Five reasons why you should learn Portuguese

You might be thinking; why learn Portuguese? As a language that comes from a small European country of just over 10 million people, can there really be that many benefits to taking the trouble to learn this Latin language? The answer is definitely yes!

 

Portuguese is so much more than Portugal. In fact, learning it could be a great opportunity for you!

 

Speaking Portuguese will not only enlighten new linguistic horizons, but also touristic and professional ones…

 

From its popularity to the fact that it is used in many different parts of the world, let’s discover the 5 reasons that should push anyone to start learning Portuguese.

 

Instead of learning French, Spanish, German or Italian, let’s tackle the Vasco da Gama language and find out why you should learn Portuguese.

 

1. Portuguese is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.

 

Portuguese culture is strong.

 

Portugal is full of traditional festivals such as Viana do Castelo, Tomar, Campo Maior or Festa da Flor.

 

Although Portugal is much smaller than many other countries, its language can be found far and wide.

 

In fact, Portuguese is an official language in 9 countries on 4 continents.

 

What might surprise you even more is that it is the 7th most spoken language in the world, with an estimated 220 million native speakers.

 

Therefore, learning Portuguese for travel is a great idea, and one that might even open doors for you along the way!

 

2. Travel to Portugal

 

Once you’ve learned conjugation, grammar and pronunciation, you can travel to Portugal and improve your language level while conversing with the locals. Learning this second language in the country itself will allow you to learn new phrases in every conversation you have with a native speaker, while deciphering the different dialects that can be found in the country.

 

A trip to the land of Magellan can quickly be remembered as an unforgettable trip that you will want to repeat again and again.

 

The sun, which shines 300 days a year, will convince even the most reluctant.

 

The advantage of this trip is that in addition to exploring the culture, savoring the cuisine and enjoying the history of this 800-year-old country, you will be able to learn to speak Portuguese and perhaps one day even master the language used in São Paulo. If you want to learn Brazilian Portuguese, you should remember that it differs from the European version.

 

3. Travel to Africa

 

In Africa, several countries use Portuguese as the language of choice.

 

In fact, as former Portuguese colonies, the African continent is home to several countries that have Portuguese as their official language.

 

Angola, the most politically and economically stable of these, is the most sought after by travelers wishing to study the language.

 

But, don’t forget, for those of you who are a bit more adventurous, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Cape Verde and Sao Tome and Principe are all places where the local populations use Portuguese and its patois version to communicate.

 

4. Travel to Latin America

 

What about the Brazilian job market and its promising trends?

In Latin America, another popular Portuguese-speaking destination is Brazil (the largest Portuguese-speaking nation in the world with over 200 million speakers) which will appeal to beginner, intermediate and advanced Portuguese speakers.

 

As a former Portuguese colony until 1822, Brazil has since reinvented the language of Pedro Alvares Cabral, the man widely credited with being the first European to arrive in Brazil, to create its own version. Some even go so far as to learn Brazilian Portuguese to integrate more easily into Brazilian culture. Você fala português?

 

Brazilian Portuguese differs from the European version both in the vocabulary and in the expressions used, but above all in the pronunciation of the language.

 

Anyone who has previously studied European Portuguese will need a short time to adapt to the new way of speaking, especially considering that the Portuguese pronunciation of certain words changes depending on where you are in Brazil.

 

5. Discover a musical language

 

In 2011, UNESCO named Fado to its list of Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Of all the Latin languages, the Portuguese accent is perhaps one of the most identifiable. Considered a great difficulty for students, the Portuguese language is distinguished from French and Spanish by the tonic accent, which we also find with Italian.

 

This distinction into tonic and atonic (stifled) syllables, as well as the presence of open, closed and nasal vowels scares the learner into mispronouncing words.

 

However, sounding like you are singing is a hallmark of speaking Portuguese.

 

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