Which one to learn, European Portuguese or Brazilian Portuguese?

Question

I am now ready to register for my portuguese class...but I got a dilemma here, although not a big one. See, I have 2 choices in front of me..European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese..no joke, the school does have one course for each of them, which is kinda unusual. So I am now weighing which one is more popular, or more useful nowadays...can you guy give me some opinions?

Answer 1

Brazil has a larger population than Portugal, so statistically your more inclined to have a Brazilian Portugese conversation than a European one.

Also, as an American you are more likely to use Brazilian Portugese because of greater trade relations with the US. Brazil is a huge trading partner of the US. Also Brazil belongs to reigonal trading trading organizaions with the US, like the Organization of Ameican states. They are also hashing out a free trade deal with the US and other south american states.

Finally, are you most likely to visit the exciting streets of Rio de Jenero or or the boring streets of Lisbon. Nuff said.

Answer 2

I agree completely with SunkenShip. He makes a very good point. If you plan on entering the business field then you would likely want to consider Brazilian Portuguese. They have a much larger population than Portugal which means more consumers. More importantly I believe that the Brazilian economy is a lot stronger than Portuguese economy right now and plus the U.S. does a lot more trade with Brazil. However, learning for reasons of academia I'd say your better off with European Portuguese. By learning Brazilian Portuguese you will probably find a lot of "grammatical errors" in comparison to old Portuguese literature and the modern dialects spoken in Portugal, Africa, and Asia. For example: The most common way to say I love you in Brazilian Portuguese is "Eu te amo". However, many would then argue that they should not use this form because the direct object "te" goes along with the regular pronoun "Tu" which means "you". The crazy thing about it is that "Tu" is rarely ever even used in modern B.P. Most speakers prefer to use the word "voce" instead. The direct object that goes along with "voce" is "o" (or "a" depending on whether you're talking to a male or female). So in reality a Brazilian should actually say "Eu o amo" (said to a male) or "Eu a amo" (if said to a female). Yet, you will never hear any Brazilian talking like that nowadays. Because modern Brazilian Portuguese has become very informal and has dismissed many of the rules found in European Portuguese understanding grammar in B.P. is quite a bit harder than E.P. in my opinion. So like I said if learning for reasons concerning academia I'd say go with E.P. As confusing as my explanation was I hope I was able to help you somewhat. If you have any more questions you can e-mail me. Boa sorte (Good luck)

Answer 3

Brazilian Portuguese is only spoken in Brazil of course but if you travel to Portugal or other countries they can understand you and Brazil business is more widely open to other countries than Portugal The only difference between the two languages are slang and accent. It's like comparing American English and British English.
The countries that speak European Portuguese are: Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Macao, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritius.

I would choose Brazilian Portuguese. The sound of it is like speaking singing. Your teacher probably would be some Brazilian which would make your class more fun and interesting to learn.

Answer 4

I'd say Brazilian Portuguese, easier on the tongue, sounds much nicer, more useful and if you ever plan on visiting Brasil, definitely Brazilian Portuguese....now if you plan on going to Europe, Portugal or South Africa, then I'd say European Portuguese, although they can understand each other....Good Luck in whichever one you choose....Although I as a Brazilian am biased, I cannot tell a lie.....the language in Brazil is absolutely beautiful, I was born there, but spent my whole life in the United States, my portuguese is a little rough...but I love to listen to the Brasilian Portuguese, its like a song....

Answer 5

If you are going to take only one course it does not matter. I you want to continue it is worthwhile to look at the whole Portuguese language offer to see which goes the farthest.
Personally I would prefer Brazilian Portuguese, just because of the sheer number of speakers. Also it is "sweeter" to the ear.

Answer 6

It depends on with who you expect to speak it mostly, Brazilians or Portuguese? Which ones are you more likely to talk to? Do companies in your area do a lot of business with either country? Or are there many immigrants in the area from either country? Are you planning to go to one of these countries?

It all depends on how you expect to use it. I wouldn't worry too much, there isn't that much of a difference between them, so you'd still be able to talk to both those nations with whichever you learn, there will just be some small differences.

Answer 7

Brazilian Portuguese. It's more widely spoken than it's European version. Thus, you have more chances of using it.

Answer 8

brazil is a cooler country. Theres not much going on for portugal.. tho i love the country.. i would not recommend it as a vacation spot to anyone. They are very old fasion .. kind boring...
Brazil is great. Its got everything.

if you have time.. why dont you research both countries

good luck

Answer 9

european Portuguese...take that...

Answer 10

Brazillian protegues sounds more better, and yo if you in europe holla out to my mexican spaniards, peace