Portuguese is the official language of some countries, the best known being Portugal and Brazil and the least known some countries in Africa that have the language due to former colonialism.
Although Portuguese does not have as much impact in the world as other languages such as Spanish and English, it is a language that it is recommended to learn to speak fluently since speaking Portuguese will open doors for you in emerging countries such as Brazil, where you can find work more easily than in our country.
Portuguese is a language of Latin origin, therefore it is easier to learn than languages such as English, which is of Germanic origin. Portuguese is a simple language with words that are quite similar to Spanish and therefore surely it will quickly you get the trick.
If you are reading this article, I can deduce that you are wanting to start learning Portuguese, because even if you don’t know anything about it, you want to learn but you don’t know where to start. Well, you are in the right place to start the path of Portuguese, which at the end of it you will speak Portuguese as fluently as Cristiano Ronaldo. All you have to do is pay attention to the following instructions and put them into practice.
What do you need to learn Portuguese?
- A pen.
- A computer.
- A PDF reader such as Adobe Reader or Primo PDF.
- Internet connection.
- Up-to-date HTML5 compatible internet browser (I do not recommend Adobe Flash Player due to its risk) such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox
- Android or iOs smartphone.
- Possibility of downloading applications from the Google Play Store (that is, having Internet and free space).
- A notebook.
- Possibility of taking a trip to Portugal (if you are Spanish) or to Brazil (if you are Latino).
Instructions to learn Portuguese
- Aulafácil course: Aulafácil is becoming my favorite option to start learning languages, the reason is that it is a page with a simple interface which offers very well explained free courses, being able to learn practically everything. In this course you will learn Portuguese practically from 0, since they will teach you from how to say hello to the most basic verbs, going through exercises, ways of translating, times, colors, typical words… Once you have this course, you can go in the same Aulafácil to the section above where it says certifications and certify yourself in Portuguese A1 for free. Although the title does not have the notoriety of the language school, you will already have the A1 certificate, which can be positive for the evaluation of companies. Once you have the certificate, you will download it in PDF format and print it, in this way You can take it to the jobs.
- The notebook: Now we are going to take our notebook and our pen, this is going to be our Portuguese notebook. We are going to write down all the Portuguese words in which we have doubts to look at them later in the dictionary (this part of the dictionary will be explained below), we are also going to use it as a diary, trying to write down in Portuguese what we have done today, correcting it to the next day with dictionary and notes in hand. Set gradual objectives and write them down in the notebook as you meet them, an example of objectives could be this:
- Learn to greet
- Learn alphabet.
- Learn colors.
- Learn basic verbs.
- Learn to build a basic base.
- Learn present simple and present continuous.
- So on until you reach fluency.
- Dictionary: Now we are going to download an application from the Google Play Store that is a Spanish-Portuguese, Portuguese-Spanish dictionary. There are quite a few applications and they all work quite well, but I recommend the Spanish Portuguese Translator application. Simply have the application there to consult the doubts of the doubtful words that you have noted in your notebook. Also, if you are one of the more traditional ones, of course, you can opt for a traditional Portuguese-Spanish dictionary on paper, however, I have chosen the mobile option since, in addition to the fact that 80% of the population have it, it is much faster and how You have to carry a dictionary, since by typing the word it will be searched in the dictionary database, without having to manually search for it in alphabetical order as in the traditional dictionary.
- Youtube: It is time to move on to the oral exercises, the aulafácil course is fine but it does not count on the fact that Portuguese must also be pronounced and understood, it is best to do a search on Youtube for Portuguese courses, since in this way We are going to be able to listen to natives speaking and explaining them adequately. The good thing about this is that we have many options to choose from, although I advise you to start with the simplest ones and move up the level little by little.
- Search for a native: Now it is time for the following oral exercise, which consists of looking for a Brazilian or Portuguese native in your city, this seems difficult to find but nothing is further from reality, due to the great emigration it will be very easy. For example, I live in a town with 6,000 inhabitants and there are 5 Portuguese and 20 Brazilians. Thanks to knowing these natives, we will be able to practice Portuguese with them by speaking the most basic phrases, so we can also teach them Spanish and thus learn the two other language, which is very nice. If you want something more professional, you can look for a native Portuguese teacher, who for a small fee will teach you to speak it correctly.
- Babbel advanced course: We will do the course by putting our age and doing the course, thanks to this we will learn more advanced things in Portuguese that will make us get even higher level.
- Visiting Portugal or Brazil: Do you know why there are people who, despite spending their lives studying a language like English, paying for a language school, native teachers and doing exercises, never learn to speak it at a decent level? This is because they don’t visit the country in question, the best way to learn a language is to stay there for a while. Go without any kind of guide, since in this way you will learn to speak it due to the need, for which the brain will start to function. Of course, if you go to Brazil, avoid marginal neighborhoods such as favelas, where there are Lots of crime and problems.
- Get certified in the language school: Unfortunately, even if you already master Portuguese, without an accrediting certificate it is useless. You need to go to the language school to get the certificate that certifies that you know Portuguese, I advise you to examine yourself directly for level B2, which is what they ask for to work and I consider that following the steps in about 6 months you can pass it. After obtaining it, you can sign up for the C1 and C2 courses, which are already professional levels that accredit you as almost a native speaker in Portuguese.
Tips for learning Portuguese
- The Galicians have advantages: It seems a cliché, but nevertheless it is true that the Galicians and the Portuguese understand each other due to the great similarity of the languages. For this reason, if you know how to speak Galician, it is better to learn Portuguese from Galician since due to the great similarity it will not take you long to learn.
- Brazilian and Portuguese: These languages have little differences, even though it is Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese has some variants in pronunciation and words, so keep that in mind.