Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Learning European Portuguese

I’ve been working on my Portuguese language skills for two years, and it’s been challenging. Part of the problem has been finding the right tools that work with my learning style and needs. I’ve tried a myriad of apps, watched an endless loops of YouTube videos and Podcasts, and bought a few books for good measure.

Tip #1 for Learning European Portuguese

Make sure the site or tool you’re using is actually European Portuguese and not Brazilian Portuguese. Duolingo is a popular language learning tool, and I’ve used it to brush up on my Spanish skills, and made the mistake of starting to use it to learn Portuguese. Until I discovered that it’s Brazilian and not European.

There’s a lot of overlap, but there’s also multiple differences in the pronunciation and vocabulary. So do yourself a favour and seek out tools, apps, and websites that focus only on European Portuguese.

How Portuguese is really spoken

The Portuguese are renowned for dropping letters and squishing words together. And here’s a really useful YouTube video explaining how the Portuguese actually speak day-to-day, and how it differs from the formal version of Portuguese.

Video: How Portuguese actually speak

Like all large countries, pronunciation and vocabulary have regional variances. This is especially true in the Algarve, where locals speak a lot less clearly and commonly drop a lot more letters and squish words together, even more than their northern counterparts.

If you’re learning a formal version of European Portuguese, you’ll still get understood in the Algarve, but it may (will!) take a lot more listening practice to understand what’s being said.