Learn Portuguese: Tools for Self-Teaching from David Rogus
Posted by Elena Como with Atlantico Books on November 1, 2011 · 3 Comments
The following below is something I pulled together as an informal primer, an aid, to make Brazilian Portuguese a bit more accessible for Americans who are more familiar with Spanish.Beyond the following, I have an archived series of about ten short emails – anecdotal, amusing and even valuable – on customs and language in Brazil that I send to folks traveling there for the first time. Titles include Confederados trekked to Brazil after Civil War; In Brazil, All May Not Be as Relaxed as It Seems; and Cachaça: It’s the essence of Brazil in a bottle. I don’t want to fill your inbox with these notes, as interesting as they sound, unless you’d like copies. If you travel to Brazil, though, I’d suggest reading them before going.
Cheers!
Counselor, U.S. Foreign Service, Ret. | President
David Rogus & Associates | Rio de Janeiro – São Paulo – Washington
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Transition from Spanish to Portuguese is easier than from English. In Brazil, avoid Spanish as Brazilians feel a great deal of pride in their own language and the warmth of their openness toward visitors gets even warmer when newcomers use Portuguese no matter how much they might struggle initially to do so. Unlike the characteristic often attributed (unjustly in my experience) to the French regarding their tongue, there is no arrogance exhibited by Brazilians toward foreigners who err with their Portuguese or its pronunciation. Much to the contrary.
There are a few basic hints for transitioning between Spanish and Portuguese that can be very helpful at the beginning. You may already know them. And all of it is easier with a good tape. Sounds are hard to replicate on paper. As an additional sound acclimation guide for the serious student, Brazilian television is now available via satellite and Verizon FiOS in the Washington, DC area as well as online
Articles: el = o (pronounced like ooh as in the French exclamation ooh-lah-lah): los = os ; la = a ; las = as
– em (neutral and used before certain words*, governed by some rule of grammar but which you might just have to memorize): — *like São as in São Paulo “em São Paulo” –;
– no before most nouns of the masculine gender — like Brasil as in Brazil “no Brasil”, in the car “no carro”, etc. (Combines em with o = no)
– nos before masculine nouns in the plural form: nos carros (Combines em with os = nos)
– na before most nouns of the feminine gender — like in school “na escola” (Combines em with a = na)
– nas before feminine nouns in the plural form: nas escolas (Combines em with as = nas)
–The same pattern is followed with de – from or of: do (more often pronounced like due in English) dos, da and das.
– The numbers one and two – um e dois — and their sequences like twenty one, etc., also have masculine and feminine forms, singular and plural: um, uns (some), uma, umas (some); dois, duas.
– The letter “J” is usually pronounced more like it is English but not exactly, closer to the “ZS” in Zsa Zsa Gabor. José is pronounced zsoh-ZEH, not ho-ZEH.
– Often, especially in Rio, the final S in a word picks up an “sh” sound.
– Often, and very especially in Rio, the letter D sounds more like the American English J or G.
– Often, especially in Rio, an R at the beginning of a word is pronounced more like an H in English, although a slight hint of an R at the very beginning may be perceptible.
To illustrate these concepts, Rio de Janeiro (River of January) when spoken by a Carioca (someone from Rio) sounds something like this, fast and altogether:
HE-oh gee ZSA-nay-ro
Rio de Janeiro
– Often, especially in Rio, when a word ends in a consonant preceded by a vowel it picks up an additional but unwritten syllable. For example, my name David is pronounced:
DAY-vee-gee. Not: dah-vee-deh. Not: dah-VEED. (But if I were Jewish, that latter pronunciation would be used in Brazil.)
–English no is não. Pronounced more like “now” in English but with a very heavy nasal sound.
–Yes is sim. But, unlike in Spanish or even English, when an answer to a question, it is rarely used without the active verb to repeat and confirm the thought:
For example in response to the question “Are you (an) American?” (Você é americano? [Brazilians very rarely use norteamericano.]) the answer would not be simply “Yes” (“Sim”). It would be “Yes, I am” (“Sim, sou.”) or preferably just “I am” (“Sou.”)
– “se ” means if and is pronounced like si in Spanish. It also is the third person singular reflexive pronoun, himself, etc
– “e ” — pronounced like y in Spanish, means and.
– “é “ — pronounced “eh”. This is the third person singular — “is” – of the verb to be — “ser.”
There are many false cognates among and between Spanish, Portuguese and English. For example:
– exquisito in Portuguese generally means funny as in odd or rare.
– embaraçado means embarrassed not pregnant. Pregnant is grávida.
The letter Ç – c cedilha — is something like c or z or a combination of c and z Spanish. French too. Same sound.
ão generally equates to “ión” in Spanish. A sound something like the OU in ouch with a heavy nasal sound and with a strong hint — but just a hint — of an N at the end.
corazon in Spanish = coração in Portuguese.
constitución = constituição.
lh generally equates to “ll” or “j” in Spanish.
consejo = conselho
millón= milhão
nh generally equates to “ñ” in Spanish.
montaña = montanha
o often equates to “ue” is Spanish.
escuela = escola
The “L” at the end of a word has a quite distinct yet subtle pronunciation. Brasil is pronounced something like: bra-ZEEu . mil (thousand), something like MEEu.
Double r – “ rr “ – is pronounced more like h in English or j in Spanish. Carro sounds like cah-ho. There is still a hint of r sound at the beginning of the “rr” sound, but just a hint.
And Tom Jobim (oddly, pronounced with an M sound at the end not with an N as is usual in Brazilian Portuguese) is not Antônio Carlos Jobim’s brother, nor his cousin. It’s just Jobim’s nickname. Go figure.
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Some dictionaries:
Larousse Concise Dictionary Portuguese-English, Inglês-Português, Larousse, Paris 2005
The Oxford-Duden Pictorial Portuguese and English Dictionary, (More advanced and technical, not a good general dictionary)(DK has a richly illustrated compact pictorial English-Portuguese dictionary published in 2010. But its Portuguese is exclusively European.)
Cambridge Word Routes Inglês-Português, Michael McCarthy, Martins Fontes, São Paulo, 1999
English Dictionary for Speakers of Portuguese - Password K Dictionaries, New Edition, Martins Fontes, SP 2001
Dicionário de Gíria e Inglês Coloquial (English slang and colloquialisms), Fernando B. Ximenes, Edições de Ouro, Rio de Janeiro 1979
Some are better than others, but I have tried to list them in order of contemporary value to people who seek that additional nuance or clarification. None are perfect, especially in their English translations, but they all have something to offer. Gíria (slang) and insultos (insults) are always changing. Guides that are meant to orient Brazilian Portuguese speakers to English usage and translation work just as well – sometimes even better – in the opposite direction.
Como dizer tudo em inglês, (26ª edição ou mais recente), Ron Martinez, Editora Campus / Elsevier, SP 2000
Como dizer tudo em inglês os negócios, (3ª edição ou mais recente), Ron Martinez e Cristina Schumacher, Editora Campus / (Elsevier), Rio-SP 2003
Como dizer tudo em inglês em viagens, (3ª edição ou mais recente), Ron Martinez, Editora Campus / (Elsevier), Rio-SP 2006
How to Say Anything in Portuguese / Como dizer tudo em Português, (4ª edição ou mais recente), Ron Martinez, Editora Campus / (Elsevier), Rio-SP 2003
American Idioms, um guia prática e atual de expressões idiomáticas americanas, Joe Bailey Noble III and José Roberto A. Igreja, Editora Disal, São Paulo 2006
Vocabulando, Vocabulário Prático Inglês-Português, Isa Mara Lando, SBS – Special Book Services, SP (2000?)
Cartas Comerciais em Inglês, Langenscheidt, Martins Fontes, SP 1999
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Still more for serious students of the language:
Novo Aurélio – O Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Século XXI, 3ª edição, 4ª impressão, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda Ferreira e editores, Editora Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro 1999
Dicionário de Gíria, (Slang) Modismo Lingüistico, O Equipamento Falado do Brasileiro, 6ª edição, J.B. Serra e Gurgel, Brasília 1999
Dicionário Brasileiro de Insultos, Altair J. Aranha, Atelié Editorial , Cotia, SP 2002 (also catalogs a spectrum of vulgarities)
Gírias de Todas as Tribos, Kárin Fusaro, Panda Books, SP 2001
A Dictionary of Informal Brazilian Portuguese, Bobby J. Chamberlain & Ronald M. Harmon, Georgetown University Press, 1983 (expensive, dated, but still quite a volume, catalogs, among other vocabulary, a spectrum of vulgarities — while this aspect is unappealing since language is beautiful without resorting to this level, it is helpful to know.)
Dicionário de Dificultades da Língua Portuguesa, Domingos Paschoal Cegall, Editora Nova Frontera, Rio de Janeiro, 2ª edição, 1999
Novíssima Gramática da Língua Portuguesa, Domingos Paschoal Cegall, Companhia Editora Nacional, 43ª edição e mais recente, São Paulo 2000
O Dito pelo Não Dito, Dicionário de Expressões Idiomáticas, Aristides Fontes Filho, Libratrês, São Paulo 2006
Websites: www.sualingua.com.br; http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/portuguese.html; http://www.transparent.com/portuguese/; http://www.gringoes.com/
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Guide Book
Eyewitness Travel Brazil, Aruna Ghose, ed., Dorling Kindersley, New York 2007
I’ve read this Blog post to post — amazing Elena! I love it so much
Knowing Spanish is really great in learning Portuguese; Spanish seems to be more tangible and easier to master for many Americans — probably because of its far-felt influence and stress in the American language curriculum.
Its aided me and those rules you listed are thorough and immensely helpful. Those studying in depth in either language will realize the confusing moments of knowing both just like you said. But it is so important to recognize them as sister languages but with very different histories and personalities.
In the process of studying Latin for my fourth year it’s especially amazing to see all the romance languages develop concordantly yet independently!
Great post keep it up these make my day!
A.
Thank you Adam! It was great to get these tips from my friend, David Rogus. I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog! It is a pleasure to write it, and I’m always happy when we get guest-posts. Would you be interested in writing one?
I learned Spanish first, then Portuguese, but at this point my Portuguese is much stronger, and my Spanish is a bit of portunhol, but I think it’s still back there in my head somewhere (ready to emerge when I travel to Spanish-speaking places, or chat with a Spanish-speaking client). I am impressed that you are learning so many languages. I would love to know more about the transition from Latin to the modern Romance languages (I learned a little about that in the Museu da Língua Portuguesa, em São Paulo, and I’ve read a bit about it in some of the grammar books I have). If you could email me about what you’ve learned about the Latin-to-Portuguese evolution, I would love to post it here!
Many thanks, Adam!
Um abraço,
Elena
Que bom! Vou enviar-te uma mensagem sobre isto
Abraços,
A.