Introduction:

First of all, I must tell you that Portuguese is not far from English. In fact, English speakers get a head start!  For instance, the English word airport and the Portuguese Aeroporto. Portuguese belongs to the Romance Group of Languages like Spanish, French and Italian. Both English and Portuguese have Latin influences’ though Latin now remains extinct. So if you have shown interest in reading this content, you know right away that Portuguese is the right choice for you. Though I must also tell you that for most people Portuguese is not the first preference in terms of foreign language learning. Alas, what a loss! Let me quickly take you through 9 tips to improve Portuguese vocabulary

• Listen to Podcasts

Spanish and Portuguese have a lot in common and thus companies who design learning material for Spanish podcasts can easily design it for Portuguese as well, for example ‘Portuguese pod 101’. I guess it can hit two targets with one arrow, meaning, Portuguese sounds very similar to Spanish especially in terms of sentence structure, syntax and overall grammar. Basically, if you are learning one, you can understand the other too!

• Popular words

Throughout the year millions of tourists visit Portugal and if you are one of them with unquenchable wanderlust, then I would like you to learn some popular words which can help you to break the ice and enjoy the local cuisine and the local life altogether.

Ola- Hello

Bom Dia- Good Morning

Boa Tarde- Good evening

Boa Noite- Good evening/ Good night

Bem-vindo- Welcome

Tudo Bem? – How are you?

Adeus- Goodbye

Como vai?- How do you do?

Tem Passado bem?- have you been well?

Oi – Hi!

E ai? – what’s up?

These are some Portuguese greeting-related words which will make your travel memorable as the local people really appreciate tourists who attempt their language.

• Immerse yourself

Like I gave you certain popular words on top, there are millions of other words if you search online and thus it’s just like touching the tip of the iceberg. If you are really serious about learning Portuguese then you may start labeling all furniture and artifacts around you in Portuguese. Thus your immersion into Portuguese becomes almost mandatory.

• Speaking with a native speaker

Thanks to Facebook today we can have friends in every corner of the world. We can also get introduced to communities related to the language we wish to attempt. And if in that community we can get a native Portuguese speaker, with whom we can chat for at least a few hours a day then this practice can do wonders!

• Tip for learning vocab

When my son was learning Spanish, this is the tip told him to follow, which you can follow too! Take a piece of paper, in the first column write the Portuguese word and in the second column write the English translation. Now check every day by hiding the Portuguese first column, if you are able to translate from English to Portuguese.

• Changing the language

A lot of my friends took a daring step of changing the language of their laptop or mobile into the foreign language they are planning to attempt. I know this is a path less taken! However, once you are in tune with basic Portuguese you may think about this process.

• Free apps

If you check online there are several apps for free and loads of YouTube videos on learning new Portuguese words and accents. Of course, they are a great tool for a basic learner or for hobby purposes but if your purpose is career then a formal approach is needed.

• Online classes

Speaking about the formal approach and it brings me to the link- Multibhashi is an ed-tech platform from where you can get professional Portuguese trainers for group or personal sessions. In terms of career, it’s a great investment as you get a certificate at the end of the session.

• Set realistic goals

 Whether it is weight loss or language learning it is very important to devote time and attention. Having said that, it is also equally essential to ask yourself what level you are planning to achieve- basic, Intermediate, or advanced. There is no point aiming for the ‘advance level’ when you know very well that you are super busy and hence you can hardly devote time for reading and writing.

• Conclusion

I know the above tips are time-consuming and sometimes daring too!  However, I am sure that with smart time management and the right guidance you will fall in love with not only Portuguese vocabulary but with the culture as well.