If you know Spanish, learning Portuguese is really great! You get a ton of vocabulary and grammatical structures for free, which you can use very soon after learning some basics on the pronunciation. (If you have not heard much Portuguese yet, you may try just reading some text first, to start appreciating the similarities)... but it is not all easy: since the languages are so similar, it is very easy to get confused where they do differ. It can be really tricky to separate them (to have an idea on the types of differences you can have a look here (written in Spanish)).
Because of that, it is very useful for Spanish speakers to learn through a program especially for them, focusing on speeding up on the similarities and giving you a lot of practice on the differences. This is exactly what you can find at Tá Falado, an excellent resource including podcast lessons and notes put up by the University of Texas Language Technology Center... and it is all free too. Definitely worth a try for the Spanish speakers.
A final note before you start: I find from observing myself and my students that the hard part is not to understand what the differences are. The real challenge is to remember them when you are speaking. So don't just read the notes at Tá Falado and consider yourself done: really practice each lesson extensively so that it becames part of your speech.
Because of that, it is very useful for Spanish speakers to learn through a program especially for them, focusing on speeding up on the similarities and giving you a lot of practice on the differences. This is exactly what you can find at Tá Falado, an excellent resource including podcast lessons and notes put up by the University of Texas Language Technology Center... and it is all free too. Definitely worth a try for the Spanish speakers.
A final note before you start: I find from observing myself and my students that the hard part is not to understand what the differences are. The real challenge is to remember them when you are speaking. So don't just read the notes at Tá Falado and consider yourself done: really practice each lesson extensively so that it becames part of your speech.
As I already have a good knowledge of Spanish, this website will help my Spanish AND Portuguese improve simultaneously. Is the site updated frequently? So far, I really like what I see. I am learning Portuguese through books that I have bought and through a website called livemocha.com, so it's great to get some pointers on pronunciation and grammar. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteOi Jeff!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comments! I am glad that you find the blog helpful. I probably will have more tips for Spanish speakers/ students from time to time as many of my students are earning Portuguese after getting a basis in Spanish (a great idea! :-). I plan to be updating the blog regularly (something like or twice once a week on average). Thank you for the visit!
Portuguese and Spanish are very, very close brother languages - very similar grammar, 90% similar vocabulary, and very similar structure. Educated speakers of both can speak to each other effortlessly in their own language and understand each other almost perfectly.
ReplyDeletei found your blog just from browsing the internet but i think your post are very useful. i'm taking portuguese in santa barbara & the website from university of texas is great. thanks a lot!
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