Hi Joseph, we went to Sao Miguel and visited the villages where my great-grandparenrs came from (not the other islands). Then we ended up going to Lisbon for a night, and Spain for a couple of days, because the pilots for TAP went on strike - very interesting with a group of 18 people aged 1 to 81!
1 Like
Typical 
They seem to go on strike often, but there’s probably good reason for that. Anyway, maybe you’ll get to visit other islands next time.
1 Like
Olá a todos. My husband and I hope to move to Lisboa sometime next year, hopefully after the viral pandemic has subsided, and join the “digital nomad” community. We already have an apartment that we’re currently renting out (to another American, ironically) and would not dream of living in another country without at least TRYING to be proficient at the language. My husband speaks French and I used to speak pretty good Spanish so between the two of us, we will hopefully make it work. We have really enjoyed getting to know the country and the welcoming people, yet there is SO much more to explore. Hope to speak (Portuguese, of course) with some of you in person some day. We love this website and cannot believe how much time you all must dedicate to keep the content fresh. Great work!
4 Likes
Ah, this should really help you both. I smiled at “used to speak”, though Thank you for your kind words!
2 Likes
My wife and I need to find some where to retire to and because the cost of housing in the UK meant we couldn’t buy a house in an area we’d like to live in we started to look abroad.
As my wife had been on holiday many time to the Algarve we looked at Portuguese property.
We took the plunge in 2007 and have holidayed at our house since then.
We retired last year and so are living here full time.
As we live in a village outside Leiria learning the language was vital as English is not widely spoken anywhere in our locality.
The mistake I made was to begin learning Portuguese from books. I found that many hours of book study over the years have left me with a reasonable ability to read Portuguese (although I struggle with who did want and when!) but my comprehension and speaking ability are poor.
That’s why I signed up for PP because of its emphasis on listening and speaking. I find the chance to test pronunciation very helpful indeed. As are the bite sized stories with the quiz, and all the other information.
I too like so many struggle to recall the words needed when holding a conversation…if only life had a pause button!
Thank you for this great resource at an affordable price. Hopefully in a couple of years I’ll be at A2 standard!
4 Likes
Have you tried the new flash cards Steve? I am finding them an excellent way of making me construct a randomphrase or sentence then effectively test myself
2 Likes
Hi, no I haven’t tried them. I didn’t know there were flash cards. I will track them down and give it a go. Thanks.
1 Like
Well, I planned to retire in Portugal. My subscription started quite early(last year) since I have only been in the country for four months. Whoever said the Portuguese people would appreciate all attempts to speak their language were right. I find most people are encouraging and complimentary, even though I’m sure I butcher the language. Locals never tire of hearing that you like living in their country. Here in the North knowing some basics helps me get through my daily routine. The younger generation knows some or a lot of English, but the older folks like me do not.
Brian F. (the American who wants to change our reputation)
2 Likes
You will find them at Learn/Smart Review/etc.
Mac
1 Like
Obrigado pelo teu apoio, Andy! Great to have you on board 
1 Like
Glad you stumbled across them and are enjoying them, Mac! This is one of my personal favourite things we have launched in a long time, and I have been using them for my own studies for weeks now. I wish we had added that a long time ago, but of course, our list is long and it’s always a challenge prioritizing everything we want to do. 
28 years ago I was an Australian living in Canada. I met a Portuguese/Canadian girl. All going ok at that stage and then I met her old man (Pai). He looks a bit like Fidel Castro without the facial hair and a bit shorter. Before I even shake his hand he mumbles “A nossa casa falamos Portugues, se ele quer comer ou beber, diga para ele aprender Portugues” or something to that effect. And so my journey began. We tried to speak Portuguese to the kids but they ended up speaking some mongrel Aussie/Portuguese mix of weird words and European Portuguese is rare in Australia whilst Brazzos (affectionate term for Brasileiros) are common. After 4 trips to Portugal to meet family, friends and explore the worlds best waves that my Sogro told me about, I thought it is about time to make more effort to join in conversation with everyone there. Also my daughter has just spent 6 months last year working at a surf camp and plans to go back when international travel resumes. Hopefully very soon
2 Likes
Way to be introduced to the family That’s a great story.
Boa tarde! Hi everyone, I have been learning Portuguese for a few weeks now. 
I am quite far away from saying anything properly just yet, but I am enjoying the learning process (at least I can say that I can only speak a little bit of Portuguese now in the language ha). I tried Duolingo first and then Memrise, but apart from Duolingo only teaching Brazilian Portuguese, I found I wasn’t really learning much. I love this page, as I am actually making progress and have a proper course to follow, with options to review and listen etc.
I am German, but have been living in Ireland for nearly three years now. I lived in Australia, Canada and New Zealand before. I’ve been wanting to move for a while and had a few criteria, and Portugal ticked all my boxes. So I am currently looking for jobs in Lisbon and hoping to move there in September or October. This is my main reason for learning the language, however, I’ve been wanting to learn another language for a while now and somehow I really enjoy learning the European Portuguese. I’ve started to listen to musicians like Carolina Deslandes and Tiago Bettencourt, and just love how much feeling is in those songs. And in general I just enjoy exploring new cultures…
Glad to be part of this community now 
2 Likes
Olá, @Christine , e bem-vinda
We have a (very long) topic full of Portuguese music recommendations you might want to check out: What is the best European Portuguese music?
It even has its own dedicated Spotify playlist, thanks to @Molly: Practice Portuguese: The Official Soundtrack - Spotify
I also really like Tiago Bettencourt’s music in general. Deslandes also writes some beautiful stuff.
3 Likes
Obrigada @Joseph, that’s great, I’ll have a look!
2 Likes
I grew up in Zimbabwe, but my paternal grandfather was from a village called Ançã in the Coimbra region of Portugal. Unfortunately, he passed away when my father was a teenager and my father never learned the language. I have tried to learn four other times, but I have never gotten as far as I have this time!
Anyway, last year I started a new job and one of my colleagues is from Porto. He kindly told me that I was saying my surname (Carregosa) wrong and he intended to get me to say it the right way! I was slightly embarrassed so earlier this year I decided it was time to find a course, and stumbled across the podcast, which led me to the Practice Portuguese website. When lockdown was imminent, I decided to finally commit and sign up for the course. Fingers crossed fifth time lucky!
2 Likes
Fingers crossed, @HC247. All that’s left is for you to visit Ançã some day (if you haven’t already)
1 Like
@Joseph, I’ve been before as a child. Hopefully some day I will go back
2 Likes
Hello,
My name is Wojtek. I am from Poland. I’ve started to learn Brazilian Portuguese many years ago. I was a student and tried to have a goal for the holidays. I had Italian at university, so I understand how the Latin language “works”. I aprendei sozinho and I used audios so I spoke the basics quite good . Then, I had a break for years and I have bought a ticket to Porto. I fell in love with this city and country and sons de Portugues europeu. I decided to refresh my knowledge using apps and finished semester of pt at language school. The discover of the site providing materials so para aprender Portugues Europeu is a huge thing for me: slight_smile:
Greetings for everybody;)
1 Like