Learn words similar to English

maidentales · Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 6:19 pm Post subject: Learn words similar to English

I'm in a very Portuguese speaking area and my best way to communicate is to learn words that 'sound' similar to the English version or (if you did it at school) French:

requirer: require
tu: informal for 'you'
aviso: advice

If you look for the English equivalent (ok, so it's a bit more complicated than that) you can start to get the hang of the language in very simples terms.

It is a beginning and from there, once you get the gist of it, you start to understand more and more all the time.

We now get invited to family 'do's' by our neighbours who farm our land and I can get across very simple Portuguese and understand their words having been here only 10 months.

Listen - and watch what they do and you can pretty much pick up the meaning.

katian · Joined: 14 Sep 2008 Posts: 74

Until I read your tip I didn't realise how many words were similar to English/French equivalents.

Just quickly learnt 250 plus new words by imagining either something British or something French and relating it to the word, eg: imagined a bulldog sniffing a flower so I will remember that the Portuguese is similar to the English equivalent.

A top tip - thank you.

flower

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digger · Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 4:34 pm Post subject:

Many times I've thought about compiling a list of pt (latin) words that are just a variation of the english we know ... but never got around to it.

education : educação
communication : comunicação
etc

university : universidade
property : propriedade
etc

student : estudante
school : escola
etc

haha
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digger · Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 4:45 pm Post subject:

BTW maidentales

some words like:-

aviso: advice

are used, normally, in a different context ...

aviso, more often than not, is a warning, a notification and not the helpful suggestion kind of advice.
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lobito · Joined: 17 Jul 2008 Posts: 2218

tivinho · Joined: 10 Jan 2009 Posts: 850 Location: Porto

I would say comparing words on the basis of sounding alike would be wrong because a word that is similarly written will be pronounced differently. I guess you are talking more about words that are similarly regardless of how they are pronounced.

I spend half my time making up words when I have to guess what a word might be, knowing it might be similar to English. I get some funny looks from people. Laughing

SteveJ · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 659 Location: The UK (still!!)

Victoria1st · Joined: 20 Oct 2009 Posts: 644 Location: Central Algarve

Although I was born in South Wales, I was first educated in French Canada and then Long Island, NY State/Connecticut and when I went to a convent school in the UK I took French but then in further schooling it was not allowed so since age 11 I have not spoken French.

However, I can see the French and the English in the Portuguese language ... even simple things like the chemist/pharmacy/farmácia ... anyone could figure what that one is.

There are many, many of these examples here if one only looks at the word ... but yes, I wholeheartedly agree, pronunciation is different and that is what you have to learn.
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digger · Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 6:37 pm Post subject:

lobito · Joined: 17 Jul 2008 Posts: 2218

Yes, of course, you are right.

I'm not sure it is a good idea, as there are so many words that are slightly off. I keep getting Portuguese, French and English mixed up, especially when I'm tired and can't quite remember the word that I'm looking for. Using the wrong one (like fiscal for inspector) doesn't help much.

**Jill** · Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 4:38 pm Post subject:

Doesn't always work - scene at Portuguese speaking pharmacy...

Tourist, miming having a cold, pharmacist [sympatheticly] "Ahh, constipado?" tourist [indignantly,& embarassed] "No! I have a cold"

I'm not sure they ever got the correct medication! Laughing

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SteveJ · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 659 Location: The UK (still!!)

And I was surprised when the farmacêutica gave me some anti-gripe to help with my flu symptoms. I hadn't had gripe for many a year.

Steve

monty · Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 10:53 am Post subject:

I started my portuguese by viewing web sites, found "before you know it". Very helpful, free for the basics, advanced level would be paid for. You hear, repeat, type your answers to help with the reading, writing and speaking. Recommend it!. Now I improve everytime we are out there and I can hold a conversation with locals although it takes some careful listening.
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