Visitors with a working knowledge of Spanish will have less problems reading Portuguese, although the spoken language has many differences, most notably in the pronunciation. The locals always appreciate tourists’ efforts to say a few words, such as:

• Bom dia for ‘good day’;
• Boa tarde for good afternoon;
• Boa noite for good evening;
• Se faz favor is Please
• Thank you is Obrigado for a man and Obrigada if you’re a woman.

Of Latin origin, Portuguese is the third most widely spoken European language in the world and is mother tongue to about 200 million people in Angola, Cape Verde Islands, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, S. Tomé and Príncipe in Africa and Brazil in South America. The most-commonly spoken foreign languages are Spanish, English and French.