It’s my pleasure to introduce to you my good friend, Débora Fontenelle, creator, and author of Crônicas e Cores de Débora Fontenelle, who is our guest post writer. She attended the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and earned a language teacher diploma for both Portuguese and English. Thank you, Debbie, for writing this great and clarifying post about the differences between Brazilian and European Portuguese.

Brazilian or European Portuguese?

I’m sure that foreigners interested in learning Portuguese may wonder if there are a lot of differences between the Portuguese spoken in Brazil and that spoken in Portugal, and which one they should choose to study. Undoubtedly, there is a lot to talk about this subject. Despite the existing differences, though, there is no interference in the standard communication between Brazilians and the Portuguese people.

The Portuguese Orthographic Reform:

However, after the Portuguese Orthographic Reform, which took place in 2009, to unify the spelling in the nine countries whose official language is Portuguese – Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea–Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, São Tomé and Príncipe,Timor-Leste, and Equatorial Guinea –  was made official in 2014, the differences can be more easily noticed in conversation, in terms of phonetics, vocabulary and sentence structure. Let us see some examples.

Easy Difference to Spot:

A very easy difference to spot is that Brazilian people open their mouths more when pronouncing the words, especially the vowels. Portuguese citizens, on the other hand, usually subtract the vowels at the beginning and in the middle of the words, always resulting in the predominance of consonant sounds.

Speech Pace:

As far as the pace of speech is concerned; the Portuguese speak much faster than the Brazilians. As Portugal is inundated with Brazilian music and soap operas in their media, people there are accustomed to listening to the way Brazilians speak and don’t think their pronunciation is strange. However,  Brazilians, generally have a bit more difficulty understanding spoken European Portuguese. In some states of Brazil, people have the tendency to speak even slower than the average of their compatriots which is the case of the citizens of Bahia. So, I have always wondered how interesting it would be to listen to a person born there talking to someone from Portugal… It would certainly be a unique experience!

The Second Person Pronoun:

Another point one can not forget is that the most used second-person pronoun in the singular form (you) in Brazil is você, but in Portugal, it is tu. Tu is also used very often in the South and in the Northeast of Brazil, but the verb is not usually conjugated correctly. In other states of Brazil, like Rio de Janeiro, people use você a lot, but also alternate with tu using the wrong verb conjugation as well. Speakers conjugate the verbs for both pronouns the same way. For example, Will you go there? is translated as Você vai lá ou Tu vai lá? As you can see, both sentences have the same verb conjugation; but, the correct form for tu would be vais. Tu vais lá? This is the typical case of the use of tu in the Brazilian states. However, there are some exceptions; if you travel to the city of Belém, the capital of Pará, in the Northern Region of Brazil, you will certainly hear people using pronoun tu with its correct conjugation just like the Portuguese people do.

What Você Represents:

Você is an informal way of treatment used in Brazil, and it is not appropriate for a young person to use it when addressing an older one, or when someone in a work environment is addressing another of a higher hierarchy. In this case, the preferable form would o senhor (sir) ou a senhora (madam) which are third-person pronouns, but function as second-person ones. In other situations, you can always use você which is a second-person pronoun, but the verb that follows it conjugates as third-person.

European or Brazilian Portuguese:

No matter which version you choose to learn, either European or Brazilian Portuguese, you will be able to communicate with local native speakers in both countries, provided you learn about the local vocabulary.

In case you would like a little taste of Debora Fontenelle’s writing in Portuguese, please, go to her blog at Crônicas e Cores de Débora Fontenelle.

Make your learning Portuguese an enjoyable experience. Please, check out our All About Portuguese page for more information about this beautiful Romance language.

The post Differences between Brazilian and European Portuguese (Part 1) appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese in a Snap.

Portuguese would theoretically be easier for a person who speaks another Romance language which utilizes the Roman alphabet and has a similar structure.  On the other hand, an Asian person whose alphabet seems to be mostly pictorial or a Russian speaker with a Cyrillic alphabet would have to deal with learning a totally new alphabet and a new language structure. However, the student’s attitude towards learning can make a big difference favorably or unfavorably on either case.

However, there’s a very important point that can make or break the studying of a new language: the person’s deep desire, willingness, and commitment to learning it. In other words, when you really want to learn a new language, and you make the decision to do so on your own, you have won half of the battle. Then, you just need to take the first step and not look back.

It helps when you already have the knowledge of another foreign language. You are able to make comparisons between the target language and your own language as well as the second language. This is a great tool which aids you to better remember structures and vocabulary in the new language.

Nowadays, you have access to tons of material online. So, there’s no excuse for not immersing yourself: listen to dialogs, to music, to podcasts, to the radio and watch videos and films in Portuguese. But stick to one kind of Portuguese – be it either Brazilian or European. After you master one, you can tackle the other. I mean you can learn the variations.

Above all, you definitely have to have a strong reason for wanting to learn Portuguese to be able to stick with it when difficulties come. Do not worry about myths that have been created along the years. You will hear things like: it’s very difficult for adults to learn a new language or you’re too old; are you sure you want to study a new language? It will take forever; I’ve heard Portuguese is a very difficult language to learn. Listening to what other people say leads you nowhere, but to paralysis. When you decide to learn Portuguese or any other foreign language, make the commitment to yourself to learn this language no matter what. It’s like planting a seed for a tree in your orchard. You will have to keep watering it with care until it buds and starts growing until finally, it reaches the proper structure and size. And I guarantee it will. Don’t worry about how long it will take or how old you are! Just stop talking about studying Portuguese and start doing it now! Please, let me know if you get stuck!

Make your learning Portuguese an enjoyable experience. Please, check out our All About Portuguese page for more information about this beautiful Romance language.

The post Is Portuguese Very Difficult to Learn? appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese in a Snap.

Brazil has a population of almost 200 million, and it’s essential to point out that the middle class has been growing significantly, and millions of people have been lifted out of poverty. 

Obviously, Brazil’s economic growth has been the catalyst to attracting foreign investors and traders to its diversified and competitive financial sector. And of course, those investors need to learn the language to do well in their businesses.

Even though Brazil’s economic growth decelerated a bit in 2013 and had no increase in 2014, there are still foreigners who want to learn Brazilian Portuguese and experience this tropical country. We saw the great influx of soccer aficionados who went to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup and sports’ lovers who made their presence at The Olympic Games which happened in Rio in 2016.

Besides its favorable economy and the mega sports events taking place in Brazil, there are many other reasons for people to want to learn Portuguese and come to visit Brazil: its tropical climate, its rain forest, its delicious food, and last but not least its beautiful and friendly people with an exciting and involving culture.

So, if you have been thinking of visiting Brazil, learning Portuguese is key to enhancing your experience. Contact a Brazilian native who can enlighten you in all aspects of the country: its authentic spoken language and true accent, and of course, its culture and its history well.

Check out what else you might want to learn about the Portuguese language in our All About Portuguese page.

The post Why Brazilian Portuguese? appeared first on Brazilian Portuguese in a Snap.