Bom dia! (pronounced bohn jee-ah)

Welcome to Brazilian Portuguese Phonetics 101.

Today, we will learn about some of the basic letter sounds of Brazil.

Let us begin. When you see the word, say it aloud. Then (and only after you’ve first said it aloud), read the phonetic pronunciation. Ready? Begin:

dia         (jee-ah)

Haddad  (Ha-da-jee)

tia     (chee-ah)

tio    (chee-oh)

tijela (chee-gel-ah)

tok & stok   (tok-ee stoke-ee)

xicara   (shee-ca-ra)

carro   (ca-hoe)

caro (ca-row)

rio    (hee-oh)

correndo (co-hen-doo)

revista (hay-vista)

baixa (bye-cha)

grand   (gran-jee)

Outback (out-ee-bak-ee)

supraententemente (supra-en-dent-chee-men-chee) … yeah, that one’s a corker!

and a favorite of mine: x-burger (chee-burger)

Think you’ve got it now? Congratulations! Let’s try a couple of easy ones:

Ford   (For-gee)

noite   (noi-chee)

and last, but not least … Fiat    (Fia-chee)

And now, you should be able to speak flawless Brazilian Portuguese (well, you need vocabulary and grammar rules, but that’s the easy part!).