I took the Portugues class offered through the University. It’s quite a shock to hear the instructor speaking differently from Duolinguo, which uses Brazilian Portugues.

The class is very good. However, this is a list of most important Portugues I figured you got to know first:

• cerveja: many local people, espeially elder people do not speak English and do not understand the word beer.

• comida: there are many small cafes where they do not look like where you can eat. However, with the magic word ‘comida’, the owner will often be able to qiuckly fix something for you, such as a sanduish.