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Lesson Transcript

Hi everyone.
Welcome to The Ultimate Portuguese Pronunciation Guide.
In this series, you'll master Portuguese pronunciation. Proper pronunciation is essential in Portuguese, and in this series, you'll learn it in a fast, comprehensive, and easy way.
In this first lesson, you'll learn about the building blocks of the Portuguese pronunciation system that will help you in future lessons.
"The letters used in Portuguese are the same as the letters you use in English, but with a few additional accents that are used to modify some of the letters.
Portuguese is made up of 26 letters, consisting of 21 consonants, 5 vowels."
But be careful not to fall into a very common trap: as you're learning to *speak* correctly, you shouldn't concern yourself with all the letters. That's right -- forget them! You care about the *sounds* of Portuguese and here they are:
There are 23 consonant sounds, and 13 vowel sounds. By using all of these sounds, you can form every single word in Portuguese.
Still seem complicated? Well how about this: of the 27 consonant sounds in Portuguese, you *already know* 24 of the original sounds. That's right, if you're a native English speaker then you already make these sounds every day.
You can also ignore most of the vowel sounds for the same reason. All you have to do however, is distinguish between "open", "closed" and "nasal" vowel sounds.
The only thing standing between you and Perfect Portuguese Pronunciation are 3 new consonant sounds and the difference between the vowel sounds. You can handle that!
Now let me introduce Jade, who will be helping you to master these new sounds.
Oi, o meu nome é Jade.
Jade will be giving you native pronunciation examples for you to imitate. But for this first lesson, just sit back and listen to the unique sounds of Portuguese:
velho - old
manhã - morning
bravo - brave
seu - yours
cantar - to sing
avó - grandmother
In the next lesson, we'll look at the top 5 pronunciation mistakes Portuguese learners make. You'll want to make sure not to fall into these common traps.
After that, we'll begin going through the vowels and consonants of Portuguese. This is your chance to learn how to correctly say all of the words you just heard.
We'll finish up the series by covering some special topics that will really make your Portuguese sound natural!
To close this lesson, here's a question for you.
Why is it important to spend time on learning proper pronunciation, even if you're already an advanced speaker?
The answer...
You will be understood, and this will help you build more confidence as you communicate in Portuguese. For beginners, you're creating a strong foundation to build on. And for more advanced students, this is your chance to improve your accent and lose any bad habits you may have picked up.
What is the hardest part of Portuguese pronunciation? Tell us about it in the comments.
See you in the next Ultimate Portuguese Pronunciation Guide lesson!

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