Speaking Portuguese

So you want to move to Portugal, probably having been on holiday and having fallen in love with its laid back culture, its beautiful beaches and the thought of living the dream so many of us crave.

Well, that's great. But a word of warning, if you are going to make the leap you will need to learn the language properly and what we mean by that is with professional lessons. The reason for this is not only that you get the most out of living in another country, but for acceptance by the locals. It's surprising how far a little knowledge goes.

You may have been on holiday and managed to get by because most Portuguese nationals based within the tourism industry have English as a second language. They learn English and French at school from the age of 6 and as a nation that heavily relies on tourism realise that although Portuguese is an official Language in over 10 countries spoken by 260 million people worldwide (Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Portugal, Guinea- Bissau, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Macau, Cape Verde and Sao Tomé and Principe) that it's necessary to at least have English.

So, if the Portuguese speak English why do I need to learn? Well, not all of them do and the elderly population certainly don't, at least not many and it's this elderly population that is likely to be your neighbours. Unless you're planning on living in Lisbon, Porto or the Algarve it's likely that your neighbours will not speak English, sure, there may be one or two in the village that can, but out in the heart of what we describe as the real Portugal, it's unlikely.

Many ex-pats struggle with the language, it’s not an easy language to learn, but you at least need to learn the basics such as please, thank you, good morning, good afternoon, how are you, and may I have. Anyway, you get the picture.

The Portuguese as a race are a beautiful, caring and sharing set of people. They will openly embrace you into their community and even if they don't have much, they will certainly want to bestow food upon you. So, embrace the food, try and speak the language even if it is just the basics and don't be afraid to get it wrong.

We recommend using an online course before you arrive and certainly recommend our partners Practice Portuguese. Or on the logo on the home page for further information about their unique and easy-to-use online learning lessons.

Boa sorte amigos.