Oi! Tudo bem com você?
Vamos começar o fim de semana (let’s start the weekend) com este vídeo sobre o alfabeto em português (with this video about the alphabet in Portuguese). Lembre-se de (Remember to) sempre repetir as palavras (repeat the words) para praticar a pronúncia (to practice the pronunciation), ok?
Dá uma olhada! (Check it out!)
If you’re reading this post in your e-mail click here to watch the video.
Olá, tudo bem com você?
Let’s kick off this Wednesday with a pronunciation video about the sound NH in Portuguese. It’s kind of difficult for English speakers to pronounce it but with practice you’ll be able to do it!
The key to mastering difficult sounds is to listen to them many times then trying to pronounce them. It’s not an easy task, I know, but practice leads to mastery, right?
So, check out the video and you can also download only the audio.
If you’re reading this post in your e-mail, click here to watch the video.
Hi, there! I’m Adir Ferreira, your new video blogger from Brazil.
We’re going to have one video every week and we kick things off by practicing the sound of the ending -ão in Portuguese. This sound gives English speakers a really hard time so I decided to make a video about it.
For the video I chose five very common words ending in -ão: mão (hand), mamão (papaya), pão (bread), não (no, not) and chão (ground, floor). I also provided some example sentences with the words ending in -ão so you can practice it.
Remember that we are only able to produce difficult sounds after listening to them many times, so watch the video, stop it, watch it again and you’ll see that it gets better every day.
Nos vemos em breve!
One thing that confuses a lot of people who are learning Portuguese, is when and how to use the letter “x,” as opposed to a ch, s, z, etc.
So I found this really fun “lesson,” online on the pronunciation of the “x” in Portuguese. First, there is a paragraph with a bunch of x’s – then they explain which is pronounced how and why (well, the why part sort of…)
Antes do EXAME, oferecem-lhe uma XÍCARA de chá, pois o EXCESSO de estudos o tinha DEIXADO em grande EXCITAÇÃO nervosa. Ele era um aluno EXEMPLAR, o que justifica o tratamento de EXCEÇÃO que recebeu dos professores.Depois de tranqüilizado, fez EXCELENTE EXAME e falou com propriedade sobre o NEXO EXISTENTE entre os traumas da primeira infância e o COMPLEXO de Édipo, inspirado na EXIGÊNCIA de uma educação SEXUAL dos pais e dos educadores. Obteve a nota MÁXIMA.
So when do you pronounce which “version” of the Portuguese “x” in the above paragraph?
“z” sound:
- exame
- exemplar
- existente
- exigência
What do all of these words have in common in relation to the x?
For the “z” sound in Portuguese, the x should be before and after a vowel, but the following vowels need to be followed by consonants. Exception: máxima, which is “s” sounding.
“s” sound:
- excesso
- exceção
- excelente
- excitação
What do all of these words have in common in relation to the x?
- xícara
- deixado
What do all of these words have in common in relation to the x?
For beginner and intermediate learners, it’s sometimes daunting to listen to Portuguese spoken at a normal pace in videos or in person. So we’re going to look at some sites where you can listen to Portuguese pronounced clearly and slowly to help you really learn how to speak.
1. Transparent – We have hundreds of flash cards for you to use, where you can read the word or phrase and listen to how it is pronounced. You can even make your own flash cards! If you haven’t seen it already, check it out now.
2. Forvo – One of the best known sites for how to pronounce words in Portuguese, as well as a number of other languages. Highly recommended!
3. Learn Portuguese Now – This YouTube channel has dozens of videos with simple text and pronunciation of Portuguese words and phrases. Very helpful!
4. Language Now – This YouTube channel has many useful videos for learning how to pronounce words in both Portuguese and Spanish.
5. Portuguese Tutor – Although this site requires payment to use on a long term basis, they allow you a free trial where you can translate words and phrases from English to Portuguese, and then listen to how they should be pronounced in Portuguese.
