Switching to European Portuguese

After 5 lessons of the Brazilian Portuguese program, I started to become concerned that Brazilian and European Portuguese might be different - more so than American and British English. I decided to do a little internet research to find out what the general consensus was of the differences. Since I am going to Portugal and not Brazil, I want to make sure that I will not only be able to speak and be understood, but be able to understand what Portuguese speakers are saying to me.

Strangely enough, the most helpful resource I ended up finding was Yahoo Answers. Normally, I don't really pay too much attention to this site. However, as I was reading it, I realized that it was primarily a conversation between native Portuguese and Brazilian speakers. While a few stated that they felt like there wasn't a huge difference, the general consensus was very clear. They are quite different and while those in Portugal would understand Brazilian Portuguese because they have been so exposed to it through TV and movies, those from Brazil tend to have difficulty understanding European Portuguese. What is the point of speaking and being understood if I won't be able to understand what is spoken back to me in response?

For this reason, I decided to stop the Brazilian Portuguese program and buy the slightly more expensive European Portuguese program. This version is still Pimsleur, but was not included in the $9.95 list of languages. I found it on Amazon for $34.95. The great thing about this more expensive program is that it includes basic reading lessons. There is a small reading booklet that came with the Audio CDs, so that I can start to see how the words are written out starting on lesson 2 of 10.

I was excited that the box was sitting on my doorstep as I left for work today. I opened it up immediately and popped it in the CD player. Within 1 minute, I realized that it was a VERY good thing I ordered the European version. As with the last program, it started with a conversation between and man and woman in Portuguese. While I understood what was being said, some keys words and pronunciations were very different. "Excuse me" and "understand" were completely different words. They weren't even close to the ones I had learned already. The word "English" was also pronounced differently with a "aish" sound out the end rather than "ase". They also leave out the word for "I" as in "I understand" or "I speak".

Thankfully, I was still able to pick up the new words and phrases easily since I had already learned several of them. However, the previous words and pronunciations still popped into my head first. I'm hoping within a few lessons, that will go away and I can just retain the European Portuguese phrases and vocabulary. I'm still excited to start learning again and am happy that what I am learning will truly help me in Portugal.

Only 4 months and 3 days to go!