im in too deep to quit now, but did I fuck up and fall for a meme when i picked portuguese as my first langauge to learn as an american?
im in too deep to quit now, but did I fuck up and fall for a meme when i picked portuguese as my first langauge to learn as an american?
Why would anyone waste their time learning a language when they know American?
>Why would anyone waste their time learning a language when they know American?
Well, an American could learn English.
Portuguese speakers statistically speak less English than most more popular euro languages.
It has a lot of utility if you're actually planning on spending time in one of the countries/interacting with natives. Compared to something like German where basically anyone you'll interact with already speaks English
tf are you on about. Portugal has pretty amazing English literacy in Europe. Brazil is another story.
As much as it pains me to admit, this is true.
t. Portuguese
The Spanish proficiency is low at best and even the ones who do speak English are awful at it.
>Portuguese speakers statistically speak less English than most more popular euro languages.
lol every millenial and zoomer is fluent in english.
Gen X is "ok" in english and proficient in French.
Not to mention we all can comprehend Spanish, Italian and French without much training.
its almost never taught in american schools. even at university level its rare. so if you do actually learn it you will be one of only a couple hundred thousand (at best) americans who are native english speakers and fluent portuguese speakers. that's probably enough to make you hirable when you otherwise wouldn't be for some jobs.
otoh there are tens of millions of americans who native level at both english and spanish...its not a scarce skill. french and german are a bit rarer, but still are taught pretty commonly at high schools and universities.
It just depends on the person and if they have a use or connection to a language
Let me guess - you looked at the map, saw Brazil, and thought "whoah this thing is big, surely they have a lot of potential and will become a relevant, developed, country with infinite business opportunities for a soon fluent in Portuguese guy like me any day now!!!1!".
why are brazilians so depressive and cynical all the time?
You should get Spanish. Once you learn it it would be way easier to learn Portuguese. Also, Spanish is a lingua franca.
t. Brazilian
if you already speak english there's no real need for another lingua franca.
fwiw if you speak english and portuguese you will be able to generally communicate in all of southern africa except madagascar (which isn't really southern africa).
>you will be able to generally communicate in all of southern africa
Eh... You have to admit - this can't really be called a killer selling point.
>its a travel board
>everyone's afraid to travel anywhere that's not ninety-eight percent white or has cheap hookers
Redddditard thinks there are
98% white countries
Iceland
Poland
Austria comes close as well
There are plenty around the 98% mark, if you take the time to google them
Wrong, like you list Austria when half of Vienna is foreign, most browns and blacks
Dunno, seems fine to me
The thing is, all the point of Africa is the safari. Not the people. The places you stay, people will speak English because part of the job is to protect typical tourists.
>You should get Spanish. Once you learn it it would be way easier to learn Portuguese. Also, Spanish is a lingua franca.
>t. Brazilian
>As much as it pains me to admit, this is true.
>t. Portuguese
Is this really true? Is it best to learn Spanish first, then Portuguese, or is any Romance language fine?
portuguese speakers have a much easier time with spanish than spanish speakers do with portuguese.
portuguese is actually pretty bewildering and not at all like spanish when spoken, though they are like eighty percent similar in writing. it gets memed for being an easy language by things like the FSI estimates and how easy it is to pick up reading and writing, but like french (though not quite to the same extent as french) its actually a difficult language for speaking and listening comprehension.
for an english speaker its no better or worse than spanish or french, just depends on your situation. if you speak english there is very limited use for another lingua franca aside from maaaaybe arabic.
If you can choose for available Romance ones go for French. It is also a lingua franca (less than Spanish) and it is the toughest one in terms of phonetics. But the grammar rules are basically the same for all. Plus, for an English speaker it is easier - thanks to William the Conqueror.
>t. B2 French
>If you can choose for available Romance ones go for French.
I have already been studying French for a few weeks, and at this point sunk cost fallacy has kicked in and I’m going to have to get to at least conversational level before I can rest
It is not a sunken cost at all. French helps with formal English.
portuguese is pretty ugly and muddled in my opinion and the only conversations it unlocks are with 1. brazilians (violent country I would never visit) or 2. ninety year old portuguese lazy boomers that languidly mope around and eat fish all day.
Neither group interests me to talk to.
portugal is an amazing country to visit
its not perfect but outside of the main cities its very comfy
No language is a waste of time. Learning languages is good for the brain, and most anywhere you can talk to someone in their native language rather than making them speak English it will be well received (there may be some exceptions but they are rare).
The only reason I would call it a regrettable choice is if you hate Brazil and/or Portugal… hope you really like Mozambique or Angola, or want a job with the government in Timor-Leste (because nobody else actually speaks Portuguese there).
In my own experience as a speaker of basic Portuguese who visits Portugal a lot, they love it in Portugal, and the above poster is right that a lot of Portuguese people are pretty bad at English. I’ve only worked with Brazilians in other countries, but they seem to enjoy it as well (never been to Brazil).
not really you can easily transfer it into Spanish and have a diverse set of climates that you can travel too across the World.
Yeah you fell for a meme. Spanish is much more useful. Well, at least there are 2 countries you can go to and use your portugese.
Brazil is the most relevant non-English speaking country outside of Europe that speaks a European language. Portugal is great. I have heard the Azores and Cape Verde compare pretty favorably to French Polynesia and Hawaii. Sao Tome has a lot of potential one day, you never know. You can make a lot of money in Angola if you want. Mozambique is probably Southern Africa's most interesting country overall. It would be a neat party trick to speak Portuguese in Goa, East Timor, Macao, Swaziland, etc.
Overall its seriously underrated. The Lusophone world stretches a lot further than the Spanish speaking one, and to a few more interesting places. Brazil alone would be worth it, but you get a lot more.
If there's a Portuguese country you'd like to travel to frequently and make a connection with locals, it's a fine idea. Learning an extra niche language can be extra rewarding as the locals will be even more surprised and welcoming compared to traveling to Mexico or Spain and expecting them to be impressed you know conversational Spanish.
But if you don't actually plan to travel to Portuguese countries for the rest of your life, stop now.