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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.
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