Olá! Portuguese is my mother tongue!

More and more children all over the world are growing up speaking two or more languages. Being bilingual has incredible advantages for children, and speaking a language like Portuguese gives you a head start when learning other similar languages like Italian, Romanian and Spanish too!

Portuguese is a language spoken across continents, and only 5% of speakers live in Portugal. You can use Portuguese in Brazil, Mozambique, Capo Verde, Angola and you can speak to more than 260 million people!

In this fun podcast we produced with RTE’ Junior you will get to know Gaia and her mum, who speak English, Portuguese and Italian!

If you are Portuguese speaker living abroad and want your child to learn and use Portuguese with you, here are some tips:

– start as early as possible: speak Portuguese to your baby from birth, or as early as possible

– make it part of your routines: use Portuguese regularly in your routines, from preparing breakfast, to walking to the park, to bed-time routines

– make a plan: plan games and activities to do together in Portuguese

– identify resources:

find books, games and other resources that can help you along the way. (See below)

– find someone to help you: it is important for children to see that there are other families who speak Italian in their environment. Find or create a parent and toddler group in your area or arrange meetings with other families who speak Portuguese. For older children, try to find a language class so your child can experience the language and the culture also outside the home.

– Praise your child’s success:

when your child says a new word, when they talk to you in Portuguese, or when they learn to read, don’t focus on the errors but praise their efforts and show them how much you enjoy speaking Portuguese to them.

Want more? Check out our resources below!

Resources