As an Indian, how did you learn Portuguese in less duration?
With approximately 215 to 220 million native speakers and 50 million second-language speakers, Portuguese has approximately 270 million total speakers. It is a Romance language originating in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is the sole official language of Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Brazil, while having co-official language status in East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, and Macau. Portuguese is usually listed as the sixth-most spoken language and the third-most spoken European language in the world in terms of native speakers. Being the most widely spoken language in South America and all of the Southern Hemisphere, it is also the second-most spoken language, after Spanish, in Latin America, one of the 10 most spoken languages in Africa, and is an official language of the European Union, Mercosur, the Organization of American States, the Economic Community of West African States, the African Union, and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, an international organization made up of all of the world’s officially Lusophone nations.
There are two major groupings of Portuguese dialects, which are directly tied to the nations of origin. Despite the fact that Portuguese began in what is now known as the country of Portugal, Brazil is the country with the greatest number of Portuguese language speakers. As a result, the two primary dialect groupings for the Portuguese language are Brazilian and Old World. Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese are the two varieties. While these dialects are reasonably simple to comprehend one another, colloquial variants of the Portuguese language, particularly those used in Brazil, can sometimes differ significantly from Standard Portuguese.
Portuguese is the official language of nine nations on four continents. Portuguese is widely spoken in Brazil, Portugal, East Timor, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, Sao Tome and Principe, and other nations. It is also one of Macau’s official languages. These nations, notably Brazil, have around 230 million native speakers. According to Ethnologue, it is the world’s seventh most frequently spoken native language. Lusophone (lusófonos) nations account for more than 270 million Portuguese speakers worldwide.
Let me now go over to discuss how I learnt, my experience to accelerate my learning.
The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) mentions the approximate time needed to learn the Portuguese language as an English speaker. To reach Speaking 3: General Professional Proficiency in Speaking (S3) and Reading 3: General Professional Proficiency in Reading (R3), an English speaker would take only 575-600 diligent hours or 23-24 weeks, at a minimum, assuming there aren’t any distractions or responsibilities to be discharged and a student can give 25 hours a week without fail. This would mean approximately 6-7 months. This also helps us understand how much of an effort a Portuguese learner must give to learn Portuguese. Because some words in English come from the same root as some words in Portuguese (mostly Latin words), the word will be similar in both languages, with a minor difference in the suffix. Thus, learning Portuguese for English speakers isn’t as difficult as some of the other languages!
English is taught in India as a first language, and if you happen to be proficient too, then this will certainly lead you to success in most European languages. However, let me not miss mentioning the road to learning any foreign without knowledge of English may be awfully tough! Therefore, I recommend you weigh your stakes before taking a plunge.
Portuguese falls in the category of languages that are considered considerably easier for native English speakers. Here are a few tips that could help you learn faster and better.
I had no help or direction, however, let me share my knowledge of a few relevant and important things that helped me learn Portuguese in the hope they would help you too!
Let’s begin with the similarities!
Portuguese is a relatively easy language to learn, especially if you already know other Romance or even Germanic languages, especially Spanish! The Portuguese language sounds very similar to the Spanish language. The grammatical structure of sentences, vocabulary, and syntax are all very much the same, and it is only accent and pronunciation that really make the difference between these two languages. Thus, there is a high level of intelligibility between these two languages, and someone who understands one language will be able to understand much of the other language.
Both Portuguese and English originate from the same large language family: the Indo-European languages. As such, both tongues share much in common, even if their similarities are not that apparent to many of us.
Both Portuguese and English share a number of cognates.
Portuguese and English are SVO languages (SVO stands for Subject-Verb-Object).
If you are familiar with the different word classes in English, then you’ll feel comfortable learning Portuguese grammar. In general, both languages use similar terminology and conceptualize grammar and syntax the same way.
By default, both English and Portuguese form the plural by adding an -s at the end of nouns, the so-called s-plural.
English and Portuguese use a reversed word order to indicate possession.
Because some words in English come from the same root as some words in Portuguese (mostly Latin words), the word will be similar in both languages, with a minor difference in the suffix.
Factors that will motivate you to learn should you need it as an inspiration!
Today, the global economy is seeking specialists in the Portuguese language.
Brazil currently has the world’s seventh-largest economy and is rapidly growing, with an influential role in global markets such as agriculture, energy, iron and steel, textiles, machinery and equipment, and manufacturing.
There is increasing demand and scope for Portuguese language experts world over in various industries like finance, accounts, technology, technical support, IT/ITES, tourism, education, service industries, restaurants, hotels, and tourism, telecommunications and computers, and more.
Due to Brazil’s rapidly growing economy and its economic and geographic closeness to the United States, learning Portuguese is an attractive opportunity for many people. Portuguese could help you secure an edge over others due to bilingual or multilingual proficiency.
Portuguese companies the world over are looking for good multilingual candidates and proficiency in Portuguese can elevate you to access and be considered for many lucrative opportunities in MNCs.
Today, Brazil has become one of India’s most important trading partners in the entire LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean) region, with India and Brazil sharing a very close and multifaceted relationship at the bilateral level as well as in plurilateral fora such as BRICS, BASIC, G-20, G-4, IBSA, International Solar Alliance, Biofuture Platform and in the broader multilateral bodies such as the UN, WTO, UNESCO, and WIPO.
India and Brazil are emerging nations, and both countries have enormous potential to grow bilaterally.
Studying Portuguese will significantly improve your employability and give you a competitive advantage in closing deals with businesses and companies operating in Brazil, Portugal, some countries in East Asia, and Africa.
The ability to speak Portuguese offers many jobs that require bilingual or multilingual skills. Today, many companies are searching for Portuguese language specialists. With a better understanding of the Portuguese work ethic, business etiquette, and knowing which cultural faux pas to avoid one can bag outstanding projects, negotiate appropriately and clinch critical deals.
Prominent Portuguese brands such as Altri, Churchill’s Port, Central de Cervejas, Conservas Ramirez, Delta Cafés, Glintt, Jerónimo Martins, Impresa, Lactogal, Medinfar, MEO, Montepio, Nova Base, Novo Banco, Renova, and hundreds of more continue to infiltrate the markets world over in a wide range of sectors.
A Portuguese learner could seek jobs in a variety of fields such as travel and tourism industry, translation, interpretation, proofreading, editorial, as a content writer, curriculum designer, instructional coordinators, subject matter expert, a researcher, in export and import houses, or become a corporate trainer, instructor at a college, University or Institute, or choose to join a school as a Portuguese teacher after completing a C1/C2 level Portuguese as may be required in your country of origin or choose to teach as an ESL teacher in Brazil, Portugal and other Portuguese speaking countries.
Other than this, you could either secure a job at Portuguese companies with footprints in your country of origin or work for them in Brazil, Portugal or Portuguese speaking countries. With relevant qualifications and knowledge of the Portuguese language, one could practise as a lawyer in Brazil, apply for a role of a Consul, Diplomat or an Ambassador, or seek jobs in embassies. One could also bag hospitality positions available at Casinos, resorts or at top-ranked, star hotels from the receptionist to manager, be a Flight attendant, or work in a specialised KPO, BPO as a chat, voice or email support and more.
And an insight into all these possible fields helped me boost my morale and get back to studying whenever I felt low or didn’t feel like studying. You could choose your motivation to stick to your learning plan!
To remind me of my goals I also followed a strict regime with bits and pieces of entertainment. Learning isn’t an overnight plan! Thus, I got my facts checked, expectations in place! I created a realistic (not over-ambitious) study plan and set short and long term measurable goals. I divided my learning into short chunks, prioritizing topics I wanted to learn first.
I further ensured consistent study using the Pomodoro technique by studying in shorter intervals in a day rather than studying for long hours on weekends. Unfortunately, my study was often marred by calls from friends or visiting guests; thus I started keeping my phone switched off, and room locked requesting not to be disturbed while studying. I suggest taking the same approach; ensure no distractions while studying else it impacts the quality of your understanding and learning
I created a mini Portugal and Brazil in my home by putting up a lot of pictures of soccer from Portugal, and Brazil, besides Christ the redeemer, or Brazilian Carnivals and Cruises that inspired me! I labelled them with their respective names in Portuguese, and I would sit there for hours, revising, trying to recollect the Portuguese names of the objects in my house rather than translating the names of the objects from English to Portuguese in my head. Besides, I also started using flashcard apps like Memrise and Anki, by creating my own decks and using the pre-existing decks to increase my vocabulary and learning.
Eventually, I started by writing a journal, and a diary, capturing most of the phrases and words that were used repeatedly in day to day Portuguese speaking, with their respective articles, thus increasing its practical usage. I would also collect conversation connectors and fillers that later helped me build my first conversation.
Reading out Portuguese loudly in front of the mirror or to a pet or a plant is something everyone can try without fear or embarrassment. A supportive family adds to your motivation, encouraging you to do better.
Use shadowing techniques to mimic dialogues from Portuguese movies. I resorted to watching movies listen to Portuguese songs for a change.
Incorporate mnemonics and accept making mistakes graciously. It made a lot of difference to me.
You can find many such sites offering conversational partners at Hello Talk, Tandem, Conversationpartners, Languagepartners, and many more if you lack support around you to converse better!
Finally,
According to the Internet World Stats, Portuguese is also the fifth most used language on the internet. Portuguese is part of the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia and the County of Portugal and has kept some Celtic phonology and its lexicon. In 1997, a comprehensive academic study ranked Portuguese as one of the 10 most influential languages in the world. A Portuguese-speaking person or nation is referred to as “Lusophone” (lusófono). As the result of expansion during colonial times, a cultural presence of Portuguese and Portuguese creole speakers are also found around the world.
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