For The Love Of Port

Tom,
Unless you have a fantastic talent for languages you would always stand out as a foreigner. It would not matter if your accent / grammar was Brazilian. It would not be considered rude and you would not be treated differently in relation to any other foreigner. This unfortunately means you would be at serious risk of being ripped off by a taxi driver...

Daniel R. wrote:This unfortunately means you would be at serious risk of being ripped off by a taxi driver...

I haven't found this to be the case in Porto, but perhaps the north is less urban in that sense than the south. I found that in Porto and in the Douro valley, people are so thrilled that you speak even a tiny bit of Portuguese that they practically invite you into their homes for dinner.

Then again, I'm 6'4" and 200 lbs, so perhaps I'm not high on the list of potential targets for thieves.

By "ripped off" I meant overcharged. You might not notice it, but it's happening... We're always nice (I am from Porto but live in Lisbon..)

Daniel R. wrote:Tom,
Unless you have a fantastic talent for languages you would always stand out as a foreigner. It would not matter if your accent / grammar was Brazilian. It would not be considered rude and you would not be treated differently in relation to any other foreigner.

I agree with this. Brazilian Portuguese is to Portuguese what American/Australian/Canadian/New Zealand English are to English. If someone from Japan asks for a beer with an American accent and dialect in London no one would think anything of it other than assume they had been educated in America or by an American. The outcome would still be that they get a beer.

Unfortunately, the only country in the world that I know of that does not "appreciate" foreign visitors making the effort to speak the language of the country they are visiting is the UK. There is a ridiculous expectation in this country that anyone who wants to visit here should speak English. There is an equally ridiculous expecatation that when Brits go on holiday they expect their hosts to understand English because most Brits, including myself, speak no other language. It is a very sad and often embarassing legacy of having once had an Empire. I actually know a retired couple who decided to leave the UK and live out their retirement in Spain who are now complaining that there are "too many foreigners" moving in to the area where they now live [insert irony-smiley]

Derek, your post describes the US perfectly, so make that two countries.

Bryan H. wrote:Derek, your post describes the US perfectly, so make that two countries.

It's because deep down you all regret that independance thing and wish you were still British so that you could buy cheap Port