Tá Falado: Brazilian Portuguese Pronunciation For Speakers Of Spanish

asset title: Lesson 5: Stressed and Unstressed /a/, Self-Checkout at the Supermarket filename: tafalado_05.mp3 track number: 5/46 time: 9:30 size: 6.52 MB bitrate: 96 kbps There is a tendency for almost every vowel in unstressed syllables in English to turn into what is called a 'schwa'. It is the sound like 'uh'. Listen, for example the 'e' in 'delivery'. When learning Spanish, one of the great challenges is to stop saying 'uh.' 'It's 'nada' not 'naduh'! However, in Portuguese Brazilians also pronounce unstressed /a/ as a schwa. You see, all this time you thought you had bad Spanish and you really just have good Portuguese. As to the cultural situation in this lesson, both Michelle and Valdo had to get used to the self-checkout lines at the supermarket. Dialog Portuguese Valdo: Ah, essa fila tá enorme! Michelle: É verdade. Vamos pagar no auto-atendimento. Valdo: Onde fica a máquina? Michelle: Está lá na entrada. Valdo: Você sabe como se usa essa coisa aqui? Michelle: Claro, é fácil. É só passar o