Have you ever thought about learning Portuguese? About how you might practice Portuguese in your spare time or as part of a class learning the language? It may not be our first thought as a language but it would be very useful for going on holiday to Portugal or for trading with Portugal internationally for business. From a holidaying point of view, popular Portugal destinations include Lisbon, the Algarve, Madeira, and Porto.
If we knew some of the languages, we could gain so much more from a holiday by feeling part of the culture and ordering things off menus that we were once uncertain about but didn’t like to ask. From a business perspective, international trading requires more documentation than it ever has, so it is useful to be able to speak and write in Portuguese. There are plenty of jobs for interpreters who can speak the language.
Learn in Lisbon
Why not attend a school in Lisbon and learn Portuguese in the capital and the heart of where Portuguese people are using the language daily? Surrounded by it, you will have it mastered in no time at all.
Lusa, for example, is a language school that you could attend to learn your Portuguese. It is situated in Cais do Sodré, where all the activity is. Transport systems are good, with its train station only a 5-minute walk away. You will be close to all the tourist action, too, and be able to help them learn some of the Portuguese they wish they had studied before setting off on their holidays.
Online
Another way to learn Portuguese is through an online course. It is about listening to the words and how they are pronounced as much as the letters used and how words are spelled. It all depends on how detailed you want to go with learning Portuguese.
However, the more detail you go into, the more useful it will be to you in the future, in terms of leisure and business. Your future occupation may rely upon it. You may want to take your studies in the direction of learning Portuguese and other languages.
Phrasebooks
Phrasebooks are primarily geared towards those who travel and want to learn enough keywords to get by while on holiday. Anyone serious about learning Portuguese will, however, want to attend a class to learn it. It is a much more fulfilling experience.
The advantage of phrasebooks is in the way they provide a quick reference to looking up the words and phrases that should prove useful in places like restaurants and shops, where you need to order or ask for something. Although, most places will have someone speaking English as this is the common language of tourists. It depends on what area you find yourself in.
Off the beaten track, then it becomes ever more important that you have a good grasp of Portuguese. So, if you are planning more than a holiday and want to live or work in Portugal, it makes sense to attend a language course.
Another advantage of phrasebooks is that they often provide some culture or etiquette advice that you might not find in course or study books. So, on that basis, it is good to have a phrasebook to hand as well as your study books.
Is Portuguese a Difficult Language to Learn?
Portuguese does have some sounds that are difficult to learn for non-native speakers such as those more familiar with English, but it is not a difficult language to learn. It is just about setting your mind to do it. Translators are all very well but what they give you can be difficult to put into context so that they make sense to a native.
Looking this up online, it seems that Portuguese is likely to take either 24 weeks or 600 hours to learn. This would be the same as if you learned Spanish, French, or Italian. So, it is just a case of picking the language you need to learn for your circumstances, whether that be a desire to travel and explore that country, or for your business or educational needs.
In summary, we can learn Portuguese through classes that run in Lisbon, through online study, or via phrasebooks. A combination of study books and phrasebooks would seem a good idea to learn the words as well as the culture. It is useful, also, to know about the popular words that are used. It is certainly a worthwhile language to learn because it is one of the most spoken languages in the world. It is, for instance, the most spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere.
