31 Weird & Funny Portuguese Phrases

Four friends sit on a sandy beach, laughing and enjoying each other's company. Two women and two men are dressed casually in striped shirts and jeans, with one man wearing a denim shirt. The background is bright and sunny, indicating a warm, cheerful day.

One of the most challenging (but also most fun) parts of learning a new language is learning the unique cultural expressions, idioms, and colloquialisms that are used in the language. Learning European Portuguese is no different: you’ll find lots and lots of unusual turns of phrase here. If you want to learn more, Practice Portuguese has at least two units that cover idioms and expressions at the B2 level. Vai Chatear o CamõesInstead of saying “leave me alone,” the Portuguese …

Read more

How to Actually Learn European Portuguese (Get Fluent — Don’t Just Play With Apps)

A woman wearing headphones smiles while looking at her laptop. She is sitting at a desk and taking notes in an open notebook, with shelves and plants in the background.

There isn’t one right way to learn European Portuguese. Some people start with grammar. Some throw themselves straight into immersion. Some sign up for an intensive course and grind it out until it sticks. Over the years, I’ve interviewed people who learned Portuguese by dating someone Portuguese, by binge-watching TV shows, by working through dusty old textbooks. They all got there. They all did it differently. So let’s get that out of the way first: there is no single correct …

Read more

Do You Need to Learn Portuguese to Live in Portugal?

Moving to a new country can be an exciting yet daunting experience, especially when there’s a language barrier. If you’re considering relocating to Portugal, you might be wondering if learning Portuguese is a necessity. In this article, we’ll explore the residency visa requirements and the day-to-day situations where knowing the language can make a difference. Residency Visa Requirements Good news! If you’re applying for visas such as the D7, Digital Nomad Visa, or the Golden Visa, you don’t need to …

Read more

From Cruise Ship Musician to Practice Portuguese Co-Founder – An Interview with Joel Rendall

Joel wearing a beige cap and green t-shirt is holding a baby dressed in white. The man is looking down and smiling at the baby, who is staring at the camera with a curious expression. They are indoors, with a shelf and a television in the background.

Practice Portuguese is one of the most comprehensive (and most popular) tools for learning European Portuguese. It’s something many people living in Portugal will be familiar with, but most people probably don’t know the story of how it came to be.  In this interview, I chat to Joel Rendall about how he came to live in Portugal, the difference between life here and life in Canada, and his personal tips for learning Portuguese.  Also worth mentioning: Practice Portuguese normally costs …

Read more

Books for Learning European Portuguese

A blurred image of a bookshelf filled with various colorful books. The books are arranged in multiple rows, and the focus is soft, making it difficult to distinguish individual titles or authors. The shelves appear to be packed with a variety of books.

These days, most people who are learning European Portuguese will want to do so via a course or an app. We all have our phones on us all the time, making it easy to study whenever we want, and, besides, most apps or websites offer a lot more functionality than a book.  That said, there’s a lot to be said for picking up a book — especially if you already have to sit in front of a computer for work. …

Read more

How Liz Sharma from Talk the Streets Fell in Love with Portugal

A woman in a green dress with a white floral pattern is sitting on a ledge, smiling, with a scenic view of a coastal city with white buildings and red rooftops in the background under a clear blue sky.

Liz Sharma spotted a need for more engaging content for people learning European Portuguese. She set up Talk The Streets, which has become one of the most popular YouTube channels, and later set up her own very popular course. Check out her 7 tips for sounding like a local and free lesson for beginners. In this interview, we discuss how she learned Portuguese and where she thinks language learners should focus when learning European Portuguese. James: You have been studying …

Read more

Mia Esmeriz On Learning Portuguese in 6 Months

A woman in a brown jacket, gray scarf, and beige pants stands on a foggy beach smiling at the camera. The background features a calm, overcast ocean. In the bottom right corner, there's a small logo with text that reads "Learn European Portuguese Online.

If you’ve spent any time looking for Portuguese-learning resources, you’ve probably already discovered one of the big frustrations: most of what’s out there is for Brazilian Portuguese, not European Portuguese. That’s exactly the gap that Mia Esmeriz has been filling since 2017. Through her website, YouTube channel, and a complete set of courses from A1 to B2, she’s helped thousands of students learn real, everyday European Portuguese—from pronunciation and listening skills to grammar and natural conversation. In this interview, Mia …

Read more