ThePortForum.com

¿We drink the drink, but who amongst us speaks Portuguese the language? ¿And how well? Not I, for sure.

I can get around. Loads of basics learnt from a How to speak Portuguese tape and a few visits.
Not getting taxi's and going off the beaten track is fun if you can have limited communication. It was quite evident the locals responded to your clumsy efforts.

Porto (whilst pointing at a particular bottle behind a bar)
Obrigado



Above is the full list of Portuguese words I use when visiting Portugal.

I can get by in a few languages - but Portuguese is not (yet) one of them.

Derek,

What else could possibly matter except, where is the bathroom?

I can order food in a restaurant and ask for basic directions and usually understand the responsse and maybe a few phrases here and there. It would be great to learn and I am decent with languages, but Portuguese pronunciation is difficult and far moreso than Spanish, French and Italian.

I can understand German conversations, get by in French, sound good in Italian and get beer in Spanish. Portuguese is a nightmare combination of near-Spanish words spoken in a Polish accent - I'm useless. The only thing that is worse is Dutch where I can be convinced to buy the World's worst sparkling wine because of a conversation between three Dutchmen - more on that story later.

I speak basic Portuguese, I can order food and have some basic conversations about wine and vineyards, but that's about it.

I refuse to take any blame in the 'Tasmanian Sparkler Affair'.

Ahh...the 'TSA'. Almost as big of a joke as the U.S.'s. What a bead, though; what a bead.

My girlfriend is Brazilian... I have her do my bidding...

I can name food, motorsport & football players; that's about it with few swears mixed in...