Welcome to all Portuguese self-learners!
Why is it worth learning Portuguese?
Portuguese is spoken not only in Portugal, but also in Brazil and in several African countries such as Mozambique or Angola. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and has the most Portuguese speakers in the world!
Portuguese is pronounced differently in Brazil and Portugal. Just as there are differences between American English and British English, there are differences between Brazilian Portuguese and Portuguese Portuguese.
Under the influence of the Roman occupiers, Portuguese evolved directly from Latin. The predecessor of Portuguese was phonetically and etymologically so similar to Latin that it is also called "vulgar Latin" (as opposed to literary Latin). Due to the Romance origin, Portuguese, French, Spanish and Italian grammar are very similar.
With the language you learn a lot about the history and culture of the country. Portugal was a great colonial power and has always been very close to the sea. There are an infinite number of navigators, marine explorers and explorers, above all, of course, Magellan and Vasco de Gama.
And Portuguese invites you to travel: Portugal, Brazil, the old African colonies in Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique; or Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe are popular destinations for language learners.