Drop the mic!

I’m often asked for voice-overs in Portuguese for Brazil (pt-BR). I always explain to my clients that I am from Portugal (pt-PT), and that our European Portuguese accent is different from Brazil’s. Brazilians open their mouths much more in vowels, use the verb in the gerund abundantly, have more “sugar” in the way they speak, with more lip and tongue movements. In Portugal we speak with a tighter mouth. For Brazilians it seems that the EU Portuguese whisper sometimes, adding too many consonants because they can’t hear some vowels! It’s just perception, of course.

Now, can I imitate the Portuguese spoken in Brazil? Sure! But… Having a Portuguese speaking like a Brazilian is like having a Londoner speaking like a Texan, or an Australian speaking like a South African. Everyone understands each other – in theory! – but it’s clear that it is not a native speaking.

There are other funny differences between Portuguese and Brazilians, linguistically speaking. For instance, “hey, cara” said in Brazil happens when a person calls for someone else. “Hey, cara” said in Portugal is a comment on something being really expensive…

In Portugal we say “casa de banho” (bathroom) and in Brazil they say “banheiro”. In Portugal, “banheiro” was a lifesaver on the beach in the old days.

In Portugal we say “comboio” (train) and in Brazil they say “trem”. Their word is much similar to the English one! And in Brazil “comboio” is a line of cars.

In Portugal we say “cueca”(underwear) and in Brazil they say “calcinha”. In Portugal “calcinha” is the same as small pants!

In Portugal “puto” is a young boy. In Brazil it is said of someone who is upset. A common girl, in Portugal, is “rapariga” and in Brazil “rapariga” can be a prostitute.

In Portugal a “propina” (school tuition) is the fee paid at a university, and in Brazil a “propina” is the illicit money that is received in an act of corruption. If a Portuguese goes to Brazil to study and says he’s going to pay the “propina” I bet someone will think he wants to bribe a teacher!

We also have funny expressions that are quite different. Having the courage to do something is “ter lata” in Portugal (literally “having a can”) and in Brazil they say “ter cara de pau” (literally “having a wooden face”).

And sometimes I’m asked to do voice-overs for Angola (pt-AO), Mozambique (pt-MZ), and other Portuguese speaking countries…