Moving to Portugal with teens: The Ultimate Relocation Guide

Prepping with Spanish

Long before Lisbon, I strategized. Joined expat Facebook groups. Devoured city info. Safety. Schools. Vibes. My mental map grew. Remember I told you about the control freak planner I was here? Next on the agenda was language. I chose Duolingo. Spanish, to start off ambitiously. Leaderboards fueled me. I thought, Portuguese? How different would it be? Like Urdu and Hindi. Easy.
Wrong. So wrong.

Portuguese’s Secret Code

While Spanish felt melodic. Learning European Portuguese was too intimidating. Shushing consonants and throat-whispered sounds. Felt like a secret code spoken too quickly.
I chickened out. My Spanish ego won. I thought English and some Spanish would suffice. Mispronounced Bom Dias loomed.

Esam’s Gentle Push

My voice of reason, spoke the truth I was shying away from. Embrace the new home fully, he said. Not just pastels de nata. Language is key. Learning European Portuguese is integration. Portuguese kindness enabled my laziness. They’d switch to English and even apologize for it! Heartwarming and embarrassing as if bridging the language gap was upon them and not me. So I had to try again.

Brazilian Blunder

Back to Duolingo and diligent practice. Then, came a bombshell: I’ve been learning Brazilian Portuguese! Desculpe?! Pronunciations differed and vocabulary too. My learning European Portuguese quest hit a snag. Gutted, but Memrise came to the rescue. European Portuguese courses. Slow progress. I still panic when a salesperson speaks past bom dia. But I’m trying.

The Language of Gestures

Now, I speak the language of gestures. Smiles. Frowns. Thumbs-ups. Mispronounced Bom Dias and Obrigadas stumble out. Humbling but real.
Each attempt says, I see you, Portugal. I respect you. Please know that I am trying and failing, not failing to try.

Learning European Portuguese is belonging. Step by step.
What’s your funniest language mishap or learning tip? Share your story in the comments below—it means the world to us! Subscribe for more tales of learning European Portuguese and unscripted moments.