Practice your Portuguese by listening to and translating songs from Portuguese to your native language. This song is called “Saudade, Saudade“, by Maro. She won Portugal’s 2022 Edition of Festival da Canção and represented Portugal in the 2022 Edition of Eurovision. The song came in 9th place in Eurovision. Maro’s song is sung in both English and Portuguese. I’ve translated the English parts into Portuguese and the Portuguese into English after the lyrics here. In the video that is next, please note that it’s not my video and I did not make the translation that appears in it. For this reason, the words may not correspond exactly to my translation further down in the post.
If you’re here from the 30-day Challenge for your daily goal, the task for today is to listen to the song a few times and try to follow along with the lyrics in Portuguese. At the end of the task, try to rate yourself and include the date. This is so you can later come back to this exercise and see how you have improved over time. Let’s jump in. (You don’t need to be a part of the challenge to do these suggested exercises 😉 )
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Tasks for the 30-Day Portuguese Challenge
- Beginners: Really actively listen to how the words are being pronounced. Before looking at the translation, underline the words you know and circle the ones you don’t. Write the words you don’t know into a list on your paper and save them for later. The main goal is to listen to the sounds of the language and be introduced to new vocabulary. If you’d like to take a step further, now look up words in the online dictionary and make notes if they are used in other contexts.
- Intermediates: After listening and looking at the lyrics – BUT NOT the translation yet – analyse the words more closely. Write down a summary of what you think the song is about. Then compare that to the translation. Then separate the words into different categories such as which ones are the verbs (actions), which ones are the nouns (names of things and people or animals) and which ones are the adjectives (descriptions). You can go a step further and indicate what tense the verbs are in. The main goal is to see how your comprehension is progressing and what you need to work more on.
- Advanced: After listening and looking at the Portuguese lyrics, your task is to translate the lyrics without any help. If you come across a word you’ve never seen, try an educated guess before looking it up in the dictionary. It doesn’t always have to make perfect sense. As I’m sure you know, sometimes artists will use a word or pronounce it in an uncommon way so it fits with the rhyme. Then compare it to the translation and see how you did. If you have the opportunity to go a little further, write a composition stating your opinion on the song. And that can be anything you like: the lyrics, the melody, the voice, the feelings, how you would change it if you didn’t like it, you name it. Try to include compound tenses and the subjunctive mood in your composition.
“Saudade, Saudade” (this song is partly sung in English and Portuguese)
I’ve tried to write
A million other songs but
Somehow I can’t move on, oh you’re gone
Takes time, alright
And I know it’s no one’s fault but
Somehow I can’t move on, oh you’re gone
Saudade
Saudade
Nothing more that I can say
Says it in a better way
Saudade
Saudade
Nothing more that I can say
Says it in a better way
Tem tanto que trago comigo
Foi sempre o meu porto de abrigo
E agora nada faz sentido
Perdi o meu melhor amigo
E se não for demais
Peço por sinais
Resta uma só palavra
Saudade
Saudade
Nothing more that I can say
Says it in a better way
Saudade
Saudade
Nothing more that I can say
Says it in a better way
Nothing more that I can say
Says it in a better way I’ve tried, alright
But it’s killing me inside
Thought you’d be by my side always
Transaltion
Eu tentei escrever
Um milhão de outras canções mas
De alguma forma não consigo seguir em frente, oh já não estás cá
E eu sei que a culpa não é de ninguém, mas
De alguma forma não consigo seguir em frente, oh já não estás cá
Saudade
Saudade
Nada mais que eu possa dizer
Diz de uma forma melhor
Saudade
Saudade
Nada mais que eu possa dizer
Diz de uma forma melhor
I have so much that I bring with me
you have always my haven/safe harbour
And now nothing makes sense
I’ve lost my best friend
And if it’s not too much
I ask for signs
only one word remains
Saudade
Saudade
Nada mais que eu possa dizer
Diz de uma forma melhor
Saudade
Saudade
Nada mais que eu possa dizer
Diz de uma forma melhor
Nada mais que eu possa dizer
Diz de uma forma melhor que eu tentei, tudo bem
Mas está a matar-me por dentro
Pensei que estarias sempre ao meu lado
For more songs in Portuguese click here.
For the meaning of the word Saudade and how it’s used, click here.