What Portuguese sounds like to foreigners?

European Portuguese sounds like Spanish & French mixed together with a bit of Italian… and dark in sound. Brazilian Portuguese sounds like French & Spanish mixed… and as if someone was constantly pinching their nose while speaking.

Why does Brazilian Portuguese sound so different?

As Portugal is isolated geographically from the Mediterranean it makes sense that linguistic memetic flow continued more readily among the other proto-Romance speaking countries during the Renaissance, leaving Portuguese to evolve more-or-less on its own. Thus, it sounds different from the other Romance languages.

Is Brazilian Portuguese very different?

Pronunciation is one of the main differences between the languages. Brazilians speak vowels longer and wider, while Portuguese pronounce the words with a more closed mouth, without pronouncing the vowels as much. The pronunciation of some consonants is also different, particularly the S at the end of a word.

Is Brazilian Portuguese more conservative?

Brazilian Portuguese has, in some aspects, a more conservative phonology, but that varies a lot depending on the dialect, as some are more innovative than others. Brazilian dialects, for example, have much less vowel reduction than the European ones (weakening, mutating, and dropping unstressed vowels).

Should I learn European or Brazilian Portuguese?

There are many pros to learning both variations of Portuguese as the language continues to grow in both the business and pop culture worlds. However, we recommend you start with Brazilian Portuguese first since many language-learners say its easier to learn than European Portuguese.

How does Portuguese sound like?

Portuguese is a language that is unfamiliar to many people. To the untrained ear, Portuguese may sound a lot like Spanish; however, one of the aspects that sets Portuguese apart from Spanish is the sound of the language itself—the accent and the way words are pronounced. Portuguese is a beautiful language with a rich and dynamic history.

What is the difference between English and Brazilian Portuguese words?

In words like dente (tooth), frente (in front of), quente (hot), the te makes the sound of the English “tch”: dentch, frentch, quentch. The pronunciation of accent-less Brazilian Portuguese vowels has a more closed sound than their English counterparts, which has a very open sound in comparison.

Does Brazilian Portuguese have accents?

One of the great things about Brazilian Portuguese is that, like all Romance languages (Portuguese, Spanish, French and Italian), it has accents.

Is the Portuguese language similar to Spanish?

To the untrained ear, Portuguese may sound a lot like Spanish; however, one of the aspects that sets Portuguese apart from Spanish is the sound of the language itself—the accent and the pronunciation of the words. On a whole, Portuguese tends to have a naturally more nasally sound.