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Since you intend to be mainly in Portuguese speaking areas, the latter language is probably your best bet. Galicia's language leans towards Portuguese, whereas the official language is Spanish, the similarities may be of better use to you.Mark2012 said:Would I be better served looking to improve my Spanish and rely on that, or learn Portuguese instead? I would try to work on both languages at the same time, but that might be overly ambitious!!!
I came home and bought the Rosetta Stone for Spanish.
Diogo92 said:Thinks that you should learn:
Obrigado > Thank You
Bom Dia > Good Morning
Boa Tarde > Good Afternoon (starting 12:00pm)
Boa Noite > Good Evening/Night (starting 18:00pm)
Por Favor > Please
Water > Água
I’m searching for > Procuro…
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Obrigado/a gender modified? Though no one will throw a fit about it (they're more likely to be happy you tried), you may get some curious smiles if you use the wrong gender.
When I walked the Portuguese last year I had little trouble communicating as you are more likely to find someone who speaks English in Portugal than you are in France/Spain. Also keep in mind that communication is not limited to speaking - hand gestures can get you a long way (well unless you intend to discuss philosophy or nuclear physics :wink: )
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Obrigado/a gender modified? Though no one will throw a fit about it (they're more likely to be happy you tried), you may get some curious smiles if you use the wrong gender.
When I walked the Portuguese last year I had little trouble communicating as you are more likely to find someone who speaks English in Portugal than you are in France/Spain. Also keep in mind that communication is not limited to speaking - hand gestures can get you a long way (well unless you intend to discuss philosophy or nuclear physics :wink: )
You're welcome Mark. If you have any other questions, just ask
I loved the camino Portuguese.
Interestingly, I found most Portuguese preferred to speak in English rather than Spanish..... I managed to book into one hostel where the receptionist spoke neither English nor Spanish. It's amazing what you can do with facial expressions and signs!!
I found the Portugese people to be very helpful and friendly ... I believe they are just about the only nation in Europe who the British have never fought!
Bom caminho!
Hello Ekas and Diogo92
Regarding the Obrigado or Obrigada gender modified issue, the correct saying it is not clear among us so, fell free to say it the way you want it with a smile and that's all. Just for your information, if you use it as an adjective, then it's gender modified. Obrigado/a means obliged to or in dept to. I am obliged to you for something you did or say to me. So I (men say obrigado) or (woman say - obrigada) am obliged/debt to you. However, if you use it as an interjection, meaning casual conversation, no adjective, then gender should not be considered, and obrigado it's correct, as interjection as no gender, and that is the way we use it.
Now, there is another word which is Agradeço meaning Grateful. Your choice, but keep smiling ~
"Santaremhostel"?! Is that the new hostel in Santarem of which my diary says "Meanwhile I booked into the new hostel - a lovely place, with kitchens, lounge and even internet." If so, what a pleasure to find you on this forum. I loved staying there.Hello Sephen, how are you? More than that the British helped us on the French invasions (N.Bonaparte) and the allied powers of Spain. There is a monument to the Heroes of the Peninsula War ( 1807 - 1814) in Oporto (Rotunda da Boavista) where you can find a lion (England flag symbol) on the top of an eagle (France flag symbol). So, probably that is one of the reasons why you have found more Portuguese speaking English than Spanish. More info here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peninsular_War
Bom Caminho
Olá Diogo. Sim, percebi a sua mensagem, mas dizer agradecido devia ser o correcto.Era mesmo ai que eu queria chegar!
Grande abraço
Hi Mario! My friends Sheila (from the USA) and Sebastian (from Germany) and I (from Canada) stayed at your hostel in October (16th, I think). (I bought a credential from you; there weren't any to be purchased on Saturday or Sunday, when we left, at the Cathedral in Lisbon.) I have to tell you that we all agreed it was one of the most beautiful hostels and places we stayed at on our journey from Lisboa to Santiago. And the evening meal? Delicious and spent with the most excellent of company!
We made it to Porrino, in Spain before Sebastian had to make haste home to his family; his father had had a heart attack. (His father, is fine now and doing well, Sebastian told us both in an email, about a week later.) Sheila and I continued on and made it to Santiago. And then to Muxia, Finisterre and finally Cee, where we ended our walking and took the roller coaster, I mean, the bus, back to Santiago.
I hope to get back to Portugal to walk the Camino again; a stay at your hostel will be a certainty!
Bon tarde!
Heather
I listened to a lot of language learning mp3s, but found that most of what I thought I had learned fell out of my head once I actually got out there.
I have exactly the same problem as you Mark. I really tried to learn Spanish when I did my Camino in April 2012 but when I started my pilgrimage, the words just seemed to disappear.
This year I have been out in Tenerife over Christmas and I was determined to brush up on my Spanish vocabularly whilst I was there. But the same problem occurred again. As soon as I got off the aeroplane and the sun came out; the Spanish knowledge just seem to be vacuumed out of my head!
After about four days in Tenerife, I was getting a little tired of drinking coffee and being English I was desperate for a decent cup of tea. I took myself off to the local supermarket and had a wander about trying to find the tea. No such luck, I could not find it.
I asked one of the Spanish lady shop assistants' in my best/worst Spanish, where the the tea / tea bags were?
She promptly took me to the Cocal Cola and fizzy drinks section!
Frantically, I started to panic and started to make stirring circles in the air as if I was stirring a cup of tea and saying in English – 'tea bags'.
The penny then dropped with the lady and she said 'Aah BAGS TEA' and she then took me to where the tea bags were located.
I still can't figure out what I said to the lady for her to take me to the fizzy drinks section...
Charlie
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