Portuguese in five ideas
1. Nasal vowels
ão, õe and ã are pronounced through the nose: pão (bread), mãe (mother). They are the sound that makes Portuguese recognisable.
2. você, not tu
In most of Brazil "you" is você, conjugated like "he/she": você fala (you speak).
3. Little words merge
em + o = no, de + a = da: Estou no Brasil, a casa da Maria.
4. Gender, like the Romance languages
o livro, a mesa — articles and adjectives agree.
5. A final e often sounds like i
In Brazil, leite (milk) sounds like "leitchi" and noite (night) like "noitchi".
Practise it with someone
Your Portuguese partner writes to you first — about their own day, with photographs from wherever they are — and what you got wrong comes back struck through, with the right version beside it.