Gordon: I am approaching the end of the third of five levels of the Duolingo course in Portuguese, so I should have some ability to understand simple things that are said to me in Portuguese, right? Not a bit of it. I can read most things, and make simple requests in Portuguese, but I still struggle to understand anything said to me in the language. It probably doesn’t help that I am studying Brazilian Portuguese, which differs in pronunciation and vocabulary from European Portuguese, but the real problem is that I just can’t catch the articulation of the words. The sound of vowels changes depending upon whether or not they are in an accented or unaccented syllable. If one word ends with a vowel and the next one begins with one, one of the vowels will just disappear in the spoken language. And then there is the “shushing” sound if a word ends in “s”, giving Portuguese a Slavic sound at times.
Not that Duolingo has not been useful. For instance, today it presented me with the following sentence to translate into English: “Você é tão quente que acho que você é a verdadeira causa do aquecimento global.” I was able to provide the correct translation: “You are so hot that I believe you are the true cause of global warming.” Flattering and topical. I have committed it to memory and hope to have an opportunity to use it soon.
We put our bikes back together this morning (we have the process down to 45 minutes) and cycled through the premier tourist site of Sete Cidades. This is a collection of communities and farms, as well as several large lakes, set within a large caldera. From our small town of Várzea we cycled up to the edge of the crater, then followed the knife edge rim for half of its circumference, before dropping down to the floor of the caldera. Later we visited the pretty seaside town of Mosteiros. It was another day with more that 1000 metres of climbing, giving us license to eat as much pastry as we want. What’s more, Ruth says she is losing her fear of cycling in mountainous areas. Worth the price of the trip all on its own.
*What did she say?
I applaud you even trying to learn Portugese.
I too like to be able to at least try to order a meal in the local language when I travel.
living in France in the 1990s finally got my French up to a functional level.
frequent short work trips to Italy got me to the point where I can get a receipt at the toll booth, order a coffee and get a hotel toom.
over the pandemic I have been tackling spanish – quite enthusiastically – figuring it’ll take me a lot more places than any other language, (certainly portuguese).
but the Azores have been on my radar screen (and this blog has cemented that desire.)
but when I go I am unlikely to have any portugese at all.
how much of a handicap do you think having zero local language skill would be in the Azores?
Peter you will have no trouble whatsoever. There is lots of English spoken and when there isn’t people are great and there is Google translate.