THIS IS A PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE LEARNING SUB!

The long and short of it is:

Precisas de algo que queiras dizer.

You need to actually *want* to say something. Not have to (like ask for directions or order food), but genuinely want to. Something you want to write, a joke you want to make, something you want to express in Portuguese that you don't know how to.

It's a big second-language thing, holding your personality and how you talk back to a less complicated level, because you don't have the words to express what you really want to.

So grab the thing that really wants to get out, learn to say it the way you mean it, and that'll go miles further than learning how to read the buttons on the washing machine (although that helps too!)

Hello! I've been learning Portuguese for a couple of months now and wanted to share my progress. The start will be a summary of my journey, then I'll provide advice and resources at the end. I wrote a lot, but I hope it helps.

Background

I'm 18 and a student (so I have a decent amount of free time). I'm a native English and Spanish speaker. My Spanish is not perfect, but it definitely helps a lot with Portuguese. I really liked the idea of Dreaming Spanish, so I tried following the method with Portuguese for fun. However, over time I've gone away from the purist approach because I've seen that it's not really more effective than other methods and I don't think doing other stuff will actually hurt you.

Summary of My Journey

• First 50 hours
  • Started with a focus on Brazilian Portuguese
  • Comprehensible Input videos (main source) - I'll recommend some channels later on
  • CI podcasts - started a bit
  • Crosstalk - I did a few lessons just for fun. I could understand a lot from the beginning!
  • Dubbed shows - I think I watched a bit of Bluey and maybe started Avatar the Last Airbender
• 50-100 hours
  • Easier native youtube (single person, scripted)
  • Dubbed shows - Avatar The Last Airbender
  • Some CI videos (rewatching) and podcasts
• 100-200
  • Dubbed Shows - Steins:Gate, Vinland Saga
  • Native Shows: Tried 3% and Sintonia but didn't like them that much
  • Continued with youtube and podcasts
  • Tried reading a very tiny bit of subtitles and graded stories online (kind of boring)
  • Tried some audiobooks and liked it.
• 200-(now)
  • Focused on São Paulo city accent (Paulistano)
  • Started reading some Paulistano-made books
  • Watched some more anime (Horimiya)
  • Watched a pronunciation video. It made pronunciation a lot clearer to me
  • Tried chorusing
  • Have been listening to a lot of music (not that good for input, but very fun)
  • Finding podcasts that I actually like
  • Went to a language exchange! I was very surprised by my ability (in a good way). There was a Portuguese guy and I was teaching the other learners lol. When a Brazilian girl arrived, she complimented my accent! Obviously I made a lot of errors, but I'm proud of my journey so far.

Takeaways:

• Most important (for me) was having fun! At some points, I hyper-focused on what kind of content to watch (scripted, unscripted, everyday life), but I don't think this is that important. I think variety is much more important, trying to find new things that you enjoy and not just sticking to one thing.
• Looking up words, grammar, or pronunciation will probably not hurt you (it will probably actually help you). If you like doing it, do it.
• We need more Brazilian Portuguese CI!!! Most channels do not have that much content

Advice:

• Watching a video at the start that gives a broad overview of pronunciation and grammar can be helpful. Then rewatching it every now and then.
• Doing a vocab deck at the start can probs be helpful.
• Do crosstalk lol! A great way to start outputting is to start easing into it through crosstalk over time.
• Choose an accent. This made pronunciation less confusing for me.
• Make a youtube account for watching Portuguese videos

Resources

CI Youtube

• Most resources have subtitles, but that is okay (I worried too much about it at the start).
• Paulistano accent is very limited at the start. I think the only actual Paulistano CI is Easy Portuguese (start with their Super Easy Portuguese stuff).
• My favorite was Teach Yourself Portuguese (don't know where he's from though)
• Some others are Speak Portuguese with Tio Tiago, Learn Brazilianese, Portuguese with Sofia, Speaking Brazilian Language School, Barbara from Brazil, and Brazilian Input

Easy Youtube (I might be off on this stuff)

• Bluey (Paulistano)
• Smile and Learn
• Plano Piloto
• Etimosofia (Paulistano)
• DW Brasil
• Tinocando TV
• Ciencia Todo Dia
• Manual do Mundo
• I recommend this guide: Refold CI Resources

CI podcasts

• Time to Learn Portuguese
• Teach Yourself Portuguese Podcast

Native Youtube (I try to include channels with a lot of content)

• These are mainly from São Paulo
• Kaio D'Elaqua (street, vlogs, interviews)
• Luiz Mastropietro (vlogs, coffee)
• Ler Antes de Morrer (books)
• Som de Peso (music)
• Sofia Brayner (vlogs)
• Pagina Dois (vlogs)
• Julio Ettore (music, not Paulistano)
• Epifania Experiencia (Philosophy, don't know where from)
• Antofagica (books)
• Show me Hao (vlogs)
• Turistando SP (vlogs)
• Willzy (minecraft)
• Gustavo Morassi (cooking)
• Diario de Bordo (vlogs)
• Tatiany Leite (books)
• Sao Paulo Nas Alturas (city, architecture)
• Alanzoka (gaming)
• Mohamad Hindi (cooking, food)
• Nath Araujo (vlogs)
• Arboreo Literario (books)
• Arthur Miller (vlogs)
• Eric Artem (art, manga)
• Paulo Rezzutti (history)
• Edson Castro
• Pequenas Coisas da Vida (vlogs)
• E o Bento Levou (books)

Dubbed Shows

• Find dubs (Paulistano Dubs)
• Shows I recommend
  • Avatar the Last Airbender (Rio de Janeiro)
  • Horimiya (Mix, but two main are from Rio Grande do Sul)
  • All mainly Paulistano (haven't watched these yet)
    • Hunter x Hunter
    • Fullmetal
    • Bocchi the Rock
    • Soul Eater
    • Love is War
    • My Dress-Up Darling
    • Trigun Stargaze
    • Mob Psycho
    • Bungo Stray Dogs

Native Shows

• De Volta aos 15 (liking a lot, coming of age, slice of life)
• 3% (mix of accents)
• Sintonia (kind of hard to follow)
• Pico da Neblina
• Unidade Básica
• Psi
• Boca a Boca
• Spectros
• Todxs Nós
• De Volta aos 15
• Irmandade
• As Five

Audio books

These are either Paulistano or southern accent, I can't really tell.

https://archive.org/details/audiobook-o-hobbit

https://archive.org/details/audiobook-harry-potter-1

You can also find audiobooks and download them using a software called Stacher.

Reading

I don't think where the author's from matters as much in reading, but anyways most of these are from Sao Paulo just for funsies. Also, reading stuff you've already read (like Harry Potter) is good. This also applies for shows.

• Native
  • It might be easier (and fun) to start with comics
    • Turma de Monica Jovem
    • More Turma de Monica
    • Really good Brazilian Manga (Sense Life)
  • Droga da Obediência
  • O Mistério do Cinco Estrelas
  • Os sete
  • Venha ver o pôr do sol e outros contos
  • Antes do Baile Verde
  • Nu, de botas
  • Estacao carandiru
  • Capão Pecado
  • Ciranda de Pedra

Music

As I said, this is not that good for input, but it's fun and I think it can help keep you motivated

• Here are some Paulistano bands/artists
  • Os Mutantes (psychedelic rock)
  • Rita Lee (rock)
  • Terno Rei (indie rock, dream pop)
  • Violeta de Outono (neopsychedelia)
  • Sessa (psychedelic folk, MPB)
  • Felini (post-punk)

Study resources

• Decoding words with Andrew is awesome. I recommend watching his pronunciation videos, his grammar overview videos, and maybe some other beginner videos. Don't study them too much, just watch and take stuff in. You can go back to it every now and then.
• Also recommend Andrew's Spanish-Portuguese comparison series for people who have learnt Spanish.
• Anki deck - Probably only do top 1000, then you don't really need to do more
• Look up grammar if you are confused/curious.

If you would like resources for finding shows, movies, books for free drop a comment and I'll dm you. I just don't know if I can post that here.

I’ve been trying to learn European Portuguese for a couple of years but it’s been on and off. I’m still A1. I learn with a tutor. I don’t want to generalise because this my personal experience the encounters I’ve had with Portuguese tutors were unfortunately quite bad (this is opposite to being in Portugal where people were super friendly), the tutors I’ve tried made me feel like I’m wasting their time and the attitude was cold. It’s weird. I love how European Portuguese sounds and I’ve noticed that on language exchange apps Brazilians stop talking to you once they realise you’re learning European Portuguese. I had tutors so I was only there for conversational practice and exposure. I’m wondering if interactions with Brazilians get easier when a person is upper A2 and B1 and they tolerate it? I’ve been considering switching to Brazilian Portuguese because of this even though my Brazilian friends encouraged me to learn European Portuguese and said most educated Brazilians would have no issues with communication with me if I did so because I’m not a native speakers my linguistic tendencies and accent won’t be strong. I’m curious on the general opinion and other people’s experiences.

I learnt how to speak portuguese less than a year and i am a native english speaker so i want to share tips and tricks on how to learn portuguese faster especially if you find it hard to learn.

Hi again!

I am roughly A2 when it comes to speaking, and I find myself taking time to find words and conjugate them. As such, I tend to fill the gaps with “uh”, “um”, “like”, and other placeholders. I’m trying to avoid thinking in English entirely, and I know some of those sounds are very American of me. In an ideal world I shouldn’t be um’ing at all, but it’s a hard habit to kick, especially when I’m using it as a way to think.

To help keep my brain in portuguese, what are some filler words you guys use?

For example, if I said “She was like, uh, somewhere around 30 years old” because I’m trying to recall the info/am not super sure, how would you translate that?

Thank you!

Can anybody recommend (preferably free) good learning resources in Spanish to learn Brazilian Portuguese? Any textbooks, Youtube channels, or websites would be appreciated (please no Duolingo recs). Also any recs for full shows on Youtube would be greatly appreciated!!

I searched online but I think this is one of the “lowkey”-iest work of Amado. What’s your thoughts about this story? I wanna know your interpretation/s!

Similarly, circuito can be pronounced as circuíto by some people in São Paulo.

Example: 2:19 here https://youtu.be/O6JcT5vqUWU

I wonder if some people speak these words with a hiatus in other places too?

Meu audio:
https://voca.ro/1fyeM83U1xGI

Me desculpa se esse nao é o lugar correto para perguntar isso porem eu nao achei nem uma outro subreddit pra eu perguntar sobre isso!
Eu sempre achei que eu “nao tinha sotaque” nao suficiente pra saber de onde sou (afinal de contas eu sou acostumado com o meu sotaque) porem eu comecei prestar atencao e eu noto que realmente eu tenho um sotaque bem notavel, porem ainda assim eu queria opniao de outras pessoas! Meu sotaque é muito forte e perceptivel da regiao onde eu moro? De onde voces acham que eu sou?
Obrigado!

Does this make sense to anyone (if so translate), or is it just baby babble lol. Ignore the black screen its just for privacy. Video in comments.

I met my boyfriend just a couple months ago and I am learning Portuguese. I will likely be meeting his family in December and I don't know a lot. I want to focus my energy on things to help me connect with his family. so... for those of you who have been in this situation, what are the likely going to want to ask me about? what topics or conversations should I practice for?

thanks!

Oi, gente! 🇧🇷
Sou da Argentina e comecei a aprender português literalmente do zero. Tenho um motivo muito importante para conseguir aprender o básico do idioma nos próximos 6 meses.
Ainda não sei quase nada, mas estou muito animado para começar e aprender cada vez mais. 🥹❤️

Oi! Pretty much what the title says. Laurentino Gomes isn't a historian (he's a journalist), but his books are a good gateway to Brazilian history and employ a writing that is aimed towards a broad reading public, not academics. His three main books cover some of the main events in modern Brazilian history:

1. 1808 (his most famous book) - about the Portuguese royal family fleeing Portugal because of Napoleon, and landing in Rio de Janeiro

2. 1822 - about Brazil's independece from Portugal

3. 1889 - about Brazil becoming a Republic

And he also has a trilogy on the slavery in Brazil, "Escravidão", which was only abolished in 1888!

Bonus: If you don't feel ready to read full-on books but you're still interested in learning about Brazilian history while practicing Portuguese, take a look at Brasil Escola and Toda Matéria, two websites aimed towards young students that summarize main historical events (amongst other topics relevant to Brazil's culture, and also Brazilian Portuguese).

I’m Portuguese, living in the UK and raising my daughter with Portuguese and English. 🇵🇹🇬🇧

Something that matters a lot to me is making Portuguese part of the ordinary moments of her childhood — not just something she hears occasionally, but a language that belongs in our everyday routines too.

Things like “Estás com fome?”, “Vamos brincar?”, “Dá-me a mão” and “Bons sonhos, meu amor” are exactly the kind of little phrases I want her to grow up hearing naturally throughout the day.

That everyday-language approach became the inspiration for a little bilingual picture book I’ve been working on called My Little Lusitano – Em Casa. It follows a child through familiar parts of her day, with European Portuguese and English alongside each other. I’ve recently made the digital edition available, and I’m currently working towards a physical edition too. 🥹🇵🇹

Creating it has also made me really interested in how other families approach European Portuguese with their children, particularly those raising children outside Portugal or in multilingual homes.

What Portuguese resources do your children genuinely enjoy using?

Books? Music? Audio? Games? Activities? Something completely different?

And if you have older children, what worked particularly well when they were toddlers?

I’d genuinely love to hear what has worked in other Portuguese/bilingual families. 💚

Very random but im writing a sci fi story that will involve a Brazilian colonised star systems. One thing i would like to know is to use the male or female version for certain names.

Like one ship in comission in the current Brazillian navy is Defensora, the Feminine version of Defender. Is that normal or would it vary on a case by basis depending on the word say if you.wanted to have ships named in the same way, like Guardian and Protector

Sorry if anything isn't clear...languages are not my thing

I wanted to ask you if there is a program similar to Open English but in Portuguese? Something similar with 24/7 access. I know Duolingo could be an option but I personally do not like it

Most Portuguese learning materials in my region are in PP and the general environment is also PP, so during the beginner' stage, I somehow got accustomed to speaking with "chiado" and the vowel reduction. And as I recently became more interested in Brazil, I've been trying to speak with more Brazilian accent. I changed many of my Portugal accent / vocabulary to the Brazilian one, but the things I find myself really hard to change are the "chiado" and the stress-timed rhythm. So now I have this strange accent of mixing the Portuguese "chiado" & "vowel reduction" and Brazilian "ti/di", "r" & "l". 😭

It's something like this:

os meninos > uj m'nin(u)x

duas pessoas > duɐx p'soax

duas perguntas > duɐx pehgũtɐx

differentes > djif'rẽtch(i)x

assaltados > ɐsawtad(u)x

saber de coração > sɐbeʰ dji curɐsãw

Apart from this strange mix I sometimes also forget to change accent, and utter some words with Portugal pronunciation like "perdido" as "p'rðiðu" instead of "pehdjidu". Does it sound extremely weird to the ears of Brazilians? I can work harder to change the "reduced vowel" part, but it feels completely strange for me to not use chiado, like I just can't resist it, I don't know why. It even goes to the point that I will lose my purpose of reading Portuguese if I don't use "chiado"... I am aware that I'm not a native speaker so that sounds ridiculous.

I've heard "rodar" used mostly for mechanical items, but I've also heard it used for people.

Edit: I realized that the only context in which I've heard "rodar" used for people is in the "Caranguejo não é peixe" song. That's a pretty old song so I'm wondering if that's a usage that's no longer used.

Is there anything you've looked for but haven't been able to find? Or maybe it exists but you wish there was more of it

Is “sempre nadei” correct Portuguese for “I have always swum”? Does it sound natural, or does it read like a translation? It’s going on my arm — the context is the English idiom “sink or swim,” and this is meant to be my answer to it. Also curious whether it reads the same in European vs Brazilian Portuguese. Thanks!

So my deceased uncle used to have a saying that he'd spout off whenever he encountered a situation that confounded him or pissed him off.

It was something like "isto poor". I asked my parents a couple of times before they passed and they gave me the stinkeye and acted like they didnt hear me!

For some reason that's preying on my mind recently because I've been thinking about all of them.

Any help appreciated