RE: Portuguese in Portugal - oosh! How necessary is comfort with the language?

Portugal is great. A special flavor to the medieval. Its the cheapest place to visit. Carrage museum in Lisbon.

People ask if I speak English. I say,"I'm from Texas, but I do my best."

My experience coincides with the forgoing. The Portuguese speak much better english than the Spanish. In my opinion this is due to the not dubbing of foreign pictures, but using subtitles. On top I have the idea that many spanish children find it funny speaking a foreign "tongue" and try to avoid it. It gets better though.

I sure learned ;ots more Spanish, wathing dvd movies. We can run it back for a "huh?"

didn't help my typing.

Watch movies w/ subtitles and switch later.

European dvd have "extra features" like how movie was made or stories by director etc.

Hey thanks, everyone for your timely, informative responses! I feel better about our Portuguese travels now. We've always been polite, made-the-effort-to-learn-some-of-the-language travelers, and I have found that it's usually well received although so sadly inadequate And I totally agree with the fantasy element of ever connecting with locals without language mastery.

I appreciate you all sharing your thoughts -- thank you!

Yes, the Portuguese may find it more offensive if you speak to them in Spanish vs English.

Like Canadians, they want to be recognized as different from their larger neighbor. But the people are very friendly and easy going, plus most young people speak excellent (American) English--far easier to understand than the British.

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