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Mais recursos / More resources - EU-PT

APPS

Memrise (for vocab, any level)

Pimsleur

PracticePortuguese 

Anki (for flashcard-making - IMO excellent for memorizing verb forms)

If you are unsure of what to put in flashcards, or if the words from our manual/classes aren’t enough: https://www.portuguesewithleo.com/resources

The translator to use when in doubt:  https://deepl.com/ or https://context.reverso.net/ 

MEDIA

RTP Play - RTP

Netflix (updated July 2nd 2022):

7 Pecados Rurais

Glória (series)

Mau Mau Maria

Até Que a Vida Nos Separe (series)

O Leão da Estrela

The Last Whalers of São Miguel

OTHER RESOURCES

LingQ

DailyNata

PracticePortuguese

The Journey

The list goes on. Ask me about it!

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Canais de Youtube / Youtube Channels

Practice Portuguese

Portuguese with Carla

Portuguese Lab

Talk the Streets

Learn European Portuguese Online

Listen and Learn Portuguese with Maria

The Sounds of Portuguese

Dialogar

Tradutex

Learn European Portuguese

Portuguese with Leo

Portuguese Dips

Simpleton Portuguese

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Pronunciation Guide for English Speakers

PRONUNCIATION RULES:

It’s obviously FAR better to learn pronunciation by being heavily exposed to the language (it helps to use videos with subtitles) than by memorizing rules. This is just a reference point you can come back to.

Syllable stress:

Every word has a stressed syllable.

The vowel in the stressed syllable will OPEN.

The remaining vowels will CLOSE (either towards their ‘medium’ or ‘closed’ versions)

Exceptions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ijqsv-1g3k 

If there’s an accent on a syllable, that’s where the stress will be

If the word ends in U, I, L, R… the stress will be on the last syllable

Pronouncing vowels:

A:

Open A: ah, as in cart

Closed A: uh, as in amazing

E:

Open E: eh, as in meddle

Medium E: ey without the y, as in mayday

Closed E: almost no sound, like in accomplice (IPA: ɨ )

I: always ee

O:

Open O: awe, as in off

Medium O: oh, as in mold 

Closed O: oo, as in mood

U: always oo

Nasality, NHs and LHs:

à - ung (as in “sung”). (manhã - muh-NYUNG)

ÃO - aung. (coração - koo-ruh-SAUNG)

ÃE - aing. (mãe - MAING)

ÕE - oing. (põe - POING)

AM/AN - aung. (acabam - uh-KA-baung)

EM/EN - aying. (também - tum-BAYING)

IM/IN - ing. (inteiro - ing-TAY-roo)

OM/ON - ong. (bonzinho - bong-ZEE-nyoo)

UM/UN - oong. (nenhum - n’-NYOONG)

Note: if after these ^ comes a vowel, it’s no longer nasal, you pronounce the M/N. Much like English - “and” or “amber” are nasal, but “sanitize” and “ameliorate” are not. Both have the letters “AN/AM.”

Examples in Portuguese:

antes - UNG-tsh ...but canela - kuh-NEH-luh. Both have “AN”.

fazem - FAH-zaying… but emotivo - eh-moo-TEE-voo. Both have “EM”.

nha, nhe, nhi, nho, nhu - nyuh, nye, nyi, nyoh, nyoo. ñ ny

lha, lhe, lhi, lho, lhu - lyuh, lye, lyi, lyoh, lyoo. ll

Pronouncing the S:

S at the beginning of word, or double S (SS) - S sound

pessoa - p’-SO-uh

santo - SUNG-too

S at the end of word, S behind a consonant - SH sound

bananas - ba-NUH-nush

castelo - kush-TEH-loo

S behind a vowel - Z sound

casa - KAH-zuh

preciso - pr’-SEE-zoo

Pronouncing Gs, Js and Cs:

ga, go, gu - hard G (as in “goat”)

ge, gi - soft G every time, the exact same sound as any J (which is the S in “pleasure”)

For “ge” or “gi” with a hard G, we add a U (gue, gui). 

E.g. guerra, gueto (the U is not pronounced, it’s just there to make the G a hard one).

Similarly:

ca, co, cu - K sound

ce, ci - S sound

For “ce” and “ci” with a K sound, we substitute the C with a QU (que, qui). 

E.g. queijo (KAY-joo), quilo (KI-iloo). 

If we want “ca”, “co” and “cu” with an S sound, we substitute the C with a Ç.

Eg. Peça (PEH-ssuh), maço (MAH-ssoo).

qua, quo - you do pronounce the U. 

E.g. qualidade (kua-lee-DA-d’), quota (KWAW-tuh).

[teachercatarina]

Do you need help with your European Portuguese...

✈ To be able to travel or move to Portugal, and feel confident communicating?

💼 For professional purposes (eg. CV and cover letter writing or job interview preparation)?

📚 For academic purposes (eg. writing of essays and theses, or preparing for exams such as the DIPLE orthe CAPLE)?

✍️ To translate, edit or proofread texts - from newspaper articles to web copy - and make sure they contain no grammatical or structural errors?

😀 For fun or just to keep practicing?

Do you want to learn Portuguese ​​from scratch, or improve your existing skills, but you don’t know where to start? Have you tried using books, apps, group classes, and nothing has worked for you? Is it difficult to stay motivated? Is it difficult to catch your own mistakes?

Olá! I’m so glad to see you here. My name is Catarina and I’m an English and European Portuguese teacher, as well as a translator and proofreader. I’ve taught people of every age demographic and of several cultures and worked with many different kinds of texts in both English and Portuguese.

My classes are and have always been dynamic, flexible and highly interactive - this is not a cram school. The goal here is for you to practice (speak, read, listen and write) as much as possible - regular practice is key when learning a new language. We will always make use of topics, methodologies and content that best suit you, your current language level, your needs, your personality, your interests, and your learning style. Indeed, nobody is truly able to learn if they don’t feel motivated, comfortable making mistakes and confident enough to share their own interests.

Drop me a line through the contacts below to schedule a trial lesson! In the trial lesson we will be able to assess the knowledge you already have about the language you intend to learn and thus draw up a plan on what will be the best approach to follow, which can naturally be adjusted as time goes on.

Here you’ll be able to find:

Lessons for absolute beginners

Conversational lessons

Study support and exam preparation

Job interview prep, as well as cover letter/CV writing

Translation and proofreading services

And much more!

Hoping to hear from you soon,

- Catarina (catarinafniza@gmail.com)