Portuguese in Six Weeks

Firstly, read through day 1 again, listening to the audio as you go.

Here is the what you should have heard in the last audio clip of the first lesson:

1. Bom dia, como está?
2. Boa tarde. Está tudo bem?
3. Estou muito bem, obrigado.
4. Olá, está tudo bem?
5. Boa noite, como está?
6. ´ta tudo bem?
7. Boa noite, até amanhã!

If you didn’t hear it all clearly, go back and listen again. 🙂

-0-

Welcome to Day 2!

Pronunciation

The ‘m’ at the end of a word is not really spoken, you simply don’t let your lips touch. It almost sounds like the word is ending in ‘- ing’ (but you don’t say the ‘g’ sound!). It has a very oriental sound to it. 

Here are some examples:

Audio

tem (ten(g)) – he / she has

vem (ven(g))- he / she comes

sim (sin(g))- yes

sem (sen(g))- without

The letter ‘h’ is silent at the beginning of a word

homem (ohmen(g))- man

há – there is / there are

Read the texts below in English. At this point you might think – hey, I am here to learn Portuguese not English! 

Familiarizing yourself with the text in English first will give you a better notion of what is going on in the Portuguese text.

English version

Hi, I am Jane. I am English and I live in Lisbon. I am married and I have two children, a boy and a girl. Jake is four and Millie is 10. I have been living in Portugal for five years. My husband is a doctor and I am a secretary. I work from home. I like Portugal very much.

Hi, I am Jordan. I am German and live in Lisbon. I am married to Jane. We have been married for 12 years. We like the Algarve very much and we want to stay here.

Now listen to the dialogue in Portuguese and follow as you read it.

Portuguese Version

Text 1

You can listen to the audio first and then read the texts, or read the texts first and then listen to the audio – it is up to you.

Audio

Olá, (eu) sou a Jane. Sou inglesa e moro em Lisboa. Sou casada e tenho dois filhos, um menino e uma menina. O Jake tem quatro anos e a Millie tem 10. Moro em Portugal há cinco anos. O meu marido é médico e eu sou secretária. Eu trabalho a partir de casa. Gosto muito de Portugal.

Text 2 

Audio

Olá, eu sou o Jordan. Sou alemão e moro em Lisboa. Sou casado com a Jane. Somos casados há doze anos. Gostamos muito do Algarve e queremos ficar aqui.

Listen to it again, and read it as you go.

Try to imitate what you hear.

Breakdown

Below is a breakdown of the texts with a few added bits. Listen and repeat – I have split this part into 5 short audio clips.

1st audio clip

Olá – hi

eu – I

sou a Jane –  I am Jane

sou inglesa – I am English (woman)

sou inglês – I am English (man)

sou alemã –  I am German (woman)

sou alemão –  I am German (man)

Note: We can drop the ‘eu’, as ‘sou’ on its own, means ‘I am’. 

2nd audio clip

e – and (pronounced ‘ee’)

moro – I live (again, we can drop the ‘eu’)

em Lisboa –  in Lisbon

sou casada –  I am married (woman)

sou casado –   I am married (man)

somos casados –  we are married

3rd audio clip

tenho – I have (we dropped the eu again…)

dois filhos –  two children. It can also mean two sons.

um menino –  a boy

uma menina –  a girl

o Jake tem quatro anos – Jake is four years (old)

 a Millie tem dez (anos) –  Millie is ten years (old)

4th audio clip

moro em Portugal há cinco anos – I have been living in Portugal for five years (há is a magic word – more about down the line!!)

o meu marido é médico – my husband is a doctor

é – is (pronounced somewhere between ‘eh and ey’.)

eu sou secretária – I am a secretary ( we kept the ‘eu’ in the text this time – for emphasis)

5th audio clip

trabalho – I work

trabalho a partir de casa –  I work from home

gosto muito de Portugal –  I like Portugal very much

gostamos muito de Portugal –  we like Portugal very much

queremos –  we want

ficar – to stay (a magic verb with multiple meanings that are easy to use!)

Well done!!

Repeat the whole thing again. 

Write down all the breakdown of the text in your notebook 

Don’t forget to take the quiz that goes with this lesson!