Portuguese for Dummies
Chapter One
You Already Know
a Little Portuguese!
In This Chapter
* Recognizing what English and Portuguese have in common
* Spell it out: Saying the alphabet
* Looking at vowels and consonants: Basic Portuguese sounds
* Listening for regional variations in accent
Believe it or not, the Portuguese language comes in different versions.
Pronunciation of Brazilian Portuguese and Portuguese from Portugal,
say, is totally different. Some Brazilian tourists in Portugal report that they
didn't understand a word! I think it's a little more of a stretch than the differences
between American and British English, just to give you an idea. But if a
group of people from Texas, South Africa, and Scotland got together, they'd
probably scratch their heads when trying to understand each other, too!
Written Portuguese, on the other hand, is very standard, especially when it's
in a newspaper or some formal publication that doesn't use slang. A Brazilian
can understand a Portuguese newspaper or read the works of Portugal's
Nobe ... read full excerpt from Portuguese For Dummies ebook
