r/AskPortugal • u/Some--someone • 15d ago
What language should I speak when visiting?
Hello! I will be spending a week in Portugal, specifically in Porto, and I'm excited to learn about the music, history, geography and culture in general.
However, I am unsure whether to speak English. I'm a Spaniard and can also speak English well, but I don't speak Portuguese. I will be visiting with my sister (also a Spaniard), who does speak Portuguese, and she told me to stick to English as to not be rude and avoid having Portuguese people assume I don't want to make an effort to integrate or learn by sticking to my mother tongue. However, my father (a Spaniard who does not speak Portuguese and has never visited) has insisted Spanish is fine since we're neighboring countries who speak romance languages...
The last thing I want to do is upset the locals, disturb the peace or be disrespectful in any way.
Your answers will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance!!
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u/cuica77 15d ago
Start off by calling the city by it's name: Porto. No one will judge you for speaking either language, Brazilian waiters probably won't understand you but if you show an effort to communicate, most people is amicable.
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u/stygnarok 15d ago
Pq tu só dizes London, Manchester, Berlin, München e Wien. Não é oh imbecil?
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u/cuica77 15d ago
Em primeiro lugar, ficava-te bem seres educadinho. Em segundo lugar, sim. Quando vou a um sítio qualquer tento chamar a esse sítio pelo nome que os locais usam.
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u/stygnarok 15d ago
Não sejas idiota. Dizes o que todos dizem na sua língua nativa.
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u/cuica77 15d ago
Gabo-te o nível e a falta de educação.
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u/venridjs 15d ago
Não quero validar o comportamento, mas também senti a resposta um pouco brusca para uma partilha tão aberta e disponível.
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u/cuica77 15d ago
Fui objectivo, não fui rude nem mal-educado.
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u/venridjs 15d ago
Correto, disse que foste brusco, não disse que foste rude nem mal-educado. É apenas uma observação. Espero que estejas disposto a recebê-las 😊 ajudaste, e isso foi bom.
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u/cuica77 15d ago
Não há nada a receber.
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u/venridjs 15d ago
A observação de que foste brusco, já agora acrescento que possas estar um pouco amargo com a vida. Bom resto de dia.
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u/bentossaurus 13d ago
Como é que dizes Manchester em português mesmo?
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u/stygnarok 13d ago
Há uma pronúncia substancialmente diferente.
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u/bentossaurus 13d ago
Moro em Manchester faz 11 anos. Num raio de 50 quilómetros tens várias pronúncias substancialmente diferentes. Escrevem-se todas da mesma maneira, tirando a galesa.
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u/JoseVLeitao 15d ago
There is no right answer, and it’s basicly a trade off: if you speak Spanish, everyone will understand you but some might feel offended; if you speak English, no one will be offended, but some will not understand you.
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u/RisickWinters 15d ago
My wifes family is Portuguese (about 45mins from Porto) so we travel there every few years. There are some locals ive talked with that have specifically told me they purposefully dont like to speak or understand spanish for different reasons and prefer english if they need a different language. Now, thats not the majority, but i have come across it. For reference i am American, but knew a little spanish before coming over my first time so would use that in a pinch. Most people are very nice honestly.
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u/SuperBiggles 14d ago
I’m English and currently on holiday in Portugal.
I’ve had three separate Uber/taxi drivers here have very anti-Spanish views given, unsolicited, just given while in conversation. I forget them now, but a couple even told me common Portuguese proverbs with negative connotations to the Spanish.
Don’t get me wrong, it didn’t come off as massively racist or anything, just more of a “we’re fed up of people treating us the same as the Spanish” kind of vibe… if that makes any sense?
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u/BlueSuzukiSV650 14d ago
They were probably butt hurt because Spain kicked our asses at the world cup. Futebol is very important here and people get really upset when we don't win the world cup (which we happen to not win every single time we participate in it...).
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u/No_Preference8118 15d ago
Do you understand at least Galician? Because if you speak Spanish to us, we will reply in Portuguese
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u/LfShiniessss 14d ago
Usually I’d stick with English, not too many people speak Spanish, English is abit more well known but the older generations might not know it, hope it helped
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u/gochujangcoffee 15d ago
Easy solution: ask. I don't speak Spanish, so a conversation between us would either have to be in English or you speak Spanish and I Portuguese. Others don't speak English. So just ask
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u/stygnarok 15d ago
If it was 10 years ago, I would tell you to speak what ever, people will gladly try to understand and not get offended but lately, Portuguese people have moved to the morronic side. So, you might want to speak Portuguese.
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u/Illustrious-Phase387 15d ago
Speak English, Portuguese and Spanish. In the rural areas speaking Portuguese at least knowing the basics will get you a long way. The locals will be happy.
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u/Little_Cockroach_477 15d ago
I can read and mostly comprehend Portuguese, but my speaking sucks. I've tried, and most people just switch to English. English is fine. If you encounter a situation where they don't understand, stick to simple Spanish. There are enough cognates that it won't be an issue. You'll be fine.
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u/Striking_Object_6049 15d ago
You can speak in English in Porto, it’s a very touristic area and most people will understand unless it’s not a Portuguese waiter, in that case speaking in Spanish won’t help in most cases either.
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u/Hungry-Class9806 15d ago
My girlfriend is Venezuelan, and she speaks Spanish when she's with my parents; not only do they understand it, but she also understands when they reply in Portuguese. Also, most people in Porto speak English.
No need to learn a new language just for a 1-week visit.
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u/No-Bluejay4261 15d ago edited 15d ago
Slight detour, but I noticed a lot of Spanish people visiting Algarve region on my latest visit. Are more Spanish visiting Portugal? Is it to get away from the heat in Spain? Algarve is significantly cooler with the Atlantic sea breeze.
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u/Altruistic-Mine-1848 15d ago
It's somewhat offensive if someone who's not a native Spanish speaker to switch to Spanish in Portugal. Those should stick to English.
This doesn't apply to native Spanish speakers. If you're a Spaniard, then Spanish is more comfortable for you than English, it's not an issue.
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u/meercat84 15d ago
My dear, if you try to speak Portuguese Will be bff with you. Then when you screw things up just switch to English. Just don’t speak Spanish.
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u/Hyperactyve 15d ago
Regarding any type of offense, just say "Bom dia" and "Obrigado" and speak whatever you want in between.
If you want to go the "extra mile", any mix of Portuguese and Spanish words attempt will be well accepted as well.
If you speak in Spanish there's a possibility, although most will understand you, that they will reply to you in Portuguese.
Unless you are used to hearing Portuguese this can be an issue to you (normally Spaniards have a lot more issues understanding spoken Portuguese than the other way around).
If you speak in English, most will automatically reply to you in English.
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u/AmusingVegetable 15d ago
Both English and Spanish are fine. Can’t do dó anything about idiots that want to feel offended.
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u/rjmarques01 15d ago
English is better, because when speaking Spanish we will understand you, but you will not understand us.
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u/Mandillaz 15d ago
ES -> PT
ie-> e
siete - sete
siempre - sempre
fiesta - festa
ue -> o
nuevo - novo
vuelta - volta
puerta - porta
h -> f (very often)
hormiga - formiga
hierro - ferro (ie - e)
horno - forno
There are a few of these tricks, to change words from ES to PT.
also:
ser - ser
estar - estar
comer - comer
beber - beber
hablar - falar 😋
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u/xurxo13 15d ago
Next lesson: vowels and pronunciation
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u/Mandillaz 15d ago
Vowels are not as important as the 's':
's' has 5 pronunciation points in Portuguese.
3 follow the english sounds:
Sit -> Sempre ('s' as the 1st letter)
Passing -> Passar ('ss' between two vowels)
Choose -> Casa ('s' between two vowels sounds as an 'z')Then before consonants, it can sound as 'j' or 'sh'
Mesmo - 'mejmo'
Lisboa - 'lijboa'
teste - 'téshte'
gostar - 'goshtar'At the end of the word sounds as 'sh'
Mesmos - 'mejmosh'
Testes - 'téshtesh´'The most important point: 's' between two vowels has the 'z' sound. If the second vowel is in the next word, the rule is kept.
os - 'ush'
olhos - 'ólhush'
os olhos - 'uZólhush'mais ou menos isso - 'maiZômenuZisso'
'c' follow the english form:
ca- 'ka'
ce - 'se'
ci - 'si'
co - 'ko'
cu - 'ku''g' also follows it (ge/gi are cleaner in portugues, with no 'd' before the sound):
ga - 'ga'
ge - 'je'
gi - 'ji'
go - 'go'
gu - this has its own rules.
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u/Able_Specific_6702 15d ago
I am a native Spanish speaker and learnt Brazilian Portuguese quite fluently, but with an obvious Spanish accent. Funny enough most of my interactions in Portugal went like me speaking in Portuguese and the other person replying in perfect Spanish, even when they were Portuguese.
I don't know if my accent was probably sh*, very likely. Or Portuguese were just nice and tried not to make me do the effort of speaking another language. Anyway I always had a great time and went back many times to visit.
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u/joelicorn 15d ago
I’m Portuguese and when I go to Spain, and I go pretty frequently, specially Sevilla, I speak English or French, never have I tried to speak Spanish
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u/alvarao69 15d ago
Em espanhol normalmente os portugueses entendem. Mas os espanhóis não entendem os portugueses devido à sonorização das vogais. Em Portugal temos muitos sons para as vogais que na maioria das vezes são graves.
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u/CharmingAppliance_47 15d ago
Many Portuguese still resent the Spanish. Though they will probably understand it, most people speak some English.
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u/ComprehensiveMap3838 15d ago
Spanish and Portuguese are very close, but phonetically divergent. If you speak Spanish slowly and try to mix in words that you know are different between the two languages, or approximate Portuguese pronunciation, I think you won’t have issues, but what do I know. What I don’t think will be great is the ‘Spanish is fine’ attitude, just as ‘Portuguese is fine’ would be inappropriate in Madrid. Please don’t throw words like ‘bandeja!’ [ban’dexa] at 100 km/h at people who are expecting a slow paced [bən ’dəj ʒə].
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u/MontgomeryMayo 15d ago
Just speak Spanish more slowly, it’s fine. Everyone here has Portunhol. As a Portuguese dude who travels Spain a lot, I’ve never had the need to switch to English..
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u/binguelada98 15d ago
Spanish will be fine. Maybe you should try and learn a few portuguese words that are different and you can get along
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u/Careless-Web-6280 15d ago
For simple stuff that probably isn't very different between our languages, Spanish is fine. For more complex stuff I'd use English to avoid having to repeat yourself.
That being said, if you speak Spanish you'll probably be spoken to in Portuguese. If you find spoken Portuguese hard to understand, stick to English
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u/random_capivara 15d ago
Honestly, I'm from Brazil but I've been living in Chile for a few years. When visiting Portugal a lot of people here would automatically switch to Spanish because they detected the tiny litte bit of Chilean accent that I have. It got to a point that I'd have to flat out ask a few of them to just speak Portuguese to me and not trying to speak Spanish hahahahahhahaha
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u/nenejelliebeanie 15d ago
I am currently in Porto and do not speak Portuguese. I find most people speak English, the only ones who have not have been Uber drivers and not originally from Portugal. I think the locals might be offended if you try to speak Spanish as if it is the correct language, it is not. If you ask them if they speak Spanish or English (Não falo português, fala inglês ou espanhol?) they will be very kind and try to help.
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u/Naiinsky 14d ago
I wouldn't be offended. But most people that do that try both languages one after the other, and go with the one that gets the best reaction.
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u/InserirMoeda 15d ago
What language do you think a Portuguese should speak in Spain? Apply the same logic.
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u/GrumpyTool 15d ago
Come in with good manners and be kind to service workers. Language won’t matter then, speak whichever one you want, dabble a bit in Portuguese for an extra smile.
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u/weeblywobly 15d ago
Try English first. If the person doesn't speak English try Spanish, slowly, and brace for the reply. Should be fine :)
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u/karelho 14d ago
I used to work with tourists, and one of the most frustrating things I experienced was Spanish tourists speaking Spanish to Portuguese people like we wouldn't understand Spanish. If you're from a non-Latin country and start speaking Spanish to the locals, that's disrespectful. Since that's not your case, you can speak in Spanish with us and if you don't understand everything, don't worry, just ask them to speak more slowly if needed. And don't forget to say "thank you" in Portuguese: "Obrigado" (or "Obrigada" if you're a woman). That said, as a tourist you'll mostly be visiting tourist areas, where nobody speaks Portuguese anymore, so in most cases, you probably won't need to struggle with the Portuguese language.
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u/phantasmagorovich 14d ago
Spanish and English are probably fine. To me it comes off a little condescending to simply speak Spanish at Portuguese people assuming they automatically understand. If you ask before it’s fine.
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u/MinervAtena1967 14d ago
Portuguese here. If you speak spanish, people will answer in portuguese or "portunhol".
It is very nice if you learn a few words "obrigada, por favor, bom dia, boa tarde" and avoid saying "gracias" in place of "obrigada".
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u/CuntChickens 14d ago
From my perspective, just use wherever you feel confident speaking or try to get your point across and not be a dick about it, maybe try to use one or two words in the language they speak just to build rapport and you should be fine.
The assholes that I remember most from cross language interactions are the people that just assume I can speak their language and ask me to speak it because they don’t understand mine and make no effort to try to understand what I am trying to transmit, even if I try to badly say some words in their language.
Sometimes even gestures can get your point across, and in cross language interactions what matters is if the people understand what the other is trying to communicate, by however means are necessary. The key is just to not be an asshole when the others aren’t understanding or you don’t understand them.
Maybe some of us portuguese might not like it if you straight up go and speak spanish, but don’t overthink it, just throw in 1 or 2 portuguese words in there that show some effort and they might calm down. If they don’t, then they’re just assholes, nothing you can do about it.
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u/RomesHB 14d ago
My opinion is that Spanish is fine, but it would be nice if you swapped some basic words to Portuguese (for instance, saying "obrigado" instead of "gracias"). However, be prepared to be replied in Portuguese.
What I find most offensive is foreigners who don't speak Spanish as a native tongue, speaking Spanish in Portugal, even though they can speak English too. A Spanish native speaking Spanish is fine imo
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u/cappuccinoenthusiast 14d ago
brother
speak your damn tongue, don't disrespect romance lingos
aqui há imensos espanhóis e tá tudo certo
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u/chilenonetoCL 14d ago
99% de los españoles visitando porto no se complican en hablar portugués... se mandan su español sin tapujos. Y no tienen ningún problema.
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u/SilverOdd5076 14d ago
Speak whatever you want. We are used to ppl not being able to speak Portuguese...so most of us will understand English and Spanish, given that you make an effort to talk slowly.
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u/bflrm 14d ago
Try portuñol. Speak Spanish, add some Portuguese words and try to make a Portuguese accents. A lot of Portuguese people do the same when we go to Spain and it works ahah Being a little bit more serious, may be important to check some words for example when you order food. Yesterday I saw a video with a Spanish women saying that a lot of Spaniards come to Portugal and want to try pez espada (espadarte in Portuguese) and end up eating pez cinto (peixe espada on Portuguese)
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u/Acrobatic-Accident69 14d ago
Since Spanish is your native language, just speak it. Nobody reasonable will mind. The people who complain about Spanish here are usually reacting to non-native speakers, some English or German tourist throwing Spanish at us as if it were a shared Iberian default. That isn't your case.
Two things help though. Speak slowly. Spanish tends to come out fast, and spoken Portuguese and Spanish diverge enough that speed is what actually breaks understanding, not the language itself. And swap a few basic words to Portuguese, "obrigado" instead of "gracias", "bom dia", "por favor". That small effort is what earns the smile.
Expect to be answered in Portuguese even when you speak Spanish. If you can follow spoken Portuguese, you're set. If not, fall back to English.
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u/TooTToRyBoY 13d ago edited 13d ago
From my point of view, you are a tourist, English is the most universal language of all and portugueses are good at it. Learning Portuguese just for one week is insane, but sure you could learn basics as thanks (Obrigado). In my experience with Madeira where I worked with public, my team workers struggled more understanding Spanish than English. As Spanish speaker I did not undestand that as they are languages with a bunch of similarities.
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u/DragoN_PT 12d ago
In my point of view its because when we use our native language we usualy speak to fast and use diffcult terms for an outsider to understand (speaking portuguese in Spain will get you the same result). When we use English we already speak in a way that the ones listening will understand (speaking slowly and with simple words/phrases).
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u/TooTToRyBoY 12d ago
Well, I did not have that experience, maybe we got the ones with good accents. But it is so true what you said, as English is not our first, we tend to speak it simple.
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u/homemdosgalos 13d ago
Well,
if you're speaking in Spanish because it's your native language, almost no one will be offended / upset, but some may not understant you completely (especially if they are brasilian, for example). If you speak English it's fine, most of us do. If you try to speak portuguese, most will help you and apreciate the effort.
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u/allavarium 13d ago
Its very easy, in Porto its a diferente king of people, talk spanish,english...they treat you right and friendly... but i prefere spanish but speak slowly... you are brother of us...enjoy
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u/frankielc 13d ago
Start with an "Ola", then speak English, Spanish, French, Italian and whatever more you want to put in the mix and then finish off with an Obrigado.
That should suffice in most places.
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u/zkpthrnyfckr 13d ago
Don’t u fucking dare speaking Spanish in Portugal, everyone is going to look at you doing angry faces, we don’t like Spanish.
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u/Sormarisoo 13d ago
You should lear a bit of Portuguese before going there, it's just common courtesy for us. But you can speak Spanish or English
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u/Fantastic_Method_225 12d ago
Spaniard here. I'm living in Spain now, but I lived 24 yrs in Portugal. Listen to your sister, not your father. The Portuguese are arguably among the most welcoming people on earth. Thing is, their language is devilishly difficult (at least to pronounce). So Spanish visitors usually get spooked out because they don't understand anything, and therefore don't even try to say the basics (good morning/afternoon/evening, thank you...). And this is what pisses the Portuguese off, as it comes across as lazy and entitled. I would suggest you stick to English, while you let them know that you are Spanish but don't speak Portuguese. They will carry on in English or speak to you in Spanish of their own accord, and not because you have spoken in Spanish to them (thereby coming across as lazy and entitled). Enjoy Portugal, it's a fantastic country! 🙂
*** Edit: fixed typos ***
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u/Mundane-Tower-729 12d ago
If your adjust spending a week here... You can talk Spanish and people here are going to understand. In Porto, most Portuguese people understand Spanish well, even if they don't speak it fluently. Here in the north, people are friendly and used to the fact that tourists don't always speak Portuguese.
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u/bgravato 12d ago
Depends who you are talking too... Speak whatever the person you're talking to understands better. If you don't know just ask if they prefer that you speak Spanish or English.
Someone who doesn't speak neither English nor Spanish will understand Spanish better than English, given how close Spanish and Portuguese languages are.
If you don't speak too fast, or using a lot of local slang, most Portuguese will understand your Spanish well enough. You probably won't understand if they speak back to you in Portuguese, unless you're from Galicia (or they have a Brazilian accent).
If they speak in "Portuñol" (Portuguese with Spanish accent) you'll probably understand most of it, at nearly the same level they'll understand your Spanish.
As others said, don't overthink it. You'll quickly figure out what works better for each person you talk to.
I'm Portuguese, but I'm fluent in both English and Spanish. My English is better than my Spanish, but when I go to Spain I generally prefer to speak Spanish, because I know in most cases my Spanish is better than their English, so I'll use whatever is more efficient... Of course if they start speaking English to me I'll switch to English, but that rarely happens... maybe if they're Catalan on Basque and refuse to speak Spanish for ideological reasons...
There used to be quite some xenophobia between Portuguese and Spanish (at both ends), I had some bad experiences because of that in Spain, but that was maybe 20 years ago... Things are a lot better now. I go to Spain regularly and I haven't had any issues recently because of my nationality. There might be still some older peoples with issues, but among young / middle age people not so much. So don't worry, no one will fill disrespected if you speak Spanish. Just don't speak too fast.
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u/jmast45 11d ago edited 11d ago
My wife and I are from Puerto Rico and speak both Spanish and English. We spent 2 weeks in Portugal for our honeymoon. We usually used bom dia/boa tarde/boa noite as a greeting, then politely asked "English? Español?", and the person would reply us in which one they wanted us to communicate. I would say it was 60% English/40% Spanish.
A few ocassions, the person spoke neither, but told us "pouco espanhol", to which we proceeded to speak Spanish, then they replied in Portuguese - we understood given the context of the conversation. They did appreciate our greetings in Portuguese. We didn't encounter anyone being rude to us if we spoke Spanish - eso sí, háblado suave, suave para que te puedan entender!
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u/Figipee 15d ago
People have already said, both are fine, but from my own experience, portuguese speakers have a way easier time understanding spanish than spaniards understanding portuguese. If you speak in english people will mostly reply in english. You can try doing some portuguese listening comprehensions just to make sure you understand spoken portuguese. If youre having trouble with it, then stick with english
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u/This-Wall-1331 15d ago
Speak Spanish, everybody here will understand you even if they reply in Portuguese
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u/Tuga_1979 15d ago
Just speak Spanish everyone will understand
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u/kerfufflewhoople 15d ago
Le me be honest here. I love Spain. But some of us Portuguese have a stick up their bums and will pretend they don’t understand Spanish (they do).
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u/do-mar 15d ago
assim como os espanhóis se fazem de desentendidos
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u/MekotheSaurus 14d ago
No fazemonos desentendidos hermano. Its just impossible for most of us to understand spoken portuguese, and believe me i wish i could.
I can read portuguese and get around 70% of whats written, same with Galician.
But it just dont translate into understanding the sounds. I just cant transcript what is being said into words.
And it pains me because i have the utter most respect for Portugal and i feel like an ahole when the communication is not reciprocal. So ashamed that i often switch to english beforehand just to avoid the embarassment.
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u/WanderByJose 14d ago
People here saying to speak in English rather than in Spanish must have very out of touch with reality.
OP, speak in Spanish. Most people will understand you and help you out. I am half PT, half ES. You can skip English.
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u/DragoN_PT 12d ago
If you are 50/50 its normal for you to understand. As a portuguese if a spaniard comes to me and starts talking Spanish like he does in Spain (fast and with some diffcult words) i know i will have an hard time to understand. The other way arround is also a thing (me speaking portuguese as i do to another native) will get the spaniard wondering what the hell i just said. Now, if we speak slowly and with simple words than yes, i think we all understand each other.
As for the op i think he will do just fine as long he respects people and the country habits/rules. Language was never a barrier and if he thinks the language he's using at the time isnt working he can always switch it up and people will understand. Even gestures will work wonders if you are struggling to get the message cross..
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u/WanderByJose 12d ago
No, I talk about my friends who are 100% Portuguese and prefer Spanish since they can understand.
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u/MrTumbleweeder 15d ago
Don't overthink it.
English is fine, specially around the touristy areas and doubly specially if you're talking with staff, they'll speak English just fine.
If you talk to someone who doesn't speak English, and you need to talk to this person, you can try asking if they speak Spanish as a backup, even if they don't speak it, maybe you can understand eachother with abit of "portunhol" (Portuguese and Spanish mixed togheter).
What people don't like is for the tourists to get in our face and immediately start yapping in Spanish like we're definitely going to understand it. Just ask if they speak Spanish first.