Hi all,
I am Nathalie, I am from Belgium and I am living in Olhao (Algarve) for some years now. I really would like to be able to speak fluently portuguese and I am so happy to find this website/application. I struggled a lot, as most of you, to find a european portuguese course! In my work, everyone is speaking english and I have never really made so far the effort to learn properly the language. I just know the basics to survive but I become super stressed (and struggled to find my words) when I have to talk about a more serious subject. I really hope I will manage to achieve this goal as it is such a shame to be in this pretty country and not being able to communicate in the language of the country! Vamos ver…
Boa sorte to everyone 
Nathalie
Olá, @nmarquet Glad you found us! In the cities/regions with more English speakers, such as the Algarve, there’s not much pressure to learn Portuguese, as you’ve experienced. But I’m sure your effort will be appreciated by the locals and give you personal satisfaction as well. I hope PP can support you in your learning.
Olhao is a proper working Portuguese city and many still speak Portugues. They do appreciate someone who tries. Yes. there are some English residents mainly in the municipality, out of town, and most dont have a word of the language which I see as disrespectful.
So crack on with your Portuguese, Nathalie. If you are a French speaking Belgian you will have the advantage of a common structure and common verbs but on the downside pronounciation is the devil.
I am only a visitor three four times a year but PP has helped me reach a competance which I never thought possible
Hi Nathalie, PP is brilliant at helping with all the areas of learning Portuguese. I am a huge fan and use it everyday. In order to practice speaking more I meet in a chat group, the link can be found Via Facebook, European Portuguese Resource Sharing. You would be very welcome to join. We meet on Tuesday and Fridays at 5 pm for 40 mins ( zoom free session) We are all at different levels and you can participate as much or as little as you want. In some ways it is a self help group as none of us are Portuguese. There are a variety of topics each month, for example , tonight we practised reading from Público 2 articles about Beer. Sometimes we bring photos and talk about them. The programme is listed on the Facebook page. it is a friendly supportive group and not at all judging. It’s a good place to practice listening and formulating sentences quickly and just trying to speak. Hope to see you there. Maureen