Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
If you speak intermediate Spanish, you'll be able to stumble through newspapers and
read road signs, even if you can't pronounce the words. (Accent marks are keys to pro-
nunciation, but nothing more.)
Surprisingly, English speakers do much better speaking Portuguese than the Spanish
do, because we have roughly the same amount of vowel sounds. Spoken Portuguese
sounds like a mix of a Slavic language and Spanish. If you want to take a Portuguese lan-
guage course before your trip here, make sure your professor is Portuguese, not Brazili-
an—the accents are very distinct.
If you're having trouble communicating in Portuguese, try English, French, and Span-
ish, in that order (because some locals give Spanish speakers the cold shoulder). The Por-
tuguese do, however, speak more English than their Spanish neighbors, since English is
required in school. (Their American movies are also subtitled, while the Spanish get their
Hollywood flicks dubbed.)
Considering how fun it is to eat local dishes, the food phrase list in this topic is par-
ticularly helpful (see “Typical Portuguese Foods” on
here
). Use it, and you'll eat much
better than the average tourist.
