixes pequenos, porém, passando pouco prazo, pegaram pacus, piaparas, pirarucus. Partindo pela picada próxima, pois pretendiam pernoitar pertinho, para procurar primo Péricles primeiro.

My partner is from Brazil. I moved from wanting to understand what their family was saying at the dinner table to actually holding conversations. I was born in the US, took Spanish in school and retained almost nothing. If I had to start over today, this is what I would do differently.

1. Use Duolingo - but just to build the habit.

Duolingo won't make you fluent. It will make you consistent, which is the only thing that matters in the beginning. Five minutes a day, same time, attached to something you already do (morning coffee, commute, before bed). Yes I stole this from the Atomic Habits book, but it really works.

2. Learn sounds before words

This one is underrated. Portuguese has sounds that don't exist in English, and if your ear can't parse them, your brain won't retain new vocabulary. Apps like Pimsleur really help with pronunciation and listening early. Learn why the words sound the way they do before you start hoarding vocab. It pays off massively later.

3. Learn your first 600-700 words using images, not translations

This is straight out of Fluent Forever and it genuinely changed how fast I retained things. The default flashcard approach is: gato = cat. The better approach: a picture of a cat, labeled in Portuguese, no English anywhere. Your brain already thinks in images, connecting a word directly to a concept is just way more durable than going word → translation → meaning. Anki has free community decks if you don't want to build your own.

4. Don't grind grammar rules, acquire them through sentences

Grammar textbooks are a trap. You memorize conjugation tables, close the book, forget them. Instead, find example sentences that use the forms you need, read them, say them out loud. Babbel or ChatGPT are actually really good for generating targeted example sentences if you want to be specific. Your brain picks up patterns on its own, you just need to give it the input.

5. Start speaking and listening asap, even if it feels slightly too early

The moment you have a few hundred words and some grammar intuition, start consuming real speech and producing it back. This is when you stop translating in your head and start actually thinking in Portuguese. It feels uncomfortable before it feels natural. That discomfort is the process.

6. TV and music are where the real language lives

Especially for Brazilian Portuguese, the gap between formal/textbook Portuguese and how people actually talk is huge. The way people talk in novelas and music is definetly not what they teach you in your textbook (this is where you get to learn all the fun/creative brazilian sayings). E.g. "eu não vou com a cara dele", "tanto faz", "que onda".

7. Mess up constantly

Nobody remembers what they got right. You remember what you got wrong. However, Brazilians know their language is hard so they really do appreciate the effort. Even a poorly pronounced "tudo bem" is better than nothing.

Hello, everyone! First of all, a disclaimer: the text below is ridden with ugly words of all kinds, and it's meant to educate, not to offend. If you severily dislike such language, stop reading and move on to another post.

I've been meaning to compile a list of brazilian swear words and some examples for a while now. It's not the classiest thing ever, of course, but it would be pretty unrealistic to assume that, if learning portuguese, you would never come across most of these (not everyone in Brazil has the mouth of a sailor, though! haha). I think it could be interesting to show you guys how the swear words are used, because often, the meaning of the words change wildly depending on the situation. Take for instance the english word "fuck". We all know what it means by itself, but I can think of dozens of expressions that are not even closely related to its original meaning. With that in mind, let's learn some fucking swear words! It's gonna be a long list, we sure do have some repertoire. Keep in mind, all the sentences exemplified below are profanities, even if not offensive, so use them with caution.

Foda and its variations

The word "foda" (pronounced "phodah" with the "o" sound like in the world "oil") comes from the verb "foder", which means literally "to fuck". By itself, can mean various things. One of the main meanings it's simply the intercourse itself:

• "Que foda gostosa foi essa" - what a great sex that was.

More commonly, though, the word "foda" it's used to describe something that's either a tough situation or something awesome. The context should give you plenty of clues to know which is which:

• "Que música foda!" - what a fucking awesome song!

• "Isso vai ser meio foda de consertar" - this will be kinda hard to fix.

You can also use the word foda to express your lamentation about something, be it in a sad, frustrated or angry way:

• "Minha namorada se transformou na Lua!"

• "Foda, cara..."

• My girlfriend turned into the Moon!

• That's rough, buddy....

Finally, you can use foda to characterize a person as being really good at something:

• "Eu sou muito foda em Super Mario World" - I'm fucking amazing at Super Mario World.

Now we can tweak the word foda a little bit and we arrive at foda-se (pronounced pho-dah-seh or pho-da-see, depending on where in the country you are). This expression means simply "fuck it", and can be applied as following:

• "Foda-se essa merda" - fuck this shit

• "Foda-se" - I don't give a fuck

• "Foda-se ela, você está melhor sozinho!" - Fuck her, you are better off alone!

The verb foder (pronounced pho-dehr), from which all these words are derived, although meaning "to fuck", it's not commonly used with this meaning in mind. Although in english the sentence "I fucked Ted" could be used to say "transei com o Ted / fiz sexo com o Ted", in Brazil saying "eu fodi o João" or something like this would sound really really really fucking strange (I'm laughing at this sentence just by typing it). So yeah, don't say this kind of thing here. Instead, the verb foder here is used more with a "mess up vigorously" meaning:

• "Você fodeu tudo!" - you screwed everything up!

• "Tá fodido(a)" - you're fucked

• "Se você fizer isso, você vai se foder" - if you do this, you will get yourself in a mess

• "Nem fodendo" - no fucking way

• "Eu só me fodo" - I'm always getting screwed over / only bad things happen to me

One interesting saying in portuguese combines both of the meanings of the word foder (have sex with / mess something up): when someone does something wrong that ends up causing you trouble, you could angrily say:

• "Quer me foder, me beija!" - if you want to fuck me, kiss me first!

The word cu (or cú)

This innocent looking monosyllabic word means anus (pronounced koo). It's not one of the worst things to say in front of your grandma, but it's ugly enough to be censored in television. It's also used in expressions that further extend its meaning:

• "Teu/seu cu!" - your ass! (used when someone tells you something unbeliavable. It can also be used in a "no fucking way" kinda of situation)

• "Tá com fogo no cu" (sometimes also "tá com fogo no rabo" - lit: "their asshole is on fire" - meaning that someone won't stay quiet, usually said about hiperactive children who just won't shut up or stop running around).

• "O que o cu tem a ver com as calças?" (lit: what does the asshole has to do with the pants?) - means what does this have to do with anything?

• "É de cair o cu da bunda" (lit: this makes my asshole fall out of my buttcheeks) - used to express indignation.

• "Ele ficou com o cu na mão" (lit: he had his asshole in his hands) - he was really fucking scared

• "Você está contando com o ovo no cu da galinha" (lit: you are counting with the eggs in the chicken's asshole) - to be counting on something you can't be sure will happen

There's also another one worth mentioning that is the adjective pau no cú (lit: dick in asshole), which is what you call someone who is a dick to others. The perfect example of a pau no cu is Bender from Futurama. He is the greatest pau no cu ever and I love him.

• "Eu vou comer o seu cu" - this one has to meanings. The more literal one is "I will fuck your asshole", in the sexual sense (the verb comer alguém/eat someone is commonly used meaning having sex with someone). The other meaning is that you will scold someone for something they did.

A final related word that I would like to point out is "arrombado". If your portuguese is not advanced enough, this word might seem totally unrelated to "cu", but the reasoning is that "arrombado" literally means "busted open", like... you know. It's an adjective than can be used interchangeably with "pau no cu".

The word caralho (ever wonder where the name of /r/suddenlycaralho came from?)

Caralho (pronounced kah-ra-lyo) means dick, but as with everything on this guide, has multiple meanings way beyond simply dick, and it's used even more in expressions that alter its meaning slightly. For example:

• "Vai pro caralho!" - another way to say "go fuck yourself", one can't have too many ways to say this.

• "Isso fica lá na casa do caralho" - this is in the middle of fucking nowhere

• "Caralho!" - interjection "fuck!"

• "Bom pra caralho" - fucking good

• "Ruim pra caralho" - fucking bad

• "Meu caralho!" - holy shit (the same as "puta merda!")

• "Esse filme é do caralho!" - this movie is awesome

• "O que caralhos é isso?" - what the fuck is this?

• "E o caralho a quatro" - used in the end of a list of things to indicate that said list continues indefinitely.

The word caralho is also pronounced and even written sometimes as "caraio" or "carai", and the meaning stays the same.

The word puta

Puta, pronounced "poo-tah", means whore. My advise is don't ever call a woman this, it's very sexist to try to insult a woman based on the amount of sex she is having, given that for men, this wouldn't be a "problem" at all. But it's important to know what it means, nonetheless. It's also used in some expressions:

• "Filho(a) da puta!" - son of a bitch!

• "Puta que pariu!" (lit: whore that has given birth) - holy shit! Sometimes this is written abbreviated as pqp

• "Vai pra puta que te pariu" (lit: go to the whore who birthed you) - get the fuck out of here / go fuck yourself

• "Putz" or "putzgrila" - I have no clue how someone came up with these words that mean "oh boy", but I'm pretty sure it is derived from "puta que pariu", even if remotely.

The word porra

Pronounced "poh-hah", it literally means cum. But as with everything on this list, it's meaning gets wildly different in some expressions, that are actually more common than the word alone.

• "Porra, cara" - come on, dude (a family-friendly version could be "pô, cara", but only with this meaning in mind, the word porra cannot usually be transformed into pô)

• "Porra..." - damn...

• "Porra, tu tá de sacanagem comigo!" - dude, you have got to be kidding me (angrily)

• "Que porra é essa?" - what the fuck is this?

• "Porra nenhuma!" - a really intense negation sentence

The poo-related words

The words "merda" and "bosta" both mean shit in portuguese, as does "cocô", but this last one has a childish-like ring to it, so it's not used a lot by adults, specially in this kind of context we're talking about. Other important word is the word "cagar", which means "to take a shit". Some expressions using these words and stuff derived from them are:

• "Estou cagando e andando" - (lit: I'm walking & pooping) - this means that you don't give a shit. The origin of that expression is that when horses are walking around, they just poop mid-walk without giving a fuck.

• "Fazer merda" - (lit. make shit) - it means to do something stupid or reckless or to fuck something up. It can be used in a lot of sentences like "eu não entendo essa sua vontade de fazer merda" (I don't understand why do you like to fuck up so much) or even "fiz merda!" (I screwed up!).

• "Vá à merda!" - (lit. go to the shit) - fuck off, go fuck yourself, you get the gist.

• "Mas que merda, hein" - wow, this sucks, huh

• "Puta merda" - holy shit

• "Seu ex é um bosta" - your ex is a piece of shit

Well guys, that was it for today! Although there is a lot of information in this post, I absolutely did not include everything portuguese has to offer profanity-wise hahah

If anyone remembers import stuff that I forgot or can think of more regional examples, share them in the comments!

I hope I didn't offend anyone with this post (but given that this is reddit, I think that's hardly the case)

Have a nice day everyone, stay safe and happy studying!

Yeah, it’s quarantine here in my city, I should be studying, but I’m not, therefore, I’m bored, so why not. People have been asking for it anyway, to help them learn pronunciation and familiarize with the culture, so here it goes. Get ready to be completelly sucked into what, in my opinion, is the best kind of music in the world:

Warning: I’m not a specialist, please don’t take me seriously and, if you want, you can and should complement this guide

Typical Brazilian Genres (as far as I know, they don’t exist in other countries)

Axé:

Born in Bahia with great Afro-Brazillian influence, it forms, together with Samba and Frevo, the sacred triunvirate of Carnival Music. Really dancy.

Three notable artists:

Ivete Sangalo

Banda Eva

Chiclete com Banana

Examples of songs:

Cadê Dalila - Ivete Sangalo

100% Você - Chiclete com Banana

Pau que nasce torto - É o Tchan

Bossa Nova:

Yeah, that’s what got us international fame. It’s really hard to describe, maybe a mix of samba and jazz. You probably heard it already.

Notable artists:

Tom Jobim

(Yeah, I don’t know many bossa nova artists. Other Brazilians, please help me and add more artists here)

Update: user u/ma7h_99 sugested some more.

João Gilberto

Elizabeth Cardoso

Examples of songs:

Garota de Ipanema - Tom Jobim

A Felicidade - Tom Jobim

O Barquinho - Nara Leão

Update: Caipira

User u/DouglasK-music pointed out it's similar to Sertanejo, but still different, so here it goes

Notable artists:

Tião Carreiro e Pardinho

Tonico e Tinoco

Almir Sater

Update: Capoeira

User u/moon101010 pointed out it needed its own category. In their words:

"It's music played along the martial art Capoeira while the dancers/fighters dance/fight. It's played with a lot of drums, tambourines and berimbau."

Notable examples:

Mestre Bimba

Mestre Cobra Mansa

Pé de Chumbo

Update: Gauchesca/Nativista

I knew I was missing some Southern genre! User u/uselesshc pointed it out (see their comment below for more artists to listen to!):

"A genre of music from the South region, exalting and paying tribute to the gaúcho's culture (people from the pampas plains that consists in regions from Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina). It consists in lyrics talking about their costumes, traditional foods, livestock lands and working, and their love for the nature. Most instrumentals uses an acoustic guitar, an accordion and some percussion instruments. A more "pop" party-driven variation is called Tchê music, reffering to the popular expression often shouted around in chit-chats"

Notable artists:

Os Serranos

Joca Martins

Luiz Marenco

Notable songs:

César Oliveira e Rogério Melo - Lá na Fronteira

Os Serranos - Tertúlia

César Passarinho - Guri

Forró:

Tipically played with a “sanfona”, (accordeon), the most well known rithym of the Northeast region. Really dancy also.

Three notable artists:

Aviões do Forró - currently disbanded, the main singers keep on singing and being succesful

Luiz Gonzaga - the King

Wesley Safadão

Three notable songs:

Chamego ou Xaveco - Banda Magníficos

Asa Branca - Luiz Gonzaga - the hymn of the Northeast

Coração - Dorgival Dantas

Funk:

Totally different from American Funk. It was born in Rio de Janeiro and is a big part of favela culture. Also really dancy.

Three notable artists:

Ludmilla

Valesca Popozuda - yeah, don’t search “Popozuda” on Google

Bonde do Tigrão

Three notable songs:

Favela Chegou - Anitta e Ludmilla

Beijinho no Ombro - Valesca Popozuda

Vou Desafiar Você - Sapão

MPB (Música Popular Brasileira)

The natural evolution of Bossa Nova, known for it’s use of acoustic guitar. One of the most popular genres.

Three notable artists:

Chico Buarque

Alceu Valença

Tim Maia

Three notable songs:

Partido Alto - Cássia Eller

Geni e o Zepelim - Chico Buarque

O Tempo é Sua Morada - Francisco El Hombre

Pagode:

I don’t even know how to describe it. Reminds me of samba. Typical music for churrascos on Sundays.

Three notable artists:

ExaltaSamba

Sorriso Maroto

Harmonia do Samba - for some weird reason bands with “samba” in the name actually play pagode. While people with “pagode” in the name tend to play samba. I don’t know man.

Three notable songs:

Me apaixonei pela pessoa errada - ExaltaSamba

Sacanagenzinha - Harmonia do Samba e Anitta

Deixa acontecer - Grupo Revelação

Sertanejo:

Our “country”, although it sounds nothing like American Country. Easily one of the most popular genres in Brazil today.

Three notable Artists:

Marília Mendonça

Maiara e Maraísa

Zezé Di Camargo e Luciano

Examples of songs:

Evidências - Chitãozinho e Xororó - the hymn of Brazil basically. Every Brazillian is born knowing how to sing this, like them or not.

Jenifer - Gabriel Diniz

Dormi na praça - Bruno e Marrone

Tecnobrega:

I only know one band of tecnobrega, but I had to include it here, both because it’s really famous and because this list is terribly lacking in styles from the North of Brazil.

Notable band:

Calypso - Disbanded, but the lead singer is still going strong

Update: user u/ma7h_99 made me remember some more:

Gaby Amarantos

Banda Uó

Notable songs:

Voando pro Pará - Joelma

A lua me traiu - Banda Calypso

Ex Mai Love - Gaby Amarantos

Samba

Oh, come on, you know samba. The king rhythm of Carnival. National music genre.

Notable artists:

Adoniran Barbosa

Zeca Pagodinho - See? He has “pagode” in his name, but mostly sings samba. It’s confusing

Cartola

Three notable songs:

Não deixe o samba morrer - Alcione

Marinheiro Só - Clementina de Jesus

Chiclete com Banana - Jackson do Pandeiro

Existing genres, but with Brazilian flavor:

Rock

Also called Brock (Brazilian Rock). Started to get strong on the 80s and is still strong today.

Three notable artists:

Rita Lee

Legião Urbana

Titãs

Three notable songs:

Tempo Perdido - Legião Urbana

Meu Erro - Paralamas do Sucesso

Admirável Chip Novo

Bonus: humor rock band Mamonas Assassinas, who lasted one year before they all died in a plane crash and which are still known by all Brazilians. Listen away from kids and Portuguese people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WjI3DLOk4c

Heavy Metal

I had to put this here for the only Brazilian Heavy Metal band I know:

Notable artists:

Sepultura

Update: user u/Mkid73 pointed out I left out Angra

Notable song:

Roots Bloody Roots - Sepultura

Rap

Rap artists in Brazil tend to be really socially engaged. They are strongly associated with the black rights movement.

Three notable artists:

Emicida

Criolo

Racionais MC

Three notable songs

AmarElo - Emicida

Rio 40 Graus - Fernanda Abreu e Chico Science

Qual É? - Marcelo D2

Reggae

I’ve seen it played in the radio sometimes, although I don’t know a lot about it.

Notable artists:

O Rappa

Natiruts

Yeah, I don’t know any others. Other Brazillians, please feel free to help.

Notable songs:

Pescador de Ilusões - O Rappa

Natiruts Reggae Power - Natiruts

Pop

These tend to be a fever for a time and then misteriously disappear.

Notable artists:

Sandy e Júnior - formally disbanded, but still together in the hearts of fans

Anitta - she started as funk, but I have the impression that today she’s mostly a pop artist

Kelly Key

Notable songs

Baba - Kelly Key

A Lenda - Sandy e Júnior

Show das Poderosas - Anitta

Special – Dictatorship songs

Brazil has many songs that were written by artists during our military dictatorship in form of protest. Most of them were censored, but we all know their lyrics to this day, and they are really powerful and important for our History. The most powerful interpretations are still kept in video these days and shown to our children.

Examples:

Disparada - Jair Rodrigues - starts at 7:10. A great interpretation, chilling because during the video you can actually see military personel glaring at him from the public.

Como nossos pais - Elis Regina - not her song, but the most know interpretation. The hymn of defeat.

[Pra não dizer que não falei das flores - Geraldo Vandré - it was forbidden to sing this song for years in the country. In this interpretation you can hear people booing the judges for not choosing it as the best song in a festival during the military dictatorship.

Update: Special - Tropicália

As user u/atMalkyor pointed out, not a musical genre per se, but the closest Brazil ever had to hippie music. I'll leave some of their suggestions:

Notable artists:

Caetano Veloso - the main artist of the movement, his song Tropicália named the style and is almost a manifesto of the movement

Tom Zé

Os Mutantes

Notable songs:

Domingo No Parque - Gilberto Gil

A Menina Dança - Novos Baianos

Panis et Circenses - Os Mutantes

Instrumental music (no lyrics but still important)

Frevo:

Born in Pernambuco. The name comes from an adaptation of the word “fervo”, which means “boil”. As you can guess, really dancy (really hard and exhausting to dance, too) and forms, with Axé and Samba, the triunvirate of Carnival Music.

Dancing: yeah, see if you can keep up, will ya?

Classical music:

I know it exists and that Villa Lobos was an important composer, so I had to put this here.

As Bachianas Brasileiras - Villa Lobos

Chorinho

Played on the violas and violões. Famous, although you may not have heard the name.

Tico tico no fubá - Zequinha de Abreu

Brasileirinho - Waldyr Azevedo

Odeon - Ernesto Nazareth

Bonus: “Brazillian” songs

Yeah, we have a habit of… uhm… adapting songs from other countries. Sometimes so well that some people actually think they are ours. I didn’t even know “Without You” was actually by Mariah Carey until recently. Enjoy?

(Paulinha - Calcinha Preta) Without You – Mariah Carey

(Só quer vrau - MC MM feat. DJ RD) Bella Ciao – Bassotti (I’d like to apologize to the whole country of Italy for this)

(Festa no Apê - Latino) Dragonstea Din Tei – Ozone

(À sua maneira - Capital Inicial) De musica ligera – Soda Stereo

(Se não valorizar - Solange Almeida) Umbrella - Rihanna

Edit: my brain fell asleep and forgot who sang "Evidências". Corrected. Also updated to include some genres that other users pointed out

In Brazil, it is very common to find people with names that still follow the old orthography of the Portuguese language, such as Luiz, Thiago, Thomaz, Matheus. According to the current orthography, these names would be Luís, Tiago, Tomás, and Mateus, respectively. I notice that this doesn't happen in other countries like Portugal, Angola, and Mozambique. Is there any specific reason why only Brazil retains names and surnames with the old orthography of the Portuguese language?

In Portugal they wildly confuse people with the “puxar” stickers on doors.
In Portuguese it means to pull, not to push!
Does this annoy anyone else besides me? 😅

In Brazil, there is a company called Copagaz, which sells kitchen gas tanks (propane + butane).

I drove past one of their factories a few days ago and saw their slogan: Copagaz: Chama Que Não Falta. It made me giggle at how smart this is.

For those who don't get it: "chama" can mean two things, the first one being the imperative form of the verb "to call", while "que não falta" would mean "that won't run out". In other words, the whole sentence could be translated as "call us and you won't ever be out of gas". But "chama" is also a substantive meaning "flame". If we take "chama" to mean "flame", the sentence "chama que não falta" now means "flame that doesn't go out", which in my opinion is pretty neat.

Anyway, stay safe and keep studying!

Oi gente,

Last month in Floripa another surfer asked me if the water was cold. "Bah! A água tá quentinha hoje" came out of my mouth without translating. Three years ago, my options were "muito bom", "obrigado", or "tudo bom".

My fiancée is Brazilian. We're getting married in Porto Alegre next year and half the guests - including her parents - don't speak English. So I didn't really have a choice.

I'm mostly self-taught and this is my whole system - every tool, podcast, show, and technique that actually worked. Mainly useful for A2-B1 folks trying to break into B2.

Vocabulary

Learning vocab is like eating your vegetables. You gotta do it every damn day, regardless of level. Without a base, listening practice is just noise.

Anki with images on the back has been my foundation. 10-15 new cards a day, spaced repetition doing the work. I put pictures on the back along with English translations because I'm a visual learner. Keep it simple at first, or use the hyperTTS plugin for audio if you're feeling fancy.

The first 800-1000 most frequent words unlock a majority of everyday conversation. Movies and news open up around 5000. Once you've got the base, you can start learning through immersion.

Lean hard on cognates: música, família, importante, diferente, conversação. You already know more Portuguese than you think. Watch out for false friends though.. puxe and pretender will get ya.

Please. Skip. Duolingo. It's a dopamine casino designed to give you the illusion of progress. It trains your fingers, not your mouth and ears.

Listening

Thirty minutes in the car = thirty minutes of free practice. You already have the time for listening, just fill it with Portuguese. Cooking, cleaning, the gym, wherever.

The goal is comprehensible input - stuff slightly above your level where you have to stretch but not drown. And it has to actually interest you or you'll stop paying attention.

Podcasts

Carioca Connection (B1-B2, casual conversations, best one I've found)
Coffee Break Portuguese (A2-B1)
Fala Gringo! (B1-B2, culture and current events).

YouTube channels

Speaking Brazilian (A1-B1)
Easy Portuguese (A1-B2, street interviews)
Street Smart Brazil (A2-B2).

Make a new YouTube or TikTok account and only watch Portuguese content. The algorithm catches on in a week.

Language Reactor plugin gives you dual subtitles in Portuguese and English at the same time.

The real unlock for shows though was rewatching stuff I already knew like DBZ and Pokémon, but dubbed in Portuguese. When you know the plot your brain can focus on the language. Love is Blind Brasil and Too Hot to Handle Brasil also earned more hours than I'd like to admit, but it's a good excuse to watch trashy television :)

TV shows
3% (dystopian sci-fi)
Cidade Invisível (fantasy based on Brazilian folklore)
Coisa Mais Linda (1950s period drama)

Comedy/Dramas
Porta dos Fundos on YouTube
Os Normais
A Grande Família.

Don't do what i did at first and pause to look up every word you don't know. let exposure do its job. start with kids shows if you need to.

Music

There is SO much incredible Brazilian music across many genres. Find music you actually like, put it on repeat, then translate the lyrics line by line.

There's too many to name, but Legião Urbana and Tim Maia are my favorites. That said, the first song I ever learned was Olha a Explosão... not super useful for talking to your future mother-in-law.

Emotion glues vocab to memory in a way flashcards can't. "Chove chuva, chove sem parar" cemented the meaning of all of those words in my head in a way my anki cards never could.

Speaking

This is the hardest part and the most important part. Start before you feel ready.

Talk to your dog. Talk to yourself in the shower. Talk to anyone that will listen to your caveman-speak.

italki is the gold standard (thanks Prof. Lucas!) - one or two tutor sessions a week can get pricey but totally worth it. shop around until you find someone whose matches your vibe.

boraspeak for daily speaking practice between tutoring sessions. Sometimes I just talk about my day, other times I do structured grammar drills or shadowing exercises.

Language exchange partners are great in theory, wildly inconsistent in practice.

Pimsleur is rigid and borderline boomer tech, but solid for early pronunciation drills.

ChatGPT agrees with everything you say and won't correct you unless you beg.

None of these replace talking with fellow humans. But between lessons you need the reps.

"Como se diz…?" and "O que significa…?" are the two most powerful phrases in your toolbox. I ask my fiancée and her family any time I don't know a word or phrase.

Learn in chunks, not individual words. Native speakers don't process "bom dia" as two words, they hear one chunk. Same with "café da manhã," "de novo," "algo mais?" The sooner you swap single-word thinking for chunk thinking, the sooner you stop translating in your head. Filler words like "então," "né," and "tipo" buy you rhythm and make you sound less like a textbook overnight.

Reading

Honestly my least favorite way to learn, but some people swear by it. Start with a book you already read in your native language - same logic as rewatching shows. Harry Potter is the classic pick. Turma da Mônica comics are fun and fast if you want something lighter. I've heard good things about lingq and readlang if you're one of those data people that wants to count every word.

Writing

Write one paragraph or sentence a day, and keep a journal so you see your progress over time. Writing forces you to slow down and reach for words, which exposes exactly what vocab you're missing. r/WriteStreakPT will correct your entries for free.

Where I am now

Lots of work to do before the wedding. I still don't catch everything at family dinners when everyone's talking at once. But I can order food, tell a story, hold my own with the in-laws, and survive a churrasco without switching to English.

TLDR

1. Creating new habits is hard. Integrating Portuguese into what you already do is much easier.

2. Mess up in public. It's the best way to learn and people respect the effort.

3. Consistency beats intensity.

Above all: The best way to improve is to talk about things you enjoy with people you enjoy. Isn't that why we're all learning?

So yeah, that's all I've got. What's worked for you guys? Any other resources I'm sleeping on?

And, as a native Portuguese speaker, I feel this.

I was chatting with a friend just now and realized that when we say, in Brazilian Portuguese, "deixa eu só ___" (which is common sentence translating to "let me just ___", as in "let me just get my keys" before leaving the house) we end up shortening it to "tcheusó ___", as it sounds similar to a quickly said "deixa eu só".
I know there are several of these contractions like these we do in our every day life in every language, but this is one where I feel the resulting sound almost feels like a new word, the same feeling I get from the English "ain't".
That's it, just sharing a reflection.

ps: another classical example is "você" (you), which we pretty much always say "cê".

Oi gente!! After coming back from my trip to Brazil I really thought I wouldn’t be able to use my Portuguese again in a public setting (I’m from NY, and I haven’t ran into many Brazilians here), BUT THAT CHANGED TODAY WHEN I LEAST EXPECTED IT!! I was in koreatown in Manhattan and inside hmart (a Korean supermarket), and I saw a kind lady with her daughter shopping for food. I saw she was wearing a Brazilian soccer jersey, which made me so happy I decided to muster up the courage to say “vocês são do Brasil?” Instantly they perked their heads up and it was honestly like their face lit up — a complete change in facial expression and a huge smile/gasp. They then looked at me and started speaking so quickly in portuguese and asking me if I was from brasil, to which I said in my best Portuguese “não, eu moro aqui”. They then started telling me where in Brasil they were from and that they were on vacation! After a bit of talking I asked if they needed any help and I helped them convert some of the prices of these Korean ice cream bars into reais so they have a better understanding of the value. I know this may not seem like much but it made me so happy to run into Brazilians and speak Portuguese with them that I wanted so badly to share this with you guys on Reddit!! Obrigado for all ur help Reddit in my portugues journey!!!

Hi everyone,

My university is offering foreign language courses in portuguese and a exclusive portuguese course for non native speakers. It's aimed to students at A1 and A2 level, though more skilled students can join our classes too since we're also going to work with cultural aspects of the language and brazilian culture as well (in music, movies, idioms, etc). I'll summarize the details of the course below:

- How long does it take the course?

A: One meeting per week during one semester, the lessons will happen between April, 05th and July, 3rd.

- When and where will happen our meetings?

A: Tuesdays or Wednesdays (depending on your level) at 12:30 pm until 2:00 pm (UTC -3) on Google Meets.

- Is it paid?

A: Yes, 50 reais.

- How do I sign in?

A: You have to schedule a placement test before, which is simply an interview to get to know our potential students, and then you're good to go, we'll follow to registration and payment.

-Where can I sign in?

A: Just fill in this google forms to schedule the placement test :) https://forms.gle/4iY91eRRFonj6mH38

**Period to declare your interest to do the interview:From 4th to 9th, March, 2021.

**The interviews will happen in 11st 12nd and 13rd of March, we will get in touch to set the day/hour with you

**The Official Registration and Payment:From 23rd to 29th, March, 2021.

Here's the full resume of the course.

Any further questions, or suggestions, you can send to the email in the resume :)

Have a nice day!

I'll go first

In Portuguese påu means "bread" and pau means "dick". This is a slight pronunciation difference so guess what I ordered every day.

Estava caminhando na calçada e vi um sinal que disse "Brazilian Restaurant and Market". Naturalmente, entrei e andei à seção do mercado. Eu vi um garrafa de Toddy e o levei à registradora. Eu perguntei o homem lá se ele era um Brasileiro, e os olhos dele parecem com sorpresa, e ele perguntou "Tudo bem?" e eu ri e diz "Tudo bem.", então falámos por uns minutos e eu saí.

Não é uma historia emocionante, mas hoje estou feliz que finalmente eu poderia praticar na vida real

I just learned that the word for "monkey" in Portuguese is macaco. Then I said it to my Portuguese friend and he told me it's offensive and racist. May I know why? And if it is offensive and racist, then how do I say "monkey" in Portuguese without offending anyone?

Edit: I'm sorry if I come off ignorant but I did not call him or anyone "macaco", I just learned animals in Portuguese and wanted to show him. I also said gato, cavalo, pato, etc. he only told me it's racist and that I should not say it. I didn't understand cause I was talking about animals so why would it be racist. That's my only confusion

If you’ve tried saying words like pão (bread) or coração (heart), you know the ão sound is tricky. It’s not just “ow” or “on” — it’s a nasal sound that doesn’t exist in English.

Quick hack: try saying “ow” while letting air pass through your nose. That’s the Portuguese nasal.

It feels strange at first, but once you get it, pão will finally sound like pão.

I am aware that many Brazilians in this community, as well as videos on YouTube (https://youtu.be/rPyijDBTYgI), expressed the notion that Brazilians never employ the word "sim" as an answer to a question. I am 42 years old, and I use the word "sim" every day. I made a little inquiry with other Brazilians around me, and all of them told me they often use the word "sim" as a response the situations others believe we never do.

We are all from Salvador, Bahia.

It is possible that the distaste for for the word "sim" is a characteristic of the Southeast region where the ability to speak English is more common. I often use the word "sim" as a response, and have done so in multiple regions and states. That never led me to being misinterpreted, nor has it created any bad impressions.

Vc = você

Nn = não

Ss = sim

q = que

Eh = é

Pse = pois é

Bjs = Beijos

Blz = beleza

Cmg = comigo

Sdds = saudades

Sla = sei lá

Vdd = verdade

Ctz = certeza

Kd = Cadê

D = de

Sro = sério

Pf = por favor/prato feito

Pq = por que/porque/por quê/porquê

Hj = hoje

Mds = meu deus

Mt/mo = muito

Ass = assim

Gnt = gente

Algm = alguém

Ngm = ninguém

Pprt = papo reto

Mlk = moleque

Vlw = valeu

Ns = não sei

Ent = então

Tbm/tb = também

Sqn = só que não

Face = facebook

Wpp/zap = WhatsApp

tt = twitter

Ticoteco = tiktok

Yt = youtube

Insta/IG = Instagram

Pqp = p*ta que pariu

Fdp = filho da p*ta

Fds = fim de semana/f*dasse

ead = ensino à distância

I have really bad social anxiety and struggle to talk to people a lot of the time. But in the past I have been able to communicate with others really well in the tidbits of other languages I know (French, Spanish, ect.) And i really enjoy learning languages. I chose Portuguese as a language to learn because i thought it would be fun, but I also chose it because there is a girl that I like who is from Brazil. I have tried to build up the courage to ask her out in English multiple times, but I never could. Is learning Portuguese to try and express myself to her a stupid reason to learn the language.

Edit: to clarify, we are not together, and she does not currently live in Brazil, she lives here in England

But not english loanwords? Stuff like petit gateau, citroen, peugeot, atelier, necessaire, croissant, belle-epoque, are all pronounced pretty accurately in Brazil (i imagine that in Portugal too)

But then for english words like notebook (nótibuki), whatsapp (whatzapi), feedback (fídibeki) etc are all portuguesefied in Brazil. I wonder why this happens, does the romance language connection play a part? Because french has very unique pronunciation despite that

Hello! I've been studying for 1-3 hours every day since the lockdown began. I speak fluent Spanish, so I'm starting with an advantage, but I think the following resources will be helpful to any learner. If it's of interest, you can check out me speaking here!

I'm now at a comfortable upper-intermediate level. :-) Hope this helps!

• Duolingo: I use it every day, but only advance to level 2 on each little circle before moving on (since I have Spanish as a base). Going all the way to level five to me was boring + repetitive. I do 4 “lessons” every day.

• Babbel.com: MUCH better than Duolingo, instead of memorizing it has lessons that go through different grammar pieces and life scenarios (attending Carnaval, etc.). This has a subscription cost but there are many promo codes you can find on Google. I got three months for the price of one ($12 USD), for example.

• Youtube: “Speaking Brazilian Language School” (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGs6EbIt75S4IMKPRUU0JNQ). Great channel with lots of lessons with both English + Portuguese subtitles. I’ve watched almost all of Virginia’s videos, her accent is super easy to understand and follow along. - Also on YouTube, “BBC Brazil” is great, and you can set the videos to have Portuguese subtitles and to play at like 80% of the speed so you can listen better.

• Language Learning with Netflix. Chrome extension that allows you to add English subtitles below Portuguese subtitles for Brazilian Netflix shows/movies. You can also interact with subtitles, like click on a word in Portuguese and it will show the definition on your screen. (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/language-learning-with-ne/hoombieeljmmljlkjmnheibnpciblicm?hl=en)

• https://www.linguno.com/ GREAT tool, allows you to practice verb conjugation with interactive prompts.

• Netflix material. Show: 3% (great TV show about a dystopian future in Brazil. I watched the whole first season in a week and there’s four seasons total so lots of material). Show: Coisa Mais Linda (2 seasons about Rio de Janeiro in the 60s, fabulous). Movie: The Edge of Democracy (Documentary about the last 60 or so years of Brazilian politics. Incredible).

• Pimsleur: Oldest language learning company in the world, started on records, then cassette tapes. It’s a listen-and-repeat format with 30-minute lessons, I usually listen to 2 lessons every morning while walking my pup. This is pretty expensive, but you can get the tapes from your local library.

• Podcasts: “Portugueses no mondo”: PORTUGAL Portuguese, the host interviews Portuguese people who have moved abroad.

• iTalki.com: hire a native speaker to tutor you. The site is super user friendly and you get a couple of free introductory lessons so that you can decide if you want to continue with a teacher or not. I ADORE my teacher, Valter, and would recommend him. He charges less than $6 USD/class and I do two lessons a week.