So, you’ve decided to start learning Portuguese and want to find out how easy or hard of a time you have to look forward to? There’s some good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that no one can really tell you what you will find difficult about Portuguese or any other language. Most of language learning comes down to the learner’s motivation and perseverance, that’s what really decides whether you will become fluent, or give up.
The good news is that for English-speakers, Portuguese is actually widely considered to be one of the easiest languages to learn. The Foreign Service Institute lists Portuguese among its Category I languages – the easiest – along with Spanish, French, and Italian, to name a few. They estimate it should take around 600 hours to learn, but, again, all of this is completely subjective and really matters rather little for your personal experience.</p
But, in order to give you some idea of this exotic-sounding language, let’s start by taking a look at the basics.
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Which Language Family is Portuguese in?
Portuguese is a member of the Romance languages, which belongs to the Indo-European language family, together with the Germanic languages – meaning that English and Portuguese have a surprising amount in common. If you happen to already know a bit of French, Italian, or Spanish, even better! Those are other members of the Romance languages, and you’ll be sure to find even more similarities with Portuguese.
Where is Portuguese Spoken?
Portuguese is a Romance language spoken in Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe. It is the sixth most spoken language in the world with over 215 million speakers.
Portuguese today has a wide global reach- it has around 250 million native speakers, and is often considered to be the sixth most natively spoken language. Due to the expansionist activities of the Portuguese during colonial times, it is now an important and widely spoken language in Latin-America, areas of the Pacific, and parts of Africa.
Also read: 11 great Portuguese proverbs, sayings and idioms – and their meanings
How Long Does it Take to Learn Portuguese?
It generally takes about one year to become proficient in Portuguese, although this varies depending on your level of prior experience with language learning and the time you dedicate to studying.
There are many free resources available online to help you learn Portuguese, such as Duolingo and Memrise.
With a bit of effort, you should be able to reach an intermediate level within a few months. After that, it becomes increasingly difficult to improve your proficiency without spending significant time living in a Portuguese-speaking country.
However, even if you never become completely fluent, learning Portuguese can still be a rewarding experience that opens up new cultural and professional opportunities. Who knows, you might even end up falling in love with the language and the people who speak it.
Difference Between European and Brazilian Portuguese
Portugal and Brazil can arguably be considered the two most influential Portuguese-speaking countries. Portugal as the original exporter of the language, and Brazil due to its largest number of native speakers. There are also some differences in the way the language is used in either of the countries. If you’re thinking about starting your Portuguese lessons, it might be good to take a minute to consider these dialects before choosing which one to learn.
The good news is that both Brazilian and European Portuguese are still the same language. For example, while Arabic can have such stark differences between regional dialects as to make it unintelligible, two Portuguese speakers should still be able to understand each other, even though they’re from the opposite sides of the Atlantic. That said, there are some differences between the way Europeans and Brazilians pronounce their words.
Additionally, there are some irregularities in the formal and informal speech. While in Portugal, people use “tu” only in informal situations with their friends or family and “você” is reserved for more formal settings, Brazilians make more liberal use of “você”, mixing it in informal and formal settings.
There are also some differences in grammar and spelling, but in general, the two versions have more in common than apart. So, when you’re deciding which dialect to learn, take a moment to listen to both versions being spoken, consider which language or culture seems more appealing to you, and take it from there.
Also read: Which language should I learn? Spanish vs. Portuguese
What’s Difficult about Learning Portuguese
The most common things English-speakers struggle with when learning Portuguese, are pronunciation and understanding what is being said by native speakers. Mind you, this is especially true for the European version, where speakers tend to swallow their vowels, and it might be difficult to distinguish between syllables.
Portuguese also has some sounds (think nasal vowels) that English-speakers are not used to. Additionally, some letters are pronounced different according to context (but when you compare “though”, “through, and “tough”, you see that even that can be learned), and the language also features some world-class tongue twisters.
But every language has its own tricky parts and you should definitely not let that hold you back!
Also read: What Makes a Language Difficult?
What’s easy about learning Portuguese?
On the bright side, there are also some things that come easy to English-speakers when learning Portuguese.
One is the alphabet, as it only has 23 letters (compared to 26 in English), and you might already be familiar with most of them. Additionally, Portuguese words are typically spelled the way they sound, which makes life a little easier for language learners.
Furthermore, as a Romance language, Portuguese shares some similarities with other languages in the same family, such as French, Italian, and Spanish. So, if you already speak one of those languages, you might find that learning Portuguese is a breeze.
What’s Portuguese grammar like?
Portuguese grammar is not too different from that of other Romance languages. There are, however, a few things that might trip you up.
One example is the fact that there are two ways to say “the” in Portuguese: “o, a, os, as” (masculine), and “a, as” (feminine). Additionally, there are two forms of “you”: “tu” (informal) and “você” (formal).
Other than that, Portuguese grammar is not too different from other Romance languages. So, if you already speak one of those languages, you might find that learning Portuguese is a breeze.
What’s the best way to learn Portuguese?
The best way to learn Portuguese is to immerse yourself in the language as much as possible. This means listening to Portuguese being spoken, reading Portuguese books and articles, and watching Portuguese movies and TV shows.
If you can’t do that, the next best thing is to find a Portuguese tutor or take a Portuguese class. There are also many excellent Portuguese learning resources online, such as Duolingo, Busuu, and Babbel. And last but not least, don’t forget to practice speaking Portuguese as often as you can!
Is Portuguese easy to speak and pronounce?
As for pronunciation, Portuguese has some sounds (think nasal vowels) that English-speakers are not used to. Additionally, some letters are pronounced different according to context (but when you compare “though”, “through, and “tough”, you see that even that can be learned), and the language also features some world-class tongue twisters.
But every language has its own tricky parts and you should definitely not let that hold you back!
How long does it take to learn Portuguese?
If you already speak a Romance language, you might be able to pick up Portuguese fairly quickly. Otherwise, it will probably take you around 600 hours of study to reach an intermediate level of Portuguese.
Conclusion – Portuguese is a Fairly Simple Language to Learn
Although Portuguese has its own quirks that you will have to come accustomed to, it is still rather closely related to English, not to mention other Romance languages, making it a good language to learn. You might struggle with the pronunciation or understanding what is being said, but if you keep your motivation high and make learning Portuguese fun for yourself, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t succeed.