You may have heard/read me saying to watch Portuguese shows or films to improve your comprehension. But what if you don’t have access to Portuguese TV? Or live abroad? Não faz mal! Today I bring you a step-by-step guide on where to access some programs online and how to get the subtitles to work! Please note, that some of these are monthly paid-for services.
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of the weblinks I mention in this post, other than my own blog and YouTube channels. The links are for informational purposes and inspiration for your studies. More info here.
Netflix
Netflix doesn’t have many shows from Portugal and spoken in Portuguese, but this is what they have at the moment available. If you don’t live in Portugal, you’ll need a VPN to access some of these. You also need to set the VPN to an IP in Portugal. If the links below don’t work, then unfortunately Netflix has removed them from their streaming service.
Series
Films
How to get the subtitles and audio in Portuguese on Netflix:
Prime Video
Prime video only has three shows at the moment that are from Portugal:
Chegar a Casa (Note that this series has quite a bit of spoken Spanish and Galician in it as well)
How to get the subtitles and audio in Portuguese on Prime Video:
Disney Plus
If you’re in Portugal, Disney Plus has a huge repository of films and cartoons that you can watch in European Portuguese. Anything that’s for children will have the option to be viewed in European Portuguese. Unfortunately, this is not the case for the more adult series. However, many of them will offer the Brazillian audio option. I will say that if you’re a beginner or intermediate learning European Portuguese, it’s not ideal to be listening to the Brazillian version of the language…it will hinder more than help as the pronunciation is vastly different (differences between Portuguese and Brazilian). In this case, I believe it’s better to activate the Portuguese subtitles and read them as the action is happening in the original language. But if you’re an advanced learner, you’ve already learned and spoken enough that the difference will enrich your experience.
How to get the subtitles and audio in Portuguese on Disney Plus:
If you’re not able to access the Portuguese subtitles, then you will likely need a VPN and set it to Portugal.
RTP Play
This website is free and has many options and programs to choose from. From dramas to game shows to live television, including the news. You can also opt to install the APP on a mobile device. The only thing about RTP Play that could be an issue is you definitively need to be in Portugal or have a VPN set to Portugal. Also, as this is a Portuguese public service, many of the programs will not have English subtitles.
In addition to RTP Play there is also the option for watching children’s shows (Zigzag) and also the school lessons children were having during the Covid-19 pandemic.
School lessons (#estudoemcasa)
How to get the subtitles and audio in Portuguese on RTP Play on videos that have that feature. In other words, videos that have the closed captions button (CC).
Sometimes, RTP Play videos may have an option for English subtitles as well. But this is not usually the case.
YouTube
YouTube is free and has millions upon millions of videos on all sorts of topics and languages. It’s great to watch language learning videos, but also great to watch videos intended for native speakers. These will give you a fantastic base for how Portuguese should sound and also massively improve your comprehension (over time).
The downside for European Portuguese learners is that many Portuguese-spoken channels are Brazilian. Moreover, even the ones that are Portuguese, will not always upload the subtitles with the actual transcript of what they are saying. You’ll get YouTube automatically generated subtitles instead. These get it wrong all the time. Nonetheless, YouTube is free and available for everyone (mostly). And it’s still a tool to take advantage of. Here are some examples of channels to get you started. However, I suggest you find a channel on a topic you enjoy, as that will make the experience more enjoyable for you.
Examples of Famous Portuguese Youtubers
SirKazzio (gaming/reaction/pop culture)
D4rkFrame (gaming/pop culture)
Wuant (reaction channel *Viewer discretion -lots of colloquial language, slang and swearing)
SEA3P0 (reaction channel)
Bumba na Fofinha (comedy/commentary)
Last, but not least I’ll leave the link to my own channel again and in particular to my playlist where I speak slowly and have subtitles available in English, Dutch and Portuguese.
My channel The Sounds of Portuguese
Playlist for Portuguese beginners
Playlist for Portuguese intermediates
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of the streaming services I mention in this post, other than my own blog and YouTube channels. The links are for informational purposes and inspiration for your studies. More info here.