8 Top Tips for Learning Portuguese for Expats

If you are planning on relocating to Portugal, then learning
Portuguese is crucial, unless you want to live in an "expat
bubble" and not integrate, or have no wish to understand
anything about the society in which you are living.

Learning the language can also help prevent you from being
taken advantage of. You should not only consider the
benefits to you, but the fact that many Portuguese natives
will find it extremely impolite and somewhat arrogant, if
you are making no effort to speak to them in their language.

Whilst tourist areas and more cosmopolitan towns and cities
may have many English speakers to hand, small towns and
villages will not.

Government offices and authorities will rarely deal with you
in English, and if you attempt to write communications in
English you may well get a terse reply telling you that the
working language of Portugal is Portuguese!

It is no good waiting until you are living in Portugal to
learn and hoping you will just pick it up. You won't! You
should start learning many months before your permanent
arrival and keep doing it after your relocation.

Here are 8 tips for making it easier to learn Portuguese?

1. There are many language books, tapes, CDs and courses out
there. Some are better than others and some may suit some
people better than others. Buying a few different courses
and alternating them, whilst expensive, may help to keep
things fresh and widen your vocabulary and grammar.

2. The key is little and often. 15 to 20 minutes a day is
far better than an hour or two once or twice a week. You
will retain a lot more and not find yourself getting bogged
down. You are also more likely to make that amount of time
available each day and not find excuses for doing something
else.

3. If possible, try to find a private, native speaking
teacher and either attend a class, or preferably one-to-one
lessons, so that you can study at your own rate.

4. Study with a spouse, partner or friend for motivational
purposes. If you both know there is a time set and that
someone else is relying on you, you will be less likely to
skip it and do something else.

5. Watch Portuguese TV and listen to Portuguese radio.
However awful some of the programmes might be, you will be
amazed at how much sinks in after a while. Portuguese
telenovelas (soap operas) are excellent for this. The
language used is generally of the everyday type and you can
usually easily follow the very simple plots and story lines.

6. Don't worry about making mistakes and being perfect. Just
DO IT! You won't learn if you don't make mistakes. Think of
how many mistakes you hear when foreigners are trying to
learn to speak English. Do you make fun of them? No. In
general most people are appreciative of others making the
effort to learn their language. Plus, it can be real fun.

7. If someone replies to you in English, just keep speaking
Portuguese, or if need be, ask them politely if they would
mind not speaking to you in English.

8. If you have certain jobs or shopping to do the next day,
or later the same day, do a bit of homework before you go
out. Make a list of the verbs and vocabulary you might need
and learn them and take the list with you for support. Many
situations are quite similar, so once you've learnt a few
stock phrases you can use them again and again.