I've just came up with this text on the Portuguese language; it surprised me that apparently Portuguese is the third most spoken language in Canada after English and French (never heard of that; I've checked some figures on languages in Canada and this claim sounds strange).
Does anyone (a canadian perhaps) has an opinion on this, or new information?
What is Portuguese?
Like English, Greek, Farsi, and Sanskrit, Portuguese belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. A language family is a collective of languages with a common ancestor. Portuguese is a part of one of the widely distributed branches of that family, the Romance languages. These form a group of Indo-European languages birthed from Latin (Roma, Romanus, so Romance).
Portuguese is most closely related to Galician, spoken in Northwestern Spain, and then more distantly to Spanish, Catalan, Occitan (including Provençal), Sardinian, Italian, French, and, finally, Romanian, with which it shares the lowest number of similarities among all its closest relatives.
But Portuguese is more than just facts on a page, be they historical or grammatical. I hope these lessons will go a long way in showing you that and helping you to become a part of the Portuguese-speaking world.
Who Speaks Portuguese?
Over 200,000,000 people around the world claim Portuguese as their native language. To give you a better idea, around 120,000,000 speak French, 120,000,000 German, 130,000,000 Japanese, and about 70,000,000 Italian. Portuguese is the seventh most spoken language in the world today, behind English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Hindi, and Russian. Regionally, it is spoken not only in Portugal, but also Brazil (Brasil) in South America; Angola, Guiné-Bissau, Mozambique (Moçambique), Cape Verde (Cabo Verde), and São Tomé e Príncipe in Africa. It claims some Atlantic islands, notably the Azores (Açores) and Madeira, and is the language of some chief ports in the Orient, such as Macau in China and East Timor (Timor do Leste). It is the third most spoken language in Canada, after English and French. In the United States, in areas where Portuguese has become one of the more spoken minority languages, many schools and education centers have added it to their standard list of languages offered.
It might comfort you to know that the Portuguese-speaking (or Lusophone) world is often exposed to a higher rate of multiculturalism from outside sources, and thus has a higher rate of non-native bilingualism (a good example is Brazil, where English is widely spoken). So don't be afraid to speak to anyone, because if you want to learn, that's the only way to do it.
Spoken and Written Portuguese
Portuguese, like English, French, and Irish Gaelic, "suffers" from an orthography (or spelling system, from Gk. "correct writing/carving") that is often said to be historical. Historical spelling refers to an older written language whose spelling system does not match trends in the current spoken language. While wonderfully beautiful for the literary language and historical linguists reconstructing the origin and relation of words, it stands as yet another challenge for the beginning student.
Although Portuguese, especially Standard Brazilian, has done a reasonably good job of curbing this trend in the last century, written Portuguese is a far cry from a phonetic (or, really, phonemic) representation of the language.
To make matters more interesting, Portuguese speakers also differentiate between levels of formality, including the spoken and written word, more than do speakers of English, especially in the United States. More than contractions (are not > aren't) separates the level of language used, including word choice, verb conjugation, pronouns, and much more.
Choosing a Dialect
The majority of people accessing these lessons want to learn Brazilian Portuguese, a general term used to cover the standard language of Brazil. Many dialects differ within Brazil, and cities as reasonably close as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo on the south coast speak distinct dialects (I can hear a difference within the first few spoken words). However, Brazilian dialects on the whole remain more consistent than those of Portugal.
The sheer size and population of Brazil, coupled with the Mercosul trade agreement in South America, make Brazilian Portuguese essential for conducting business in the continent. As Brazil is far and away the world's largest and most populous Lusophone country, this is the dialect of choice for those looking to learn the Portuguese of business, of current events, and the Portuguese moving to the forefront of a changing world.
If, however, your interests lie in Europe, Africa, or the Portuguese crioulos of India and Asia, Standard European Portuguese offers a perfect starting point. This is the Portuguese of saudade, the fado, Vasco da Gama and the Lusiads. In many ways, European Portuguese represents both a more conservative and a more radical set of dialects.
Whichever standard you choose to call your own, you will want to learn something of the other as well. This is particularly true if you speak European Portuguese, since the preeminence and popularity of Brazilian keeps that variety in the limelight.
Using These Lessons
These lessons, immediately called lições to initiate the process of immersion, are both relatively traditional and somewhat unique in the presentation of the material. They are not as formal as many language lessons, and will often refuse to present everything to you at once in small vocabulary boxes. The format and approach are based on the author's own language-learning experience, and have received welcomed praise from around the world.
You will find new vocabulary scattered throughout the lições. Nouns are given in the form noun (gender) translation. After you learn about gender, it will be marked as a parenthetic abbreviation, masculine as (m.) and feminine as (f.). Verbs are cited in the infinitive (to ____) form, e.g. fazer to make, to do. Irregular verbs are marked and discussed in the lessons. Adjectives are given in the masculine singular, e.g. muito much, many. Explanations are typically marked with an asterisk (*). All other words are given in their invariable form, e.g. quando when. The above paragraph will make more sense to you as you learn the language.
Any differences between Brazilian and European Portuguese are noted in the text, usually in a casual and understandable manner (for example, "When speaking, Brazilians stick to você, so please do the same when learning Brazilian Portuguese" - from lesson 1).
I have made every effort to use bold blue to indicate either key grammatical terms or words and phrases written in the Portuguese language. Bold should catch your attention, but it represents something secondary (ex: helpful Latin words inherited into Portuguese and borrowed into English that lessen the language gap and the burden on your memory). Italics highlight English translations, as well as some helpful afterthoughts. Finally, I underline words for emphasis both in the original Portuguese and the English translations.
Contacting the Author
Please send any questions, comments, suggestions, or musings in Portuguese or English my way. This site generates a tremendous volume of mail, so I beg you for a little patience.
In hopes that you enjoy learning the language as much as I do helping you along the way, e adiante! and onward!
J. Rudder (Portuguese Online)
Does anyone (a canadian perhaps) has an opinion on this, or new information?
What is Portuguese?
Like English, Greek, Farsi, and Sanskrit, Portuguese belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. A language family is a collective of languages with a common ancestor. Portuguese is a part of one of the widely distributed branches of that family, the Romance languages. These form a group of Indo-European languages birthed from Latin (Roma, Romanus, so Romance).
Portuguese is most closely related to Galician, spoken in Northwestern Spain, and then more distantly to Spanish, Catalan, Occitan (including Provençal), Sardinian, Italian, French, and, finally, Romanian, with which it shares the lowest number of similarities among all its closest relatives.
But Portuguese is more than just facts on a page, be they historical or grammatical. I hope these lessons will go a long way in showing you that and helping you to become a part of the Portuguese-speaking world.
Who Speaks Portuguese?
Over 200,000,000 people around the world claim Portuguese as their native language. To give you a better idea, around 120,000,000 speak French, 120,000,000 German, 130,000,000 Japanese, and about 70,000,000 Italian. Portuguese is the seventh most spoken language in the world today, behind English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Hindi, and Russian. Regionally, it is spoken not only in Portugal, but also Brazil (Brasil) in South America; Angola, Guiné-Bissau, Mozambique (Moçambique), Cape Verde (Cabo Verde), and São Tomé e Príncipe in Africa. It claims some Atlantic islands, notably the Azores (Açores) and Madeira, and is the language of some chief ports in the Orient, such as Macau in China and East Timor (Timor do Leste). It is the third most spoken language in Canada, after English and French. In the United States, in areas where Portuguese has become one of the more spoken minority languages, many schools and education centers have added it to their standard list of languages offered.
It might comfort you to know that the Portuguese-speaking (or Lusophone) world is often exposed to a higher rate of multiculturalism from outside sources, and thus has a higher rate of non-native bilingualism (a good example is Brazil, where English is widely spoken). So don't be afraid to speak to anyone, because if you want to learn, that's the only way to do it.
Spoken and Written Portuguese
Portuguese, like English, French, and Irish Gaelic, "suffers" from an orthography (or spelling system, from Gk. "correct writing/carving") that is often said to be historical. Historical spelling refers to an older written language whose spelling system does not match trends in the current spoken language. While wonderfully beautiful for the literary language and historical linguists reconstructing the origin and relation of words, it stands as yet another challenge for the beginning student.
Although Portuguese, especially Standard Brazilian, has done a reasonably good job of curbing this trend in the last century, written Portuguese is a far cry from a phonetic (or, really, phonemic) representation of the language.
To make matters more interesting, Portuguese speakers also differentiate between levels of formality, including the spoken and written word, more than do speakers of English, especially in the United States. More than contractions (are not > aren't) separates the level of language used, including word choice, verb conjugation, pronouns, and much more.
Choosing a Dialect
The majority of people accessing these lessons want to learn Brazilian Portuguese, a general term used to cover the standard language of Brazil. Many dialects differ within Brazil, and cities as reasonably close as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo on the south coast speak distinct dialects (I can hear a difference within the first few spoken words). However, Brazilian dialects on the whole remain more consistent than those of Portugal.
The sheer size and population of Brazil, coupled with the Mercosul trade agreement in South America, make Brazilian Portuguese essential for conducting business in the continent. As Brazil is far and away the world's largest and most populous Lusophone country, this is the dialect of choice for those looking to learn the Portuguese of business, of current events, and the Portuguese moving to the forefront of a changing world.
If, however, your interests lie in Europe, Africa, or the Portuguese crioulos of India and Asia, Standard European Portuguese offers a perfect starting point. This is the Portuguese of saudade, the fado, Vasco da Gama and the Lusiads. In many ways, European Portuguese represents both a more conservative and a more radical set of dialects.
Whichever standard you choose to call your own, you will want to learn something of the other as well. This is particularly true if you speak European Portuguese, since the preeminence and popularity of Brazilian keeps that variety in the limelight.
Using These Lessons
These lessons, immediately called lições to initiate the process of immersion, are both relatively traditional and somewhat unique in the presentation of the material. They are not as formal as many language lessons, and will often refuse to present everything to you at once in small vocabulary boxes. The format and approach are based on the author's own language-learning experience, and have received welcomed praise from around the world.
You will find new vocabulary scattered throughout the lições. Nouns are given in the form noun (gender) translation. After you learn about gender, it will be marked as a parenthetic abbreviation, masculine as (m.) and feminine as (f.). Verbs are cited in the infinitive (to ____) form, e.g. fazer to make, to do. Irregular verbs are marked and discussed in the lessons. Adjectives are given in the masculine singular, e.g. muito much, many. Explanations are typically marked with an asterisk (*). All other words are given in their invariable form, e.g. quando when. The above paragraph will make more sense to you as you learn the language.
Any differences between Brazilian and European Portuguese are noted in the text, usually in a casual and understandable manner (for example, "When speaking, Brazilians stick to você, so please do the same when learning Brazilian Portuguese" - from lesson 1).
I have made every effort to use bold blue to indicate either key grammatical terms or words and phrases written in the Portuguese language. Bold should catch your attention, but it represents something secondary (ex: helpful Latin words inherited into Portuguese and borrowed into English that lessen the language gap and the burden on your memory). Italics highlight English translations, as well as some helpful afterthoughts. Finally, I underline words for emphasis both in the original Portuguese and the English translations.
Contacting the Author
Please send any questions, comments, suggestions, or musings in Portuguese or English my way. This site generates a tremendous volume of mail, so I beg you for a little patience.
In hopes that you enjoy learning the language as much as I do helping you along the way, e adiante! and onward!
J. Rudder (Portuguese Online)