Learn about unfamiliar consonants
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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Portuguese Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn the final 3 Portuguese consonant sounds. |
| These consonant sounds do not appear in English, so they'll likely be new to you. |
| Be sure to practice them because these are unique sounds of Portuguese which learners often get wrong! |
| Are you ready? |
| Then let's get started! |
| The first consonant is... |
| "r |
| bravo - angry |
| caro - expensive |
| árvore - tree" |
| "This consonant sounds like a combination between a D-sound and an R-sound. |
| English speakers can sometimes produce this sound when saying the word 'better' or 'butter' quickly and lazily. |
| The key here is to make sure that the tongue strikes the gumridge very very quickly. Striking in a down-up fashion may help to pronounce this sound. Ensure that you're keeping the contact brief. Keep in mind that the Portuguese R has considerable variation across dialects. So the R sound may be different depending on where the speaker is from. |
| OK. Now, listen and practice with (host name)." |
| r, r (slowly) |
| r, r (slowly) |
| The next consonant sound is... |
| "lh |
| velho - old |
| sandália - sandal |
| alho - garlic" |
| "You can sometimes produce this sound by saying the English word 'million'. Try it! |
| (pause) |
| It sounds a bit like your trying to say an L and a Y sound at the same time. |
| Try to think of it as pronouncing an English L, but instead of using the tip of the tongue, try using the middle part of the tongue to approach the roof of your mouth. You want the air to escape to sides and around your tongue." |
| lh, lh (slowly) |
| lh, lh (slowly) |
| The last consonant sound is... |
| "ñ |
| manhã - morning |
| conhecer - to know |
| caminho - way" |
| "You can sometimes produce this sound by saying the English word 'new'. Try it! |
| (pause) |
| It sounds a bit like your trying to say an N and a Y sound at the same time. |
| Try to think of it as pronouncing an English N, but instead of using the tip of your tongue, trying using the middle part of the tongue to contact the roof of your mouth." |
| ñ, ñ (slowly) |
| ñ, ñ (slowly) |
| Well done! You just learned another 3 Portuguese consonants. |
| We've covered every sound in standard Brazilian Portuguese! By mastering these sounds, you'll be able to pronounce anything in Portuguese. Isn't that great? |
| How difficult were they to learn? Please comment and share your thoughts. |
| In the next lesson, you'll learn about diphthongs in Portuguese. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Portuguese Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
Comments
HideOlá, Morgan!
Great way of thinking!😉
Sincerely,
Marcia
Team PortuguesePod101.com
It is easier for me to think about the NY sound using the word "onion". 😉
Olá, Jess.
It's because the "R" sound has more than one sound depending on the word.
Try to listen to these words in Portuguese and observe the differences in the pronunciations regarding the "R" sound:
arroz;
caro;
carro;
cratera;
Tell me what you found out. ;)
Sincerely,
Marcia
Team PortuguesePod101.com
Oi,
I'm confused about the "r" sound. Is it a rolled "r" like in Spanish and some other languages or is it another sound?
Obrigada!
Oi Rhoda,
I know it's difficult, I hope you were able to understand everything.
Oi Brandon,
"bravo" means "angry"
For "brave", we say "valente" or "corajoso"
Atenciosamente,
Paloma
Team PortuguesePod101.com
Definitely difficult!
Ola!
I've seen bravo in two of the videos. Bravo can mean both brave and angry?
Thanks,
Brandon
Olá Don,
Thank you for your feedback! We'll consider it for our future development.👍
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team PortuguesePod101.com
I agree with Judy who posted:
"I really wish she would repeat the words again after giving the pronunciation explanation. I think that would be helpful to hear the sounds again in context of the words."
Olá Judy,
Thank you for your comment and suggestion. We are always working on improving our materials, and your opinion is highly valuable!
If you have any questions, please let us know!
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team PortuguesePod101.com
I really wish she would repeat the words again after giving the pronunciation explanation. I think that would be helpful to hear the sounds again in context of the words.