Hi Darren. Castro Verde is what I would call a “real” Portuguese town. It has everything needed for everyday life. You certainly need some Portuguese but like everywhere in Portugal somebody speaks some English or with the older folk a switch into French often works.
I once stayed in the Manor House in the hamlet of Conceicao, 20 kms from Castro Verde. I remember going to the Associação Recreativa, Desportiva e Cultural da Conceição…a bar where the owner had left the keys for me. Now that was a linguistic challenge but as the only Englishman in town the Barman didnt have much trouble knowing what I had come for !
In those days my little Portuguese was Brazilian and appalling. That visit spurred me on to learn more…then I found PP and everyday I get better…I love the positive reaction of locals when I use my growing abilities even though I know that much of what I say is “strangled”
I wish you well with your learning.
Cumprimentos
Mac
Bem-vindo, Darren
How very strange to see your post today. As it happens we went to Beja for the first time yesterday and of course we drove past Castro Verde. Living in the Algarve, we struggle to find people to speak Portuguese with as everyone wants to practice their English with you, (as Joseph mentions) so it was a delight to go to another region and find ourselves immersed in the Portuguese language - even the lady in the museum in Beja offered us the choice of speaking in English or Portuguese as she explained the history of the region.
You have found the right site for developing your Portuguese as there are all manner of resources you can dip into to enhance your Portuguese classes or you can choose to follow a more systematic approach… the site is very flexible allowing you to learn the way that best suits you.
Good luck with your studies.
Bom dia, It’s been almost 5 years now i am living in Portugal. All of my portuguese friends and colleagues speaks English so never really took time and effort to learn this beautiful language. I can greet and start conversations but then always lost of words to continue. Now i have to take A2 exam for citizenship but i can only take evening classes after work which are usually 3 to 4 hours. I can not manage that with my kid so thought to give it try by learning through online resources. Then i found PP and i really like it. Hopefully i will manage to pass my exam with help of PP.
Just an update on my previous post. My husband and I have retired and moved from Canada to Portugal 3 weeks ago. We live in Bensafrim, which is still in Lagos, but is far enough from central Lagos and small enough that most people here are native Portuguese and speak very little English. So I am able to practice my Portuguese! We are excited to be here, and now I have even more incentive to improve my Portuguese!
That’s great news, @pauladwg. Welcome to Portugal!
Also, welcome to the forum, @Savi87 
Hope your A2 exam goes well. This thread may be interesting for you, since other members share their tips and experiences: CIPLE Exam, Anyone?
Olá, chamo-se Tasha. Eu mudei para Lisboa há oito meses. Estou a apprender porque meu namorado é meio Português e quero falar com os locals. Eu nunca apprendo uma lingua antes então é muito dificíl. Eu tenho duas au trés aulas toda semana com minha professoras mas I gosto practice Portugues por minha independente estudar. Muito prazer conhecer vocês.
Hi, my name is Tasha. I moved to Lisbon eight months ago. I’m learning because my boyfriend is half Portuguese and I want to be able to talk with the locals and his family. I have never learnt a language before so it’s very difficult. I have two or three lessons every week with my teachers but I like Portuguese practice for my independent study. It’s a pleasure to meet you
Olá, @tashamjones89, e parabéns pela mensagem escrita em português! A mensagem estava clara, mas corrigi algumas coisas a negrito para ficar ainda melhor. Boa sorte com a tua aprendizagem 
Olá Joseph, estou feliz meu mensagam fui claro e muito obrigda pelo correçõs!
Hoping to move to Portugal sometime.
Hi everyone. I am retired and have lived in Portugal for 2 years, moved three times and currently living in Fátima. Not much English spoken around here, but my landlord and landlady speak good French, as do many others, which helps a lot.
The local civil servants are the most challenging for a mutual understanding, but we are noticing that we have finally developed “the ear” and are picking up odd words which help us to work out what they are trying to say to us. Luckily one of the first things I learnt on PP was how to ask them to speak more slowly. I use this a lot. I went to have my vaccination recently and had to use it then! I also had to explain I had lost my appointment card and the lady understood me! You have no idea how joyful I was with that small victory!
I find my pronunciation is a real problem and have difficulty in being understood. Currently I am working on stopping myself from pronouncing “u” as “you” rather than “oo”. It is great that PP has so many resources to help in this, which is why I have just renewed my annual subscription. Keep up the good work.
Great question Joseph! Regarding my story, I stumbled upon European Portuguese last year during the lockdowns. I wanted to learn a second language and I had lots of time on my hand. My first choice was German but I lost interest. Then, I tried Dutch but I lost interest. After Dutch, I attempted Japanese and was consistent with it for awhile, until I heard several songs in European Portuguese and I just fell in love.
European Portuguese is the most enchanting language I ever heard. My goal is to get to a B2 level proficiency by the end of next year. I’m moving to Portugal next year where I’ll live and work as an English teacher. From there, I’ll achieve fluency in European Portuguese and add it to my repertoire of languages.
Welcome, @wknauenburg, and thanks for the interesting story! If you’d like to share some of that special music you heard, here’s a good thread for that: What is the best European Portuguese music?
It’s even gotten its own Spotify playlist: Practice Portuguese - Playlist
Hello, again Joseph. I actually started listening to Disney songs in different languages before I found European Portuguese. I’m a huge Disney fan. In fact, I created a playlist of European Portuguese Disney songs. To the best of my knowledge, it’s the most comprehensive playlist of Disney songs in a single foreign language with over 200 songs. Here’s the link
I also found and saved another playlist of Portuguese pop songs. Here’s the link to that one.
Feel free to share with others. Gozar a música!
Ahhh! That’s great. And what a thorough playlist 
Hi everyone! My husband of almost 20 years was born in Caldas da Rainha and moved to the US when he was 3. We plan to move back to Caldas in 2023. I know some words and phrases over the years, but never learned properly. It’s time (and a bit overdue!) to learn.
Olá. My mother spoke with an Açores accent and my father had a perfect Lisboa accent. In-laws criticized my mother’s accent so she never spoke to me in Portuguese. 
I am 72, and I am learning Portuguese as I prepare to move to Portugal to see out my retirement years.
Olá, @cyndeegeoff! Too bad your mother didn’t get to share her roots with you. In any case, the Azorean accents can indeed be quite challenging, compared to most accents in mainland Portugal. Best of luck with your retirement plans in Portugal, by the way.
I am an American and I recently renovated a house in Calheta. I want to learn the language so I can communicate with the local people in their language as well as eventually, I wish to retire there.
I absolutely loving this app 
I found this site because every free site teaches Brazilian Portugues.
My dad moved over a few years ago and every time I get the chance I fly over. (No thanks to Covid 
) so I really want to be able to have a conversation with locals because I see them daily when I fly over because it’s a small village.
I struggle with the pronunciation for some things but I’ll keep trying. This is the first language i have learned as an adult.
Hey,
Just thought I’d throw my story into the mix.
I’m a Scotsman living in London & are married to a Portuguese lady from Vila Nova de Famalicão
So of course, my wife and being able to communicate with her family is my main motivation. And depending on how life pans out, we may move to Portugual one day (or back to Portugal in my wifes case!)
Learning Portoguese also provides open more options for my career, and is useful gateway for other Romance languages.
I’m little wary of straying into politics, but post-Brexit I’m fortunate enough to have the future option of Portuguse citizenship (and regaining my EU freedom of movement). The language test required for this is an additional motivator