If you need help with your pronunciation, sign up for the Free Pronunciation Training I’m teaching this Friday, January 28th.
Click here to sign up for free.
Would you like to speak Portuguese like a native speaker?
In this lesson, you will learn two simple tips that will help you speak with a Brazilian accent: word reduction and word linking.
Word Reduction
We call reduction the natural process of suppressing the pronunciation of certain letters in spoken language. For example:
- Você – cê (you)
- Está – tá (it/she/he is)
- Estou – tô (I am)
- Estamos – tamos – tamo (we are)
- Estão – tão (they are)
- – Onde você está? – Ond cê tá? (-Where are you?)
- – Você está com fome? – Cê tá cum fome? (-Are you hungry?)
- – Eu estou morrendo de fome. – Eu tô morrendi fome. (-I’m starving.)
- – Vamos sair para comer? – Vamo saí pra comê? (-Shall we go out to eat?)
- – Onde você quer ir? – Ond cê qué í? (-Where would you like to go?)
Word Linking
We call linking the natural process of connecting one word to another within a sentence. For example:
- Todo o mundo – todumundo (Everybody)
- Gosto de ir à praia – gosto dirà praia (I like to go to the beach.)
- Casas amarelas – casasamerelas (Yellow houses)
- Todos os dias – todosos dias (Every day)
- Vou comprar um carro. – Vou comprarum carro. (I’m going to buy a car.)
- Eles vão vender a casa. – Eles vão vendera casa. (They will sell the house.)
Don’t forget to watch the video to learn how to pronounce all these words.
Since we are talking about accents, you need to know that there are many different accents in Brazil. Our country is huge, and every state or city has a different accent. There is no right or wrong accent, and no accent is better than another. There is also no standard accent.
I recommend that you don’t worry about learning an accent, because you will learn it naturally. You will probably pick up the accent of your teacher, your friends, the people you talk to in Portuguese.
I also recommend that you don’t expect to speak like a Brazilian without any foreign accent. Honestly, this is unrealistic and not important. Everyone has an accent, whether in their mother tongue or a foreign language.
Of course, it’s important to have a good pronunciation of Portuguese in order to communicate well. If you pronounce words too differently, people may not understand what you say.
If you need help with your pronunciation, sign up for my free Pronunciation Training I’m teaching this Friday. Click here to sign up for free.
Now it’s homework time! Did you already know how to use word reduction and linking in Portuguese? What other examples do you know? Leave a comment below with your answer.
New Classes Starting in February!
Would you like to learn Portuguese with me and my team? My next premium courses start the first week of February. Registration will be open from the 22nd to the 29th of January.
Click here to see the courses we offer at Speaking Brazilian School.
Até a próxima!
Your teacher,
Virginia
