Well, the first question after that is WHICH Portuguese? Because you have a choice of the Portuguese they speak in Brazil – and the Portuguese they speak in Portugal (which is from where the language first started).
The reason for this, if you don’t already know, is that back in the age of “Europe exploring the world, and colonizing the landmasses it found,” Portugal was one of the important players of the game. Brazil became a Portuguese colony (and in that way, became the Brazil we know today) on the 22nd of April, 1500. As with Christopher Columbus thinking he’d gotten to India and calling the American Natives “Indians,” the 2nd Portuguese India Armada was headed to India – and landed in Brazil by accident.
The Portuguese knew a good thing when they found it, however, and turned that accident into a very lucrative colonization. Brazil was their colony until the 7th of September, 1822, which is now celebrated as Brazil’s Independence Day. (This is skipping a huge amount of fascinating history, of course.)
Which Portuguese Dialect Should You Learn?
All of which leads to – you want to learn to speak Portuguese, but which Portuguese language do you want to learn? Portuguese is spoken in Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, East Timor, Macau, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe. The largest of those countries is Brazil, and their form of Portuguese is now going back to Portugal and influencing the language in the home of their former colonists, through Brazil’s catchy music and addictive soap operas.
The Portuguese spoken in Brazil versus the Portuguese spoken in Portugal can be compared to the differences between American and British English: i.e., some differences in vocabulary and grammar, but the phonology and prosody are much more different from each other (even more than the Parisian and Québécois varieties of French).
So, it does matter which Portuguese-speaking country you are going to when you decide you want to learn the language!
Learn to Speak Portuguese with Pimsleur
The reason this is very much on my mind is that I’m the co-writer of the newest version of Pimsleur’s Brazilian Portuguese I (the 3rd Edition!). I’ve had to do all this research in the course of working on the program. I would say that I was happy to get the Brazilian form of the language – because who doesn’t like long walks on perfect beaches, watching sunsets on those beaches with a caipirinha (Brazil’s national cocktail) in hand, and of course, partying the hot Rio nights away during Carnaval! (This is not to neglect their world-class museums, of course, and many people think “Brazil” and then think “football” – or soccer! – as their very next thought.)
Sadly, Pimsleur does not see the necessity of sending their course writers to the countries speaking the languages of the courses upon which they are working! (An obvious oversight, from my humble point of view!) So I have yet to experience that caipirinha on the beach, or dancing in the streets wearing little more than some well-placed sequins. But during the writing of the course, I have developed a true love of, and appreciation for, Brazilian Portuguese. (Of course, as a writer of the course, I don’t really learn to speak Portuguese the way a course learner does! I would have to go back and do the course “as a learner” to really learn the language through the Pimsleur Method. You would think a bonus of the job was learning all these wonderful languages, but instead, us writers often get left remembering only favorite phrases after we move on to writing the next course!)
I jokingly tell friends that it is the “language of cats” because, mostly, of the word for “no” – which is “não” – and which is pronounced very much like the “meow” my family’s cat speaks with some regularity. Unfortunately, learning Portuguese while writing the course has not let me in on the secret communications of felines, but I do wonder if cats don’t understand Portuguese speakers better than they do English speakers. (Not that they won’t ignore either, if the mood suits them.)
But, seriously, Brazilian Portuguese has a flow and a music to it which is a pleasure to hear. It is no wonder that Brazilians create such excellent music, because they are halfway to singing already in just their regular chit-chat. And there is another reason to learn to speak Portuguese!
My Favorite Portuguese Words from the Pimsleur Course
Two of my favorite words from the course include the “-zinho” diminutive ending. The cafezinho is the traditional Brazilian cup of coffee, like the Italian espresso. It literally means “a little coffee”, and it is a small, sweet, and intense shot of caffeine. It used to be offered to guests, at business meetings, and at regular intervals throughout the day. Sadly, the proliferation of the Italian-style cafés have endangered this indigenous tradition, and in the bigger cities of Brazil you have to specifically ask to get the traditional cafezinho. Still, I think it is worth trying, if you are visiting Brazil.
Not unrelated is tchauzinho, which literally means “little goodbye.” It’s a casual, “Bye!” or “Laters!” sort of leave-taking. But I think it is a good word to sort of sum up Brazilian Portuguese, which is a friendly language, and the exuberance of the culture is expressed by all the words which are so much fun to say. It’s a pleasure to listen to – and a pleasure to speak.
So, if you are going to Brazil, make sure to get a Brazilian Portuguese course, so that you learn to speak the right sort of Portuguese. However, if you are going to Portugal, Pimsleur also offers a European Portuguese course. I haven’t worked on that one, myself, but I hear from my co-workers that it’s excellent.
Either way, I hope you have fun as you learn to speak Portuguese!