The spoken rythm is very interesting to listen to, but can be a problem because it is different than English. Words that may run together in English might not do so in Portuguese, and words that run together in Portuguese might not do so in English.
There are many, many different vowell sounds in Portuguese, and almost all of them are different than vowell sounds in English. The good news is that in the written form, most of these sounds have accent marks to illustrate what type of vowell sound they make. There are regular vowells such as a, nasalized vowells such as ã, open vowells such as â, and closed vowells such as à. Dipthongs and nasalized dipthongs such as ão also exist. However, the lack of accent marks in English can become confusing for Portuguese speakers because they are uncertain of what type of vowell should be said where. Therefore, don't be surprised to hear such things as apple being pronounced as aipple.
There are many slight variations in pronounciation between English and Portuguese letters. A good Teach-Yourself-Portuguese program will allow you to notice a number of these, and I will not go into the severe details here. This is only a basic guide so that perhaps when encountering a Brazilian Portuguese speaking person who is trying to communicate in English, it is perhaps a little easier to understand why the words sound very different, and perhaps it will be possible to determine what they are trying to say easier.
H: is almost universally not pronounced.
Silent Vowels: There are no silent vowels in Portuguese - almost everything is pronounced. In some cases there are dipthongs, just as there are in English, but in other cases the second vowel becomes a new sylable.
Invisible Vowels: In many cases, consonants at the end of words are very soft, and most of the Portuguese vocabulary end in vowells anyway. Therefore, many English words may have vowells that don't exist inserted on the end by a Portuguese speaker.
Long and Short Vowels: In Portuguese, each vowel normally acts as part of its own individual syllable. The concept in English of certain second vowells changing the first vowell sound in certain cases, and becoming a dipthong in others, is simply not part of the way Portuguese operates.
R: in most cases this is a slight rolled sound. In many cases it is not as harsh or as difficult for an English speaker as the Mexican Spanish rolled R. In areas around Rio de Janeiro, the sound is something a bit like someone clearing their throat. Except: At the start of a word, the R is pronounced somewhat like an English H sound.
RR: in many cases sounds something like the English H.
D: in the south of Brazil, D is frequently pronounced somewhat like a G.
Therefore:
Rare, when pronounced by a Brazilian learning English, may sound something like Hairy or Hurry (E on the end pronounced, and the starting R with an H sound).
Good may sound like GoodGee. This is always a favorite at the English Camps. ( D on end with southern Brazilian accent sounds a little like an English Gee )
Measure may sometimes sound like mee az you re (EA dipthong divided into two syllables, U pronounced like it is in Portuguese, and the final E pronounced.
Hurry may sound like oohe ( H not pronounced, u pronounced as it would be in Portuguese, double r pronounced like an English H ).
Masculine or Feminine? Nouns are either masculine or feminine and what adjectives to use depend on the gender of the noun. Most of the time, the feminine form ends in a. This is not always the case, though. For example, "Bom dia" means "Good day". "Boa tarde" means "Good afternoon". Tarde ends in e, and is a feminine noun (boa is the fiminine form of good, and bom is the masculine), and dia ends in a and is a masculine noun. Already, the student of Portuguese is confronted with the odd pattern of masculine and feminine nouns and adjectives, and they haven't yet gotten past simple greetings. In many cases, it is necessary to memorize exceptions to the feminine a rule, though in almost all cases nouns that end in o are masculine.
Students of Spanish will already be saying "But Spanish has masculine and feminine nouns also!" Yes, many languages have this. However, in Brazilian Portuguese, when saying "Thank you", a woman says "obrigada" while a man says "obrigado". Therefore, the masculine and feminine nouns, and adjectives that describe them, are somewhat more involved than even Spanish.
For teaching the missionaries Portuguese, the Webb school uses Fala Brasil for introductory work and Bem-Vindo for more advanced students. While I have used both books a little bit, they are somewhat frustrating because, unlike the Living Language introductory course, the explanation of how the language works in my native language isn't given very extensively. It can take quite a while to dig around in the dictionary to find words that the reader doesn't understand, and dictionaries go only so far in their usefullness. There are many good things about both books, but quite honestly I would suggest starting with something like the Living Language program, so that these more advanced programs are not as frustrating or as difficult.
Remember: in order to read instructions in the language, it is first necessary to know some of the words in that language!
Keep in mind that in order to learn new vocabulary, it is necessary to assocate the word with its meaning about 10-20 different times. This is one of the good things about a self-teaching book, such as the Living Lanuage course: it is planned out in such a way that these associations are made during the course of the lessons. In actual conversation and use in Brasil, however, it may not be possible to hear many of those words and phrases common enough to form an association. When the do come, they may be spoken so fast that it is not possible to catch the association. This is why it is impossible to quickly learn a language while listening to native speakers in any language in conversation: there is too much to learn: pronounciation, word use, how words work together, etc. Sure, it is possible perhaps, as that is how we all learned as children to speak. However, remember that process took more than 12 to 15 years before our conversation and writing ability even approaches that of a mature adult. If you want to learn in less time than that, then some sort of official lesson plan is needed, so that practice, words, and associations with meaning and use may be quickly developed.
Don't be afraid to ask for explanantions, take notes of new words, and otherwise work at learning the language. It is part of how we learn new things.
flavela is the name Brazilians use to describe the huge shantytown slums near cities. No word in English really does justice to flavela. In the book Child of the Darkness ( one of the few Brazilian books that has been made available in English to North American readers ) the word is left untranslated through the entire text. In smaller cities, a flavela may just be a few small shacks thrown up out of scrap lumber on land that no one cares about. In larger cities, a flavela of thousands of people may exist near or inside the garbage dump. Those that live in the trash sort through discarded material for things of value that can be sold. It is the only form of income that they have available to them. North America has its street people, and its homeless wanderers that rummage through trash cans to find things that are valuable. However, generally these people only form small camps and shantytowns, or live in streets or on park benches. The concept of people living in garbage dumps is simply not something that people in English speaking North America normally see ( it is, however, quite plain if you visit Spanish speaking parts of North America ).
sìtio is a small farm or rural country house with some land that is farmed or used as an orchard.
tèrreo is the ground floor of a building (terra = earth or ground). In Brasil, this is what they call the first floor of a multi-floor building. The second floor (NA) is called the first floor (Brasil), the third floor (NA) is called the second floor (Brasil), and so on. In elevators the button is T.