In today´s post I am going to write about Portuguese Pronunciation. Use this complete guide if you have problems with this topic.
To be more specific I will clarify how to pronounce European Portuguese, since many people want to know it and do not find many materials out there about it.
If you are interested to find out some of the reasons why the Portuguese have such a “weird” way of speaking, you have come to the right place!
If you are serious about learning Portuguese Pronunciation don’t forget to check out my All-In-One Portuguese Course. You will learn valuable tricks that will help you speak and understand European Portuguese like a native speaker, even without years of practice.
Some Basic Rules Will Make Your Life Easier
To begin with, I would like to tell you that as hard as it seems, you can really learn some basic rules that will always apply in European Portuguese, making it much easier to understand the pronunciation.
I will name them in a second, and I want you to know that the order I am writing them has a reason, and you will soon find it out. But before I get into the stress of a word itself, I would like to tell you a little bit about syllables.
Syllables – Why they are important:
Syllables are parts of a word. If you have the word “Menina” (girl), you have three different parts in this word – Me-ni-na. These are what we call syllables and the stress of a word always falls on a syllable.
For the purpose of this post, I will put the stressed syllable in capital letters. Thus, in the word “Menina”, used above, I will exemplify its pronunciation by writing /me-NI-na/, leaving the syllable with the stress in capital letters, while the other syllables are not capitalised.
If you understand this, you will more easily understand what I will now explain about word pronunciation. So, let´s then look at the pronunciation rules.
4 Basic Pronunciation Rules in European Portuguese
1) Check the word to see if there is an accent (a stress/diacritical mark)
If you find a tilde (~), an acute stress (´), a grave stress (`) or a circumflex mark (^), the stress will be on that syllable.
So, if you have the word “Ananás” (pineapple), and you divide the word into syllables /A-na-nás/, the stress will fall on the last syllable, because that is where the diacritical mark is.
Therefore, we have the following pronunciation: /a-na-NÁS /
(As I pointed out before, throughout this article, I will use capital letters to exemplify which syllable should be stressed, like I did in this example).
More word examples:
- Coração (heart) – /co-ra-ÇÃO/
- Fácil (easy) – /FÁ-cil/
- Grátis (for free) – /GRÁ-tis/
- Confusão – /con-fu-SÃO/
- Amália (a common woman´s name) – /a-MÁ-li-a/
So, I think you get the picture, right?
The reason I put this rule first is that you should always check first for a stress mark like the ones I described and if the word has one, then it will be easy to know where the stress of the word should go and which syllable you should pronounce more.
2) When the word does not have a diacritical mark, then the stress of the word generally goes into the penultimate (one before the last) syllable
This is the second most important rule, because in general words that are not accentuated by a stress mark, have their penultimate syllable accentuated instead.
This is the case of “Caminho” (Path/Way), which is divided into three syllable – /Ca-mi-nho/ – which means its accentuation is as follows – /ca-MI-nho/.
As you can see, the penultimate syllable is the one stressed, since there is no diacritical mark to tell us otherwise.
More word examples:
- Comida (food) – /co-MI-da/
- Aventureiro (adventurous) – /a-ven-tu-REI-ro/
- Casa (house) – /CA-sa/
- Companhia (company) – /com-pa-NHI-a/
From the examples above you can realise that it doesn’t matter the length of the word – whether it has two, three, four or even more syllables – if it does not have a diacritical mark, it will generally have its stress in the penultimate syllable.
Although this rule is what applies in most of the cases, there are of course some cases where it doesn’t apply. Those are the following:
3) If the word ends in i, l, r, z, im, um, ins, uns, the stress shifts to the final syllable
In this case, instead of being in the penultimate syllable, the stress changes to the end.
It is the case of the word “rapaz” – /ra-paz/ – which one pronounces /ra-PAZ/.
More word examples:
- Papel (paper) – /pa-PEL/
- Comer (to eat) – /co-MER/
- Senti (I felt) – /sen-TI/
- Atum (Tuna) – /a-TUM/
- Pinguim (Penguin) – /pin-gu-IM/
- Pinguins (Penguins) – /pin-gu-INS/
- Alguns (some) – /al-GUNS/
4) If the word ends in a diphthong (two vowels that are read together to form a single sound) like ão, au, ao, õe, oi, ãe, ai, ou, ei, ui, the stress also shifts to the end
If you have a word like “Macau” (Macau), for example, the stress will be in the last syllable, because this word ends with a diphthong.
Therefore, we will read it /ma-CAU/.
More word examples:
- Carapau (a kind of fish) – /ca-ra-PAU/
- Amou (he/she/it loved) – /a-MOU/
- Pensei (I thought) – /pen-SEI/
Note that some of these diphthongs have accents on them, so the first rule I wrote about earlier in this post applies too.
Now that you have learnt about the stress rules, let´s go a bit deeper into the pronunciation of the actual sounds of letters in different contexts.
VOWELS
To start, I will tell you about vowels. In Portuguese, like in English, we have five vowels – a, e. i. o and u – and when you spell the actual letter you will have the sound “a”, like the “a” in “car; the “e”, like the “e” in “tell”; the “i”, like the “ee” in “breed”; the “o”, like the “a” in “all”; and finally the “u”, like the two “u” in “kung-fu”.
This would be very simple if the story ended here. However, not everything can be that simple, right? So, the way you read these vowels will depend on the words and the combination of letters.
In fact, the vowels “a”, “e” and “o” vary a lot, since they have four “kinds” of pronunciation – Open pronunciation, closed pronunciation, reduced pronunciation and nasal pronunciation.
The open pronunciation is just the way that you would actually spell the letter, like in the examples I gave above. The closed pronunciation, reduced and nasal ones are very different, though.
Let us take a look!
# a
Open Pronunciation
Like the “a” in “cat” in the British English variation. This sound happens sometimes in the stressed syllable of a word, like in “cara”, which we pronounce “CA-ra” or if it contains the diacritical mark “´”
Closed Pronunciation
We use this to pronounce the “a´s” that are not in the end of the word but can be in the stressed syllable or anywhere else in the word.
It is the case of the first two “a” on the woman´s name “Mariana”. They sound something similar to the “u” in “butter”.
Reduced Pronunciation
This happens when we have the “a” at the end. The sound is very reduced or almost non-existent.
In fact, European Portuguese speakers are known for “eating” the vowels at the end of words, and this is the reason why. We actually DO tend to not pronounce the vowels that are at the end of words, unless the last syllable is the one accentuated. Otherwise, that would be just too much effort for us aha!
So, using the female noun “Mariana” that we looked at above, we would have a pronunciation that would look something like /ma-ri-A-n/, where the last “a” would be almost inexistant.
Nasal Pronunciation
Happening every time the word is followed by a “nasal sound” (a sound you produce forcing the air out of your nose, like what happens with the letters “m” and “n” in Portuguese).
In the word “ananás”, the first two vowels are followed by a nasal sound, which makes them sound like the “a” in “antropologist”. With the diacritical marks “^” or “~”, this vowel will also sound nasal.
#e
Open Pronunciation
Like the “e” in “pet”. We pronounce this letter this way when it is in the accentuated syllable or if it contains the diacritical mark “´”.
Closed Pronunciation
We use this to pronounce the “e´s” that are not in the end of the word, but can be in the stressed syllable.
Therefore, we can have the stressed syllable which contains an “e”, sounding like the open pronunciation example above or a bit more closed.
It is the case of the sound “e” in the Portuguese word “preço” (price). The sound is something similar to the “ai” in “airplane”.
Reduced Pronunciation
When we have the “e” at the end of the word or between two consonants in the non-stressed syllable, we often use the reduced pronunciation.
The sound is very reduced or almost non-existent. This happens in the word “competente” (competent), for example, where the first and the last “e´s” are almost not sonorant at all!
Nasal Pronunciation
In words like “entusiasmo” (enthusiasm), the vowel will have a nasal component to it. It will sound exactly like the “e” in “enthusiasm”.
Like what happens with “a”, if the vowel “e” contains the diacritical mark “^”, this will also make it sound nasal.
#o
Open Pronunciation
Like the “o” in “lot”. We pronounce this letter this way when it is in the accentuated syllable or if it contains the diacritical mark “´”.
Closed Pronunciation
We use this to pronounce the “o´s” that are not at the end of the word, but can be in the stressed syllable. Therefore, we can have the stressed syllable, which contains an “o”, sounding open or a bit more round and closed.
It is the case of the sound “o” in the Portuguese word “podre” (rotten). The sound is something similar to the “ou” sound in “mould”.
Reduced Pronunciation
When we have the “o” at the end of the word, in a non-stressed syllable or alone meaning “the” (masculine form of “the”) , we often use the reduced pronunciation. This makes the “o” sound like an “u” or “oo” like in “kung-fu” or in “cool”.
This happens in the word “momento” (moment), for example, which we would read like /mu-MEN-tu/. As we can see, when the syllable is not stressed the “o” also sounds like “u”. The one at the end, when the word is pronounced really fast, seems almost inexistent as well, making the word sound like /mo-MEN-t/.
Nasal Pronunciation
Like in the case of “a” and “e”, this type of pronunciation happens every time the vowel is followed by an “n” or “m” or contains the diacritical mark “^” or “~”.
In words like “ponte” (bridge), the vowel will come out pretty nasalised and it will sound something like “on” in the english word “among”.
#i and u
These two vowels are pronounced only with an open pronunciation, like in the words “guitarra” (guitar) or “luva” (glove) or a bit more nasal, like in “pintar” (to paint) or “juntar” (to gather), respectively.
In a few words, they can also sound reduced when they are in between two consonants in a non-stressed syllable. That´s the case of the “u” sound in “computador” – /com-p-ta-DOR/.
CONSONANTS
Today I am not going to write about all the consonants, as that would take us a long time, and most of the others I won’t mention do sound a lot like in English.
The following consonants, however, show some differences in the way they are pronounced. So, let us take a look at them!
#c
Before “i” and “e”, this consonant will have a soft sound, i.e., it will sound like the “s” in “sound”.
Examples:
- cimento (concrete) – /si-MEN-t/
- cinzeiro (ashtray) – /sin-ZEI-r/
- cebola (onion) – /se-BO-la/
Before an “a”, an “o” and a “u”, it will show a hard sound or a “k”, like the “c” in “cup”.
Examples:
- casa (house) – /KA-sa/
- computador (computer) – /Kom-pu-ta-DOR/
- curto (short) – /KUR-t/
#ç
This letter is also a consonant and every time we use it it is because we want a “c” that precedes an “a”, “o” or “u” to have the soft sound “s”, rather than the hard sound “k”.
Examples:
- Cabeça (head) – /ca-BE-ssa/
- Carapuço (hoody) – /ca-ra-PU-ssu/
#g
Like with the letter “c”, the “g” will sound soft or like a “j” before “i” and “e”, i.e., it will sound like the “g” in “giant”.
Examples:
- gigante (giant) – /ji-GAN-t/
- girassol (sunflower) – /ji-ra-SSOL/
- gente (people) – /JEN-t/
Before an “a”, an “o” and a “u”, it will show a hard sound or a “g”, like the “g” in “game”.
Examples:
- gato (cat) – /GA-tu/
- garfo (fork) – /GAR-fu/
- gota (drop) – /GO-ta/
When we want a “g” that precedes an “e” or an “i” to have a hard sound like “g” in “game”, we insert an “u” between the “g” and the following “e” or “i”. The “u” is then not read and the “g” becomes a hard “g”.
Examples:
- Guitarra – /gi-TA-rra/
- Guerra – /GE-rra/
#h
Normally this sound is not pronounced, unless it is together with an “l” or an “n”, in which case it will seem to sound a bit like a “y”.
Examples:
- Homem (man) – /Ó-mem/ (silent)
- Hora (hour) – /Ó-ra/ (silent)
- Coelho (rabbit) – /co-E-lhu/ (in fact sounding like /co-E-lyu/)
- Manhã (morning) – /ma-NHÃ/ (in factsounding like /ma-NYÃ/)
#j
This consonant always sounds soft in Portuguese, like the “g” in “giant”.
Examples:
- Jamaica – /ja-MAI-ca/
- Manjericão (basil) – /man-je-ri-CÃO/
#m and n
These consonants sound pretty much the same as in English, except when at the end of the word. In fact, the consonant “m” will sound very nasal and like if you actually do not finish it.
What I mean is that when reading this letter at the end of a word, try to stop the movement of your lips in the middle, not allowing them to touch each other like they normally would and pushing the sound through your nose instead.
The “n” never appears at the end of a word, but when a word ending in “m” becomes plural, it will change into “ns”, and the sound of the “n” will be nasal as well and very similar to “m” at the end of a word.
Examples:
- Homem – /Ó-mem/
- Margem (margin) – /MAR-gem/
- Homens (men) – /Ó-mens/
- Margens (margins) – /MAR-gens/
Some people say the sound of an “m” final, seems to have an “g” or “y” in the mix, sounding like a “ny” or a “ng”. Like this:
- Margem (margin) —> /MAR-geng/
- Homens (men) —> /Ó-mengs/
#q
In European Portuguese, this letter is always followed by a “u”. If this constellation of letters is followed by an “i” or an “e” that are not accentuated, then the letter should be read as a “k” or like the “c” in “cosmetics”. If, on the other end, it is followed by an “a” or an “o”, then the “u” should also be read, like “ku”.
Examples:
- Que (what) – /KE/
- Quando (when) – /KUAN-du/
- Quisto (cist) – /KIS-tu/
- Quo (quo, like in status quo) – /KUO/
#r
This consonant has two types of pronunciation. As a hard “r”, at the beginning of a word or when it has another “r” attached to it, as in “carro”.
This sound is very guttural, you make it with your throat and it does not really have an equivalent in English (at least that I know of). For some people, it might be easier to know that it has a similar sound to the “j” guttural in Spanish, like in “Juego”, for example.
At the end of the word or alone in the middle of a word, it has a soft pronunciation, like in “Rome” or “Maryann”, although in Portuguese you can hear it more than in English. It is something in between the English “r” and the Portuguese guttural “rr”.
Examples:
- Rato (mouse) – /RRA-to/ (hard pronunciation)
- Carro (car) – /CA-rro/ (hard pronunciation)
- Caro (expensive) – /CA-ro/ (soft pronunciation)
- Amor (love) – /A-mor/ (soft pronunciation)
#s
This consonant is one of the “richest” consonants in terms of pronunciation. It can be pronounced as a normal “s”, at the beginning of the word and in the middle of the word if it is together with another “s”, as in “passar” (to pass).
It can also sound like a “z” as in “zebra”, if it is in the middle of the word between two vowels on its own or if it is at the end of a word which precedes another word that starts with a vowel (like in “mais ou menos” (more a less), which is pronounced “Maizohmenush”).
Finally, it can sound like a “sh” sound, as in “cash”. This happens when this consonant is at the end of a word and the following word does not start with a vowel sound or when the “s” is between a vowel and a consonant, as in “gostar” (to like).
Examples:
- Sapo (frog) – /SA-pu/ (normal “s”)
- Passo (step) – /PA-ssu/ (normal “s”)
- Casaco (jacket) – /ca-ZA-cu/ (“z” sound)
- Os olhos (the eyes) – /Uz/ (“z” sound)
- Olhos (eyes) – /O-lhush/ (“sh” sound)
- Castanho (brown) – /cash-TA-nhu/ (“sh” sound)
#z
Normally pronounced as a normal “z”, this letter can also sound like a “sh” if placed at the end of the word and the word does not precede another one starting with a vowel, in which case the “z” is read like a normal “z” in “zebra”.
Examples:
- Rapaz (boy) – /ra-PASH/ (sounds like a “sh”)
- Zebra – /ZE-bra/ (normal “z”)
#x
The reason I put this letter at the end, is because I have some bad news about it. It does not seem to obey any rules, although it shows many different utterances.
In fact, “x” can sound like the “z” in “zebra, like the “x” in “expectation” (a sound like “ks”), like the “sh” in “cushion” and like the “ss” in “pass”.
Unfortunately, as there seem to be no rules, I cannot teach you how to know it. It seems that you will have just to use your memory and lots of practise with this one.
Examples:
- Exemplo (example) – /e-ZEM-plu/ (“z” sound)
- Táxi (taxi) – /TA-ksi/ (like the English word “taxi”)
- Extensivo (extensive) – /esh-ten-SI-vu/ (“sh” sound)
- Máximo (maximum) – /MA-ssi-mu/ (normal “s” sound)
Alright, so this is all for today. You can find this article as PDF document in the materials page on this website.
You can also check out my article about the Portuguese Alphabet with sounds to further practice your pronunciation.
If you are looking for exercises that you can do in order to practice your pronunciation and to sound like a native Portuguese speaker make sure to check out my Portuguese course. As a little bonus, I am currently giving you a 30% discount, if you join my All-In-One Portuguese Course via this link.
I hope you have enjoyed this blog post and that it will help you learn Portuguese pronunciation.
Do you like the way we Portuguese pronounce words? Do you struggle to speak the language?
Please leave your comments, questions and feedback below. Don’t be a stranger 😉
Beijinhos,
Mia
I am surprised you did not cover the “d” sound rules.
Hi Mia – Just a couple of comments from a Canadian who lived & worked in Brazil (Rio) for three years and has travelled several times to Portugal.
In the J section, you say that Portuguese J is like the G in giant. I found that interesting because that initial G is a DZH sound whereas the Portuguese Js I’m familiar with are of the ZH kind, like the second G in garage. Is there really a DZH-sounding J, as in Django, in Portuguese?
And in the vowels, specifically E, you say that the nasalized pronunciation in entusiasmo is like the E in English enthusiasm. But that E isn’t nasalized, and the following N is fully pronounced with the tongue touching the roof of the mouth behind the teeth.
Also in your Q section I’d suggest KW rather than KU for the QUA and QUO sounds, that is, KWA and KWO. From the point of view of an English speaker, it’s least confusing to use a representation that doesn’t repeat any of the Portuguese letters.
Anyway those are quibbles. This is a great guide. Your style is friendly and the way you break it down makes it easy to understand. Beijinhos, Paul.
Olá, Paul 🙂
Thank you for your message.
Indeed, you are right about the “G” in Portuguese. It does not have the “d” sound before, as in django. This is me being a non-English native speaker, and not pronouncing “giant” right most probably. But yes, I see what you mean, and the Portuguese “g” is more like the second “g” in “garage”.
The same happens with the nasalized “e”. I probably pronounce “enthusiasm” not entirely correctly, and more like the Portuguese way, so I thought it is the same sound. But your explanation makes sense 🙂
Thanks for the suggestions about the Q sound. Yes, KWA and KWO would probably make more sense for an English speaker. Thank you for pointing it out 🙂
I am glad that overall you found this guide helpful 🙂 Thank you again for helping me out with the English counterparts.
If you have any further suggestions or any questions, please let me know.
Beijinhos,
Mia
Mia,
Thank you for this post. I found it really helpful! As somebody else pointed out, I don’t see a section on the pronunciation of ‘d’ or ‘t’. Could you add a section on that? It seems to follow the same palatization rules as other consanants when placed before ‘e’ or ‘i’… but, I’m not entirely sure. 🙂
– Alex Bieniek
Olá, Alex!
Thank you for your comment.
I didn’t put it here because they are generally said in a “normal” way. Not many changes there. However lately, I have been feeling that this is not entirely true. I do see some influence of English in the way some people say these consonants (including myself sometimes). I guess there are more ways in which these letters sound, depending on the region of Portugal you happen to be in, as well, and I might make a post or something along those lines in the future about this. But, as a general rule: “t” sounds like the “t” in “ten”, and “d” sounds like the “d” in “Dice”.
I hope this helps!
Beijinhos,
Mia
Muito obrigada senhora, this video has cleared my many doubts but I still have one related to ‘R’ . You have mentioned that there are 2 wats in which ‘R’ is pronounced but in word ‘preço’ the ‘R’ is sound different like ‘D’ ,in third ‘d’of ‘Daddy’ of American accent , I will be extremely grateful if you help me.
Olá Yohann. Yes, that is the “soft” r. It does sound a bit like what you are saying. I might just have explained it a little bit differently. Please let me know if this helps 🙂
Olá Mia
Eu sou portuguesa mas estou a trabalhar num projeto (EFPSA) enquanto voluntária de organização de um encontro. Como vamos receber em 2023 alunos de toda a Europa, eu estou a fazer um guia com algumas palavras usadas frequentemente em Portugal, para os participantes que vêm de fora usarem. Queria colocar também a pronúncia escrita destas palavras mas não consigo encontra nenhum site onde possa inserir as palavras e obter a pronúncia tal como tens aqui (exemplo: Coração (heart) – /co-ra-ÇÃO). Seria possível dizeres-me onde encontraste ou se foste tu a fazer?
Obrigada
Carlota Pereira
Olá, Carlota!
Que projeto interessante 🙂
Então, na verdade fui eu que fiz esta escrita assim. No entanto, se quiseres a transcrição fonética mesmo, podes ir aqui:
https://european-portuguese.info/pt/ipa#Ol%C3%A1%20mundo!
Espero que ajude!
Beijinhos,
Mia
Where is the discussion with the letter D
Muito, muito obrigado!
Estou aprendendo o português do Brasil há uns anos, quase somente numa outra ferramenta online e realmente sempre sentia a falta do português europeu lá.
O artigo da senhora me ajudou bastante.
Meu idioma de origem é o alemão, estou absolutamente adorando aprender o português. Com este idioma, você sempre terá uma beleza incrível na cabeça.
Eu agradeço do coração.
De nada 🙂 I am so glad you are enjoying my page!
I think that learning both variants is really interesting 🙂
On that note, I would like to tell you that I have a brand new European Portuguese Speech Course and in there I analyse the different sounds of Portuguese, where they are produced within the mouth, how you can mimic the sounds to sound more native. I also go through the main transformations that native speakers make when they speak and I analyse some natural speech and go through it with you to identify the different things native speakers do when speaking naturally and at their normal speech rate.
Should you want to check it out, you can go here:
https://school.learn-portuguese.org/p/speech-course
And don’t forget: you always have the 30-day money-back guarantee. No questions asked 🙂
I just thought I would let you know as you seem to be interested in pronunciation.
I hope you continue having fun learning Portuguese and I wish you all the best!
Schoene Gruesse!
Mia.
OLA, BOA TARDE, GREAT JOB IN TOTO. MORE THAN THANKS.
WITH A BUNCH OF ROSE & BEIJINHOS.
NURE.
BANGLADESH PLUS PORTUGAL.
Muito obrigada!
Mia
This article is very, very useful! Obrigada Mia!
Hi Elizabeth. Thank you so much for your feedback =)
Beijinhos, Mia.
Dear Mia,
You have been so very helpful. I am in love with PORTUGAL and have my ticket bought to return in April. I have to get back to Porto to she Mr. Storkie. What a beautiful place the Algarve is. I am practicing my Portugues everyday and I have to say your is the best. Warm regards,
Sharon
London Ontario Canada
Hi Sharon!
Obrigada 😀 I am really glad you are enjoying my website! I also am very happy that you like my lil country so much! Exciting!
Hope you have a wonderful time both in Portugal and exploring my website!
Take care!
Mia.
I find your article very interesting. I learned Portuguese in Brazil a few years ago and realize after that there quite a difference with the European Portuguese.
I think I will have fewer difficulties learning European Portuguese with the help of your great website.
Do you have any recommendations for audios?
Thank you
Hi Babacar!
Thank you for your comment. I am currently developing some audios and videos for European Portuguese so soon you can check them here 🙂 just come back to my page in some time and you will be able to find them. Also, in the post you just read you have some audios for pronunciation, if you click the arrows in front of the words 🙂 maybe you saw them already, but just in case you haven’t…
You can also try European Portuguese Language Course – The Mimic Method. It has been having great reviews and it focus in pronunciation a lot 🙂 check it out!
Thank you very much, Mia. I have bookmarked your page and will come more often to visit.
Obrigada.
Thank you for your support Mia.
Will you in the future be introducing common phrases?
Tom.
Hey Tom,
I actually already have a blog post about common phrases. Just take a look around the blog page and you will see it 😉 I will be adding more content soon, so just keep looking 😉
Thanks,
Mia
Thank you, Tom.
Hi Mia,
This is going to help me so much, as my greatest problem was pronunciation.
This problem causing a shyness that prevented me from trying to speak the words.
I will feel more comfortable with this post and what it offers me.
Thank you,
Tom.
Hi again !
I hope that it does help you and do not forget to listen to the audios I inserted there. They will also help you 😀
Do not be shy, the most important thing is to speak, even if you make mistakes. Believe me!
Just keep trying and you will accomplish it, I believe!
Cheers,
Mia
Mia,
Thank so much for sharing all these tips and tricks on European Portuguese pronunciation on your site.
I live in a City in SW Ontario that sometimes I think I am actually in Portugal. We have 30 to 40% of our population identified as originating somewhere in Portugal. We have streets named Madeira Crescent, Azores, Fatima etc…I Love the Portuguese culture, food, and family based values, that they bring to the city.
Your blog has pushed me to try and speak the language (it is close to my native tongue of Italian) but even though I understand my Portuguese friends, I have not worked up the courage to respond to them in Portuguese, that is up until now after reading your lesson.
Thank you for lighting a fire with an informative and great piece of education.
very best regards,
claudio
Hi Claudio!
Thank you so much for your comment 😀 That was really nice, it makes me even more motivated to teach my beautiful language!
And wow! I didn’t know there were so many Portuguese people in Ontario! It made me smile that there are streets with Portuguese names. It is good to feel that Portugal isn’t forgotten around the world.
Italian is also a very nice language! I like the way it sounds and it is very closely related to Portuguese, that is true. I hope that now you muster the courage to answer your Portuguese friends in Portuguese 😉 Just give it a go! I am sure you will be fine!
Please do come back to my website if you are interested in learning more. I will be adding more content and materials. I actually just added this page in a PDF mode to my materials page, so you can collect it for your own learning process!
Thank you very much again!
Hopefully see you around soon…I wish you also lots of success with your endeavours.
Mia
Dear Mia,
Thank you very much for sharing all these tips and tricks to understand the European Portuguese pronunciation. I am from the north west of Spain and have been in contact with the Portuguese language since I was a kid, and even though I can read and understand more or less (“Maizohmenush”), I have always struggled with the pronunciation. I have found your article very well structured and easy to read, but I have loved most of all, the fact you have included the recordings for the sounds. That has been so helpful and definitely will practice it to improve my pronunciation.
Muito obrigado!
Jose Luis
Hi Jose Luis! So we are almost neighbours, as I live in Porto =)
Thank you so much for your insight, that was really helpful and motivating. My goal here is to teach people and if you found this post useful, I feel happy about it!
Again, many thanks and please come back to my website, as I will be adding more content soon! I will also have some materials. I am working on them =)
Muchas gracias once again!
Mia Esmeriz