I am constantly scrounging YouTube for videos of people speaking European Portuguese. And today I stumbled across this video from Larissa Teófilo; she’s Brazilian and has a Portuguese boyfriend, and she tries here to speak with his accent (skip to 7:11):
You can see him correct her frequently, and yet she’s a native speaker of Portuguese. Sim, o português dela é o português do Brasil. But still!
For me this was a fantastic reminder that I can’t expect to sound like a native speaker. I have more important things to worry about right now. Basic vocabulary. Basic grammar.
Do yourself a favor and stop sweating the small stuff like your accent, especially if it’s preventing you from getting out there and speaking – you know, using the language.
I agree completely. I speak the language (what little I know) VERY SLOWLY. They will just have to put up with it. This business of sounding like a “native” and swallowing words like a kitchen drain does not cut it for beginners!!
Hah, to be fair, I would have a hard time mimicking the Northern Portuguese accent too! But I’m bad with accents in general. It’s already good that she seems to understand him effortlessly. Some Brazilians who are not very exposed to European Portuguese sometimes think we’re speaking some kind of alien language But yes, no reason not to keep using the language, with or without an accent. People really don’t need to be too hard on themselves.
Portuguese folk seem to be very forgiving towards foreigners who try to speak the language with varying degrees of success. Although many will switch to English, they genuinely seem to appreciate your efforts… Unlike a certain country in Europe where you’ll get ignored if your accent isn’t perfect! LOL
Accents are a lot of fun. America has all kinds of accents. The most common being the North and the South. But Texas has its own accent, and to imitate them all is something I thoroughly enjoy. They like it too!
With my Scandinavian “Mother-tongue,” I can easily do some of the dialects there. The coastal and the Capital accents are perhaps the furthest apart, but they are a joy to mimic and I always enjoy that and the natives also appreciate someone who can be a little “like them!”
But yes, no reason not to keep using the language, with or without an accent. People really don’t need to be too hard on themselves.
