8 Top Tips for Learning Portuguese for Expats

If you are planning on relocating to Portugal, then learning
Portuguese is crucial, unless you want to live in an "expatnbubble" and not integrate, or have no wish to understandnanything about the society in which you are living.

Learning the language can also help prevent you from beingntaken advantage of. You should not only consider thenbenefits to you, but the fact that many Portuguese nativesnwill find it extremely impolite and somewhat arrogant, ifnyou are making no effort to speak to them in their language.

Whilst tourist areas and more cosmopolitan towns and citiesnmay have many English speakers to hand, small towns andnvillages will not.

Government offices and authorities will rarely deal with youni
English, and if you attempt to write communications i

English you may well get a terse reply telling you that thenworking language of Portugal is Portuguese!

It is no good waiting until you are living in Portugal tonlea
and hoping you will just pick it up. You won't! Younshould start learning many months before your permanentnarrival and keep doing it after your relocation.

Here are 8 tips for making it easier to learn Portuguese?

1. There are many language books, tapes, CDs and courses outnthere. Some are better than others and some may suit somenpeople better than others. Buying a few different coursesnand alternating them, whilst expensive, may help to keepnthings fresh and widen your vocabulary and grammar.

2. The key is little and often. 15 to 20 minutes a day isnfar better than an hour or two once or twice a week. Younwill retain a lot more and not find yourself getting boggedndown. You are also more likely to make that amount of timenavailable each day and not find excuses for doing somethingnelse.

3. If possible, try to find a private, native speakingnteacher and either attend a class, or preferably one-to-onenlessons, so that you can study at your own rate.

4. Study with a spouse, partner or friend for motivationalnpurposes. If you both know there is a time set and thatnsomeone else is relying on you, you will be less likely tonskip it and do something else.

5. Watch Portuguese TV and listen to Portuguese radio.
However awful some of the programmes might be, you will benamazed at how much sinks in after a while. Portuguesentelenovelas (soap operas) are excellent for this. Thenlanguage used is generally of the everyday type and you cannusually easily follow the very simple plots and story lines.

6. Don't worry about making mistakes and being perfect. JustnDO IT! You won't learn if you don't make mistakes. Think ofnhow many mistakes you hear when foreigners are trying tonlea
to speak English. Do you make fun of them? No. Inngeneral most people are appreciative of others making theneffort to learn their language. Plus, it can be real fun.

7. If someone replies to you in English, just keep speaking
Portuguese, or if need be, ask them politely if they wouldnmind not speaking to you in English.

8. If you have certain jobs or shopping to do the next day,nor later the same day, do a bit of homework before you gonout. Make a list of the verbs and vocabulary you might neednand learn them and take the list with you for support. Manynsituations are quite similar, so once you've learnt a fewnstock phrases you can use them again and again.