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- Cliente: Boa tarde! Customer: Good afternoon!
- Assistente de loja: Olá… Store Assistant: Hello…
- Cliente: Vim comprar um vestido que vi no site da vossa loja. Customer: I came to buy a dress that I saw on your store's website.
- É tão bonito! It is so beautiful!
- Nunca vi um vestido como aquele. I have never seen a dress like that.
- É vermelho, comprido, com... It is red, long, with...
- Assistente: Não temos o vestido aqui. Assistant: We do not have the dress here.
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Vocabulary
AbaixoBelow AcimaAbove AdianteAhead, forward AlternativasAlternatives atravésthrough atrásbehind, back BonitoBeautiful, handsome, pretty, cute, nice cadaeach, every a clientecustomer, client fem. compridolong o computadorcomputer os dadosdata, details, personal information demasiadotoo much dentroinside, within depressaquickly a encomendaorder, package encomendarto place an order exigentedemanding, strict, picky festaparty funcionarto function, work, run InsatisfeitaDissatisfied jamaisnever ever a lojastore MaravilhosaMarvelous, wonderful. ontemyesterday piorworse pôrto put saídaexit, way out, checkout vermelhored o vestidodress veztime, instance voltarto go back, return 
Expressions
Por issoSo, Therefore Não é?Isn't it?, Right?, Yeah? Quero dizerI mean Nem imaginaYou have no idea, You can't even imagine Não é?Right?, Isn't it? LamentoI'm sorry, I regret Premium Feature: Smart Review
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A mulher fala demasiado rápido para mim.
Sim, a cliente está exigente, mas o assistente de loja está hostil e inútil. (I’m trying to say unfriendly and unhelpful – guess we’ll find out if Google Translate is my pal or not)
That’s a possible translation 🙂 You could also use the Portuguese version of the Present Continuous to make it sound a bit more natural: “…o assistente de loja está a ser hostil e inútil” (is being)
That’s a possible translation 🙂 You could also use the Portuguese version of the Present Continuous here: “…o assistente de loja está a ser hostil e inútil” (is being).
May I know are there any difference between jamais and nunca? Thx
Olá, Andy. They are synonyms, with “jamais” sounding a bit more solemn 🙂
Same here. I had to play the audio at half speed to have any chance of understanding what she was saying and even then it was a trying experience. For example, in the dialog where she says “tanto tempo”, I don’t hear the “tempo” part at all, even when following along with the transcription. The clipped syllables makes these dialogs very difficult to parse. I’ve noticed that sometimes words are not clipped, for example when “demasiado” was spoken in this dialog it was clearly enunciated with every syllable included. On the other hand, “vestido” and “vestidos” were always very difficult to recognize, regardless who was speaking. Is there a rule of thumb that governs how words are pronounced?
I can’t say that there any rules of thumb governing how clearly each person speaks. I suppose that in any language, speech patterns are highly variable in that regard – which is unfortunate for the language learners!
Although it would probably be unrealistic, it might be nice to have a turtle-like option for these conversations. Decreasing the speed is only marginally useful. I have similar problems understanding the native speakers in the exercises. Part of it is often just poor audio quality compared to the “official” audio clips, but the real issue is just how fast and clipped these native speakers deliver their lines. I’ve only been at this for a month though so I appreciate that there’s a long way to go.
This question is very nit-picky but towards the end the lady says ‘a qualidade do serviço ESTÁ abaixo do normal’ and then continues to say ‘não É acima, É abaixo’. Is there a reason why she switched from estar to ser or are they more interchangeable in natural conversation?
Olá, Michael. Tough question. In the first sentence, it makes sense to use ‘está’, because the low quality of service is not something that she sees as the default for that store. The verb ‘ser’ would sound a bit awkward there, in my opinion. In the second sentence, more than referring directly to the quality of service again, she’s referring back to her own words, as if she were saying “I didn’t say ‘above’, I said ‘below’“. This is why the verb ‘ser’ is acceptable. More often than not, the two verbs are not interchangeable, but that doesn’t make it any easier to figure out when to use one or the other 🙂
Thanks for the really nice explanation. I will just have to keep practicing then to really understand the difference 🙂
I have a query about one of the quiz questions. In the question about what the sales assistant suggests the client should do, the phrase ‘usar uma roupa de outra amiga’ comes up. Is ‘usar’ the most common word in Portuguese for ‘to wear’? I would normally use ‘vestir’. Is there any difference?
Olá, Pat. Usar is very common, but so is vestir. No difference between them, except that usar applies to any piece of clothing, footwear or accessories, but vestir only applies to clothes. We don’t use vestir for shoes, gloves, earrings, watches, etc.
II agree that this dialogue is challenging, but I enjoyed it! I always read through the vocabulary and phrases first and then listen to the audio, independent of the transcript. This gives me at least and idea of the meaning! Then I read the transcript along with the dialogue and if there’s anything I’m unsure of then I re-read the transcript at my own speed. Whilst the customer did speak quickly, it was realistic, given the circumstances and this is A2 level after all.
Great female voice!
I like the native speakers speaking naturally. It helps me to try to capture the meaning of what they are saying even though its challenging. But its more like the real world!
So os dados means personal information?
It translates to “details” or “data”, but yes, in this context it refers to personal information.
My Portuguese tutor out of Lisboa complains a lot about the service she gets in stores. Sounds a lot like what this lady went through
I am a beginner with regards to the portuguese language. Maybe I am understanding wrong but I did not feel the employee being unfriendly. It sounds more like unreasonable expectations. The speech is challenging for A1 level, but being an expat, emigrant, immigrant since 30 years in a country where there are no courses for the language spoken, I have learned to be patient, observe, listen and learn bit by bit. Don‘t let it discourage you. There is no easy, perfect way to learn a language. Also I am not a native english speaker.
We have been travelling to portugal since 20 years and last winter stayed about 5 months under rather uncomfortable conditions. The situation in many stores has been difficult, but the employees always did the best they could. If you want to meet unfriendly, unhelpful people, come to Switzerland 😉
Thank you so much PP for all your effort and giving us a reason to smile again.
It seems like “talvez” and “se calhar” both means maybe. Is this correct? If so, they be used in the similar way or are there differences?
You’re correct that “talvez” and “se calhar” both mean “maybe”. However, their usage can be slightly different and they’re not entirely interchangeable.
In order to use “talvez”, the verb that follows would have to be conjugated in the conjuntivo. For example, “Talvez tu tenhas razão” (Maybe you’re right).
On the other hand, “se calhar” is followed by the verb in the indicative mood. For example, “Se calhar tu tens razão” (Maybe you’re right).
So, while they both translate to “maybe”, the grammatical structure of the sentence can determine which one to use.
Are we expected to listen to these things without reading the lines and then answer the quiz, or should we follow both written and audio parts to solve it? I’m following the written part effortlessly, while in audio form I’m only capable of understanding roughly what’s happening while missing most of the details.
Great question! It depends on a lot of factors such as your learning style, level, current goals/focus, the difficulty of the particular Shorty you’re listening to, etc.
In general, if you’re a beginner, we expect that for most Shorties you’ll probably follow along with the written translation first, repeating it a few times. Then you can replay the episode again and try to listen without looking. In the beginning, it’s completely normal if you’re only getting a very rough idea of what’s being said. We don’t expect you to be understanding at the conversation level yet, so it’s more about getting exposure to the language and seeing examples of how what you’re learning appears in a more realistic context.
Later, once you’re a bit more comfortable with listening, you could start by listening without looking and then giving the quiz a try right away. If it was challenging, or you think you missed a lot of parts, listen again while following along with the Portuguese and/or the English. Sometimes it can be helpful to repeat the same episode over the course of a few days. You don’t need to spend hours on it until you understand it perfectly, but repeating it lets you listen with a known context / general understanding of the meaning, which makes it easier to start picking up more details as you listen again.
For you specifically, since the written part is easy for you, but you’re missing most of the details while listening, I think you should challenge yourself to listen without looking a few times first, and then try the quiz. Regardless of how well you do on the quiz, listen again with the text to focus on some of the details you missed / replay sections that were more difficult to understand.