European Portuguese - Why You Can’t Understand Spoken Portuguese!

European Portuguese - Why You Can’t Understand Spoken Portuguese! - Struggling to understand spoken Portuguese? In this video, I reveal the four common mistakes learners make when trying to understand Portuguese native speakers, so you can fast-track your language journey! Join me as we break them down and make understanding spoken Portuguese a breeze! - Filmed in Lisbon, Portugal by Liz Sharma, a Portuguese teacher in Lisbon and founder of Talk the Streets.
MY FREE PORTUGUESE LESSON: Speak Portuguese Like a Pro! (For Beginners)
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MY FREE PRONUNCIATION GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS: 7 Tips to Instantly Improve your European Portuguese Pronunciation
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MY QUIZLET FLASHCARDS OF 100 FREQUENT WORDS IN PORTUGUESE
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European Portuguese: The Secret to Understanding FAST Portuguese
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[@TalktheStreets]

How are your listening skills? Will you try one of these strategies?

[@samedays4747]

I know you said that there isn’t much EU Portuguese content out there, but over time I’ve found quite a bit. Granted, it’s nowhere near the amount of a language like Spanish or Japanese and the channels I’ve found are rather small. But having said that, I’d say that there have been more and more channels popping up lately of people trying to teach Portuguese and share content. RTP and podcasts are goldmines for learners. Good luck to everyone learning this wonderful language 🇵🇹

[@sundarsanth4645]

6:41 😮q❤

[@andrew1575]

I just got back from two weeks in Povoa de Varzim, down as far as Coimbra, and as far north as Viana do Castelo. I've been learning Portuguese for about 8 years now and I did hear quite a few compliments about how good my Portuguese sounded. I guess I've still got some scars from starting on Duolingo, as one guy said I had a Brazilian accent. Must have been quite the thing to hear: Brazilian Portuguese/ Canadian English accent while speaking European Portuguese. One thing I noticed was that once I started speaking Portuguese, the person with whom I was speaking would just go off and I'd have to reel em back in with a "mais uma vez e lentemente, por favor" and they'd slow it down for me. Then one time, someone told me in heavily-accented English that they were impressed with my Portuguese. Then I was the one going off on them, except in English, and my fiancee whose first language is Portuguese, told me I had to slow down. I like to think I gave a little bit of their own medicine back to them that day 😝

[@TalktheStreets]

hahaha its true, we don't realise we do this ourselves in English!!

[@emilyhorch]

Excellent points, especially about not needing a massive vocabulary to communicate effectively. If it helps us Portuguese learners feel better, this same thing DOES exist in both Spanish and Italian, depending on where you are. I learned Italian in Florence but then spent a lot of time in Venice. Having my dog with me, Italians often ask "How old is he". In Florence, this is "Quanti anni ha?" In Venice, it (at first) baffled me when people would say what sounded like "Kwanta?" Same deal with Spanish, where I went from Mexico (much clearer to my ears) to the south of Spain. "Hola buenas días" became "'b'nas', "Buen fin de semana" to "b'nfinde" and so on. Pretty much cut most of the word out and you've got what they speak in Andalucia. So let's take heart, fellow learners, Portuguese doesn't have it in for us - every language does it, though admittedly European Portuguese may be the ninja master of the disappearing letters! (And thanks Liz for your great videos. 🙂)

[@TalktheStreets]

Great insights, thank you Emily!

[@patfromamboy]

I’ve been studying Portuguese for 9.5 years and I’ve visited Brasil 18 times but I still can’t read or converse. I practice every day with my girlfriend who only speaks Portuguese but after practicing every day for 6.5 years I still can’t understand her. I have to translate everything into English to understand.

[@voronaizlissabona]

Great tips, thank you

[@ashwinreddy6702]

Thanks for the tip to practice active listening. I have access to short clips with translations so I'll be doing just that!

[@TalktheStreets]

Amazing!

[@americovink2102]

This method helped me so much. Muito obrigada!

[@sarahnd]

Very good suggestion to listen to a short stretch of language over and over, jotting down what you can understand. 👍 This really helps you "own" the phrases, rather than having them just whiz by..

[@TalktheStreets]

Absolutely!

[@paulgoebertp]

you make a lot of sense.

[@ivanxyz1]

I learned to speak Mandarin, English, and German fluently. Now I am learning European Portuguese. I can say with absolute certainty that reading Portuguese is very easy and understanding spoken Portuguese is impossible.

[@zulkiflijamil4033]

Bom dia, Liz. I am trying to start learning Português. At the moment, I am studying the 7 tips to instantly improve your Portuguese Pronunciation, the pdf which you had produced. I sincerely hope to learn Portuguese using your channel. Obrigado. 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇

[@davidstoeckl6439]

I noticed the Brigad quite frequently while in Portugal last summer. I figured it was the Portuguese equivalent to Thanks.

[@tommelling8177]

Really good vid as usual!

[@TalktheStreets]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@PD55_]

Great insights, it helps soften learning frustrations when you have the correct expectations about real world usage and know how to adjust your practice.

[@TalktheStreets]

Absolutely! Glad this video helped you!

[@julesyoung6571]

Loved this one, actually perfect ideas for where I am at. Things are just starting to click and I can feel my hard working paying off, especially after a month in Lisbon practicing. Not sure which medium is going to tick the box for me though at the moment. I'm doing one to ones but could do with something extra to push me, possibly cartoons.

[@TalktheStreets]

Awesome, glad you liked it! Have you tried my free lesson for beginners? the link is in the description :)

[@lariwoo3938]

Excelente vídeo, great explanation and tips! Obrigada!

[@TalktheStreets]

De nada!

[@davesylvia1162]

Very well said Liz. All of the points you made are true, especially listening to material where you get 60% and you can fill in the rest of the 40% on your own! Thank you, again!

[@TalktheStreets]

Yes! Thank you!

[@dusk6159]

Very correct and useful video This is a great one even if one doesn't have difficulties

[@TalktheStreets]

Glad you think so!

[@joerussell6021]

Hi, just found you. My son lives in Alentejo and I'm hoping to move out next year. Your way of teaching is brill. I'm on the first 1.😁

[@TalktheStreets]

Hey! That's so exciting! Welcome to the channel 🌟

[@takssista]

I'm Portuguese and I just learned something I do I hadn't noticed I did.

[@ariesrising7257]

Absolutely!

[@areal1853]

Yes!

[@jessbrown1719]

YES!!

[@Whispers227]

Hi brilliant videos and very helpful. I was wondering if you could consider doing a video on job interviews and common phrases to use or that are asked. My spoken Portuguese is quite good but a lose it when dealing with officialdom and they way things are phrased. Still not stopping me looking for a job though :) Thanks

[@TalktheStreets]

Great idea, thanks!

[@yvonneoverfield3264]

Yes

[@jula444]

hey Liz, love your videos so much thank you🫶 do you have any recommendation for language learning apps?

[@TalktheStreets]

Thank you 💛 Yes of course! Check this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pna5hX-fe9-ki7M

[@susana.amaral]

I think it depends of the person that's it's speaking. Sometimes we cut other times we dont. Sometimes I can say "Estou bem obrigada", sometimes I say "Tou bem, brigada". The second version isn't properly correct, we should use the first one, but it's accepted because we understand

[@user-mu4gr3jv8e]

I love your channel. It's extremely helpful. I am at about a B1 level in Brazilian Portuguese, but, since I am going to Portugal and not Brazil, I am trying to improve my understanding of spoken European Portuguese, which is difficult. I have heard Brazilian native speakers say that European Portuguese sounds like a drunk Russian and I think that pretty much nails it IMHO. I watch RTP for 30-60 mins/day which helps a bit, although I still miss a lot. The Cape Verdean dialect is a bit easier since it's sort of a blend. There is a lot of streaming content for Brazilian Portuguese but very little for European. I don't know if there are others among your subscribers that are experiencing this problem, but I am sure I'm not unique. I am concerned that when I get there, they will be able to understand me but not vice-versa.

[@TalktheStreets]

So glad you like it! Yes, they can be quite different - check this video for more about this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qn66YZ6IZ9Z4g5osi=FOBa02c0KbpqMReg There's definitely a lot more content for BR PT than EU PT but it's slowly changing! I have tips on my channel on how you can get find EU PT resources, I hope it's helpful :)

[@lowbudgetcontent8858]

You can tell your Brazilian friends their Portuguese sounds drunk to us too :)

[@kiradarcie]

Oh yes!

[@PaddyIrishman]

- [00:28](kzbin.info/www/bejne/gYSnkGaohqp3f9E) 🇵🇹 Portuguese sounds different from its written form, with dropped vowels and syllables. Don't expect them to match. - [02:26](kzbin.info/www/bejne/gYSnkGaohqp3f9E) 🎧 Listening to audio that is slightly beyond your current level of comprehension (about 60% understanding) can help you improve your language skills. - [04:11](kzbin.info/www/bejne/gYSnkGaohqp3f9E) 📚 Active listening, focusing on shorter bursts of content and identifying keywords, is more effective for improving listening skills. - [05:33](kzbin.info/www/bejne/gYSnkGaohqp3f9E) 📜 Repeatedly practicing with the most frequent words in Portuguese can significantly enhance your ability to understand spoken Portuguese. - [06:28](kzbin.info/www/bejne/gYSnkGaohqp3f9E) 📝 You don't need an extensive vocabulary to understand everyday Portuguese; focusing on a few hundred frequent words is sufficient for basic comprehension.

[@HanhNguyen-hk6kg]

Lingopie is great for this...they caption Portuguese shows (albeit not enough Euro Portuguese) in English and Portuguese (at the same time) with the ability to slow down, click on words or translation and stop after every sentence).

[@vixvapour]

If you find yourself at the crossroad where Portuguese YT for learners is not challenging enough, I find 5 minutos de vinhos and the podcasts from Fumacao (I've only listened to 1 series so far)really helpful. Both instances they have presenters who speak extremely clearly with an easy to understand accent. The great thing about Fumacao is that they offer a transcript on their website! So they are perfect 'native' podcasts for learners! Another tip my teacher gave me recently is to stop watching Brazillian and Spanish programs (or watch them in English), because that's going to cause a lot of confusion with European Portuguese. Just because I now understand 60-70% of all 3 doesn't mean it's useful for learning 😭

[@andreasohn2738]

vixvapour, could you please tell me the website you' r talking about. Could not find it searching "Fumacao"

[@Exfonte]

Then you travel to Santiago up north (Spain) and boom, boMM dia but graSHia. Driving back home to Aveiro confused.

[@vickimuhammad4762]

Yessss

[@qaiserrazabajwa6167]

❤❤❤

[@patfromamboy]

I’ve been studying Portuguese for almost 9 years now and I’ve visited Brazil 18 times but I still can’t read or converse yet and I have to translate everything into English to understand. I practice every day with my girlfriend who only speaks Portuguese and we’ve been practicing for over 5.5 years now but I still can’t understand her without translating everything into English. It’s extremely frustrating.

[@Lucifelson]

I've studied Portuguese about 10 years but I can't get a movie 😢 or even talking it

[@stuarthowarth2972]

I am learning, I do struggle to comprehend when my girlfriend is in speaking in Portuguese.

[@andreasohn2738]

my listening skills are very poor, although my Portuguese is not bad (I learn with an Brazilian teacher, but I try to understand european Portuguese) I can' t find any of those short and easy spoken texts mentioned by you on the www. Any suggestions?

[@jassdeeppremium7132]

Yes mommy

[@rickchandler2570]

I can read/write and understand most spoken portuguese, but I have problems speaking. Takes too long because I have to decide which word to use, translate or decide what formality to use. Can you do a video on how to get from having to translate in your head to thinking in portuguese?

[@TalktheStreets]

Such a common issue! The truth is, the only way to combat this is to 100% immerse yourself in Portuguese, reading, listening constantly, so you do begin to think in Portuguese. This is difficult as people usually go "in and out". Starting to use it more at home will help.

[@ColinSmith2001]

For me there was a whole bunch of phases of improvement. - To start with I was "writing an email" in my head, with the full response worked, out the vocabulary sorted, the grammar and word order set out and checked and rechecked, before I started to speak. That just gets things off to a difficult start. - After that my head had worked out a few "cheats", on how to phrase things in a way that avoided grammar and constructions that were too complicated, so i coudl often do soem replies quicker. - Then I started to trust that "it would all work out" more, and started speaking my reply before I knew exactly what I would say, with my brain (just) able to keep ahead and fill in words and verb tenses when they came to be needed. I was living in Portugal and focused on trying to speak "correctly" then. - After that i was only back to visit and I just relaxed and went much more freestyle, not overly worried if it was 100% accurate, but keeping a flow going - if you speak without a pause, even just to throw in an "eh pa nao sei" while you are still thinking, and then run through a whole sentence, mumbling any hard verb forms, and then maybe repeat the answer in different words to expand on it, people start to not really notice the bits that are bad and start to claim you speak very well! ;-)

[@rickchandler2570]

@@TalktheStreets Thanks Liz, we’re moving to Portugal in Sept and I’m hoping that will be the key to it. That’s what my tutor says anyways.

[@rickchandler2570]

@@ColinSmith2001 Thanks for the reply, that’s some interesting things to consider. I’ve often heard people allow the perfect to imped the good. I think that’s my problem. I just need to speak and not worry about making mistakes. I may try that on my next tutoring session.

[@ColinSmith2001]

@@rickchandler2570 My lessons were 1 to 1, and based on "tell me about your day" conversation, only in Portuguese, where I had to find a way to explain somehow, no matter how mangled it was. Then the teacher fixed it, we wrote it down, and I practiced reading aloud what i should have said. It worked quite well for that stage, where I was learning "correct" forms and maybe is where you focus if you are living and working in Portugal. Once I was a visitor speaking to friends I just decided to just be the foreign guy with "interesting" Portuguese, playing with literal translations of English phrases and using Portuguese verbs in ways locals don't, on purpose. Then throw in some subjunctive when they are not expecting it ;-) But yeah, just having fun and not worrying too much - however bad your phrasing there's more chance of people understanding it than if you say nothing, while trying to work out how to be perfect.

[@miahurri8303]

Hey, does anyone know like a children show here in KZbin in Portuguese? My first instinct was to go to the local library to loan some easy read books, but the schedules have not been compatible with my work.

[@Abi-kk4nl]

I found portuguese spongebob

[@PlanetImo]

That's it - I'm only learning sylable time languages from now on! (jk)

[@ruimartins5976]

"Estou bem, obrigada." Desde quando??? É mais "IA, tá -se." 😂

[@BlackMountainDreamer]

So, the Portuguese have basically decided to implement a spoken language that bears no relationship to the actual written language. Got it. It is, in fact, the most impossible language to learn on earth. Imagine if I wrote: the dog is a good boy, but said “blah blah blah blah banana oatmeal toads and peonies” but what I said is supposed to mean “the dog is a good boy.” How can anyone ever understand anything if they’re literally making it up as they go and there’s no consistency? Also, when in Portugal, I noticed native speakers who didn’t know the Portuguese word for lots of things. How can a native speaker not know common nouns in their own language? No wonder I had such an easy time in Italy with my limited Spanish and can’t communicate or understand anything in Portugal. I bought the course but haven’t found the emotional strength to start. The success stories are inspiring! 🎉

[@RandomBloke007]

Hardly the most difficult language to learn haha And you will find that many Portuguese speakers will just replace a word they don't know with "coisa," "troço" or "treco." We do this in English as well (i.e. thing or thingy).

[@RandomBloke007]

@@realspear 😄 love that

[@sledgehog1]

You're blowing it completely out of proportion...

[@linkspyder]

One small tip for turists visiting portugal: when saying "thank you" in "native language"...just don't say "gracias"; to portuguese people, it's like a punch in the stomach....

[@patfromamboy]

I never understand 60% of anything. It’s more like 5% and I have to translate it into English to understand.

[@ciprianoneves7246]

Porque a mairioria de portugueses falam BROKEN Portugues e comem metade das palavras…..e isso o porque. Queres mais explicacoes?

[@sundarsanth4645]

Stile I don't spick porchuki