Spanish and Portuguese Are Basically the Same Right? Wrong.

I hate to admit it, but I got sucked into the lull of a false sense of security with learning Portuguese. I told myself- Britt, you know Spanish, so this should be easy. WRONG. Portuguese and Spanish are very similar in structure, and a lot of the words are similar, but I forgot that it’s also a completely different language. Some phrases look alike, but the pronunciation varies greatly. For example, in Portuguese the letter “r” can be pronounced as a “h” and “d” as a “j”. Also, Portuguese, so me, seems like a mix of French and Spanish. Maybe one day it will make learning French easier.

Seeing as I first applied to a Fulbright in Spain, a Spanish speaking country, I did not plan at first to be teaching in a Portuguese speaking country. It wasn’t until September that I found out I won the Fulbright Fellowship for Brazil, and then started practicing. I fumbled around with Duolingo, which is helpful that it gives the lessons in small chunks that are categorized. I honestly did not practice as much as I should have, and only realized in January that many library systems offer Rosetta Stone for free. Since then, I have been utilizing both programs, but I’m frustrated that both programs still focus on phrases like “she is cooking” and “This is my mom”. I’m probably going to look up some crucial travel phrases before I head out. 11 days of cramming Portuguese to go!