Why learn Portuguese?

Portugal is a beautiful country, much of which has yet to be properly discovered by the British. It is a popular holiday destination but it is also so much more.

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Portugal was a superpower, with enormous wealth and colonies all over the world. In 1581, the Spanish invaded Portugal and occupied it for sixty years, during which time Portuguese fortunes declined dramatically. In 1755, bad luck struck Lisbon in the form of an earthquake. The twentieth century was another turbulent one for Portugal, with the overthrow of the monarchy in 1910 and a succession of repressive, more or less dictatorial governments ruling the country until the revolution in 1974. Portugal gave up its last colony, Macau, in 1999.

These days, Portugal is a modern, thriving economy with a great deal to offer the foreign visitor. If you are going to get the most out of your trip, however, you need to know at least some of the language.

Learning the language is the only way really to get below the surface of a country and Portuguese is not a particularly difficult language to learn. If you have some experience of Spanish, Italian or even French, you will find Portuguese very accessible. (If you haven't, you will have the advantage of no preconceived ideas about pronunciation.)

When you first listen to Portuguese, it usually sounds impenetrable and much more foreign than, say, Spanish. It is true that the pronunciation and the accent are very different from those of the other Romance languages but when you see Portuguese written down, you may be surprised how much you can understand.

Have a look at the following words and see what you think.

o aeroporto (the airport)
o apartamento (the apartment, flat)
o problema (the problem)
a gasolina (the petrol)
o minuto (the minute)
importante (important)
excelente (excellent)

Not too bad so far, is it?

A degree more difficult now, for the more experienced linguists:

o livro (the book)
o bilhete (the ticket - lh is pronounced like gl in Italian or ll in Spanish)
o jornal (the newspaper)

Recommended Reading

If you are interested in learning Portuguese, have a look at the Portuguese language books we recommend to accompany any course you take or for maintaining/improving your Portuguese by yourself.

If you are interested in the life and culture of Portugal or Brazil, have a look at our recommendations for books about or set in Portugal and Brazil. These books are in English, a range of fiction and non-fiction that we have enjoyed and hope you will too.

If you are planning a trip to Portugal, don't set out without your Lonely Planet Guide to Portugal. If you are heading for Brazil, the same goes for your Guide to Brazil.

Some Quick Facts About Portugal

Language:
Portuguese (official)
Mirandese (officially recognised but used only in some rural areas of Portugal)

Capital city:
Lisbon (Lisboa)

Regions:
The islands of Madeira and the Azores (Açores) are autonomous regions of Portugal.

The Portuguese mainland is divided into 18 administrative districts:
Aveiro
Beja
Braga
Braganca
Castelo Branco
Coimbra
Evora
Faro
Guarda
Leiria
Lisboa
Portalegre
Porto
Santarem
Setubal
Viana do Castelo
Vila Real
Viseu

Population:
10,605,870 (July 2006 est.)

Currency:
Euro

Religion:
Roman Catholic

Government:
Republic. Unicameral parliamentary system.

Internet domain:
.pt

Country calling code:
+351

If you are interested in learning more about Portugal, you might also like to look at the following websites:

Country Studies - Portugal

Fado music

Some Quick Facts About Brazil

Languages:
Portuguese (official)
Spanish, English, French

Capital city:
Brasilia

Area: 8,547,403 sq km, making up 47% of South America.
(This is 35 times the area of the UK and marginally smaller than the USA.)

States:
Acre (AC)
Alagoas (AL)
Amapá (AP)
Amazonas (AM)
Bahia (BA)
Brasília (DF)
Ceará (CE)
Espírito Santo (ES)
Goiás (GO)
Mato Grosso (MT)
Mato Grosso do Sul (MS)
Maranhão (MA)
Minas Gerais (MG)
Pará (PA)
Paraná (PR)
Paraíba (PB)
Pernambuco (PE)
Piauí (PI)
Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
Rio Grande do Norte (RN)
Rio Grande do Sul (RS)
Rondônia (RO)
Roraima (RR)
Santa Catarina (SC)
São Paulo (SP)
Sergipe (SE)
Tocantins (TO)

Population:
182.8 million (UN, 2005)

Currency:
Real

Religion:
Roman Catholic

Government:
Republic. Bicameral parliamentary system.

Internet domain:
.br

Country calling code:
+55

If you are interested in learning more about Brazil, you might also like to look at the following websites:

Brazilian Embassy

Just Brazil

Capoeira is an important part of Brazilian culture. You can read about it on Start Playing Capoeira.