I’d agree with most people here that it’s understanding what people tell you. I have an online portuguese chat buddy and boy does he speak fast and eats half of the vowels!
But, since I don’t live in Portugal, I have the luxury to say that that’s the beauty and challenge of european portuguese, since my life is not depending on what people tell me. I love how they eat the vowels and the way they speak. It gives the language so much character!
We can moan all we want, I do my fair share as well, but the day we manage to understand what people say will be magical, exactly because it’s so hard to reach that level!
My goodness I love Portuguese!
Now, where was I? Oh, portuguese radio! Need to clock in those listening hours! 