How to improve my Portuguese as an English native speaker?
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. It 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. 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. With approximately 215 to 220 million native speakers and 50 million second-language speakers, Portuguese has approximately 270 million total speakers. In 1997, a comprehensive academic study ranked Portuguese as one of the 10 most influential languages in the world.
There is no doubt that Portuguese is a beautiful language with a lot of benefits that accompany learning it. In fact, if you happen to speak a Romance language then you’ll learn this language with a lot of ease. But what if you don’t? What if you’re an English native speaker? Would you still learn it easily or end up facing some issues? According to FSI [Foreign Service Institute of languages], Portuguese falls within Category 1, a category that includes languages, which are by far the easiest for any English native speaker to learn. That should help you build a decent amount of confidence. But, it is no lie that Portuguese has its own difficulties in learning. Let’s identify these difficulties so that you can work on improving them and subsequently improve your Portuguese.
- Listening: Listening and understanding Portuguese is going to be your first hurdle to cross. Portuguese is a very popular language with more than 207 million native speakers in Brazil and millions of others in Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe. While its popularity is a great aspect of the language, it is also a difficulty for those learning. With so many different countries speaking the same language, all the countries are bound to have their own distinct accents. Listening to so many different accents, you are going to get confused. While understanding and adapting to these different accents is tough, it is also the best way of improving this language. You’ll need to invest immense time and effort, but it’ll be worth it. You can try listening to different accents every once in a while through Youtube videos, movies or even songs.
- Genders of Words: Yes, you read that right, your second hurdle is going to be, understanding the right genders for the right words. But don’t worry you aren’t alone, as most Romance language learners face this problem. To put it quite simply, Portuguese nouns have grammatical genders assigned to them which further affect the articles used in the sentence. No worries though, there is a specific rule to follow while discerning the gender of nouns, unfortunately, that rule also has exceptions. While no one can be expected to master all feminine and masculine words, you can definitely adapt and learn through the rule.
- The Subjunctive mode: In Portuguese, this mode is specifically reserved to express uncertainty. With that said this the one thing that even natives have a tough time mastering. To master this, I can give you a single tip, since identify when a sentence is uncertain or is possibly an assumption, maybe even a dream or a hope. Next, identify whether the mode of speech is in past, present or future as subjunctive tenses also exist. Finally, practice rigorously. It is easy for me to give you theoretical tips but your practical knowledge is what will help you.
These were all the major hurdles you’ll have to cross. Apart from these, here are some general tips you can use while learning Portuguese:
- Vocabulary: Building a decent vocabulary is paramount while learning any language. A beginners dilemma is always a lack of good vocabulary. Therefore focus on reading, listening and writing. Read a variety of different literature, listen to different songs and podcast and write whatever you want, all in Portuguese.
- Pronunciation: This shouldn’t even be surprising. Pronunciation is also just as important as building a vocabulary. To master the pronunciation you must listen to all costs. Put your ears to the best use and watch movies dubbed in Portuguese or Portuguese movies with English subtitles. You can listen to great music in Portuguese or listen to podcasts in the language.
- Converse: Conversation is the key to mastering any language. Once you feel comfortable with your vocabulary and pronunciation, go ahead and participate in an active conversation or even initiate one with the natives or a learner. This will further help you identify your own areas for improvement as well.
Finally,
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. 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 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.
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