How to Learn Portuguese Vocabulary

The Portugal border

Learning to speak a different language is an exciting venture, but it does take some work and practice. There are a few tools you can use to learn basic Portuguese vocabulary so that you have a good foundation if you want to expand your command of the language. Whether you are visiting Portugal or Brazil, or have Portuguese friends or business associates with whom you want to better communicate, the effort you expend to learn the language will be well worth it in the long run.

Instructions

1. Get a Portuguese phrase book and an English-Portuguese dictionary. By having books to reference you will familiarize yourself with the spelling and meaning of new words. There are many types of language books available, both online and at retail shops. Travel companies Berlitz and Rick Steves put out a popular line of Portuguese phrase books. If you don't want to spend the money, your local public or community-college library will likely have a book you can check out for no cost.

2. Focus on words you need to learn. You will not be able to master the entire Portuguese vocabulary overnight, so decide on the essentials: If you are spending a week in Portugal for business, stick to learning travel-based words and phrases.

3. Use flash cards. These may seem old-school, but they work. Write down all your important words and begin studying from the cards. Ask your friends and family to help you. Label objects around the house with their Portuguese names to make those flash cards do double duty.

4. Listen to audio CDs. While you are making your commute, listen to Portuguese language-learning CDs. This will help you understand how the language is spoken and how words are properly pronounced. Some language books, such as the Berlitz phrase book, come with CDs for this purpose and can be either purchased online or in a bookstore, or borrowed from your local library.

5. Take a class or look for tutoring opportunities at your local college. Some larger metro areas also have language-exchange tutorials run through local libraries; in exchange for your learning Portuguese, you will help a native Portuguese speaker learn English.

6. Watch Portuguese movies. Ask at your local video rental if they have any movies in Portuguese. The subject matter isn't as important as listening to the dialogue. By following along with subtitles, you should be able to pick up simple phrases fairly quickly.

References

• English-to-Portuguese online dictionary