Olá, bom dia! Here’s a word you use every week without knowing its story: sábado, Saturday. It comes from the Hebrew Shabbat, a small reminder that Jewish life has been part of Portugal for well over a thousand years. It’s a history of light and shadow. In 1496, King Manuel I ordered Portugal’s Jews to convert or leave. In Belmonte, families kept their faith in secret for centuries. And in 1940, a Portuguese consul, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, defied orders to sign visas for refugees fleeing the war. In 2015, Portugal offered nationality to descendants of the Sephardic Jews it had expelled, and more than 56,000 people became Portuguese. This year, that door closed to new applications. Fact sheet Nº 7: The Jewish community is now in the classroom, with the history, the heritage, and a three-language table. Over to you: have you visited the Jewish quarter in Castelo de Vide, the synagogue in Tomar, or Belmonte’s Jewish Museum? Shalom, e até amanhã! 🙏

Olá, bom dia ALEGRIA! Ever heard a Portuguese friend say “à tuga” and wondered what they meant? Today’s word is the one the Portuguese use for themselves: tuga. It’s short for portuga, and these days it’s affectionate: comida tuga, música tuga, malta tuga. But it has a darker past. During the Colonial War, tuga was what Africans in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau called the Portuguese, and not kindly. So it’s a word to use with a smile, among friends. Today’s sheet, Nº 18: Tuga, is in the classroom. A bonus word: desenrascanço, the very tuga art of fixing anything with whatever is to hand. Over to you: what’s the most tuga thing you’ve seen since moving here?! Abraço! 🤗 AND... I'll be interviewing the author of "Meet the Tugas," Christopher L. Jones, on the show this morning. Please join us!

Olá, bom dia! Since Saturday, Lisbon’s most famous square has been a campsite. Thousands gathered in Rossio for the “acampada pela habitação”, a camp-out for the right to housing, and many have stayed on, night after night. It’s fitting. The word rossio means common land, a space that belongs to everyone. For eight centuries this square has been where Lisbon comes to trade, to celebrate and to be heard. Today’s sheet, Nº 17: O Rossio, is in the classroom. It covers the square’s story, from the Inquisition to the earthquake to the famous wavy calçada. And since you’ll see it on placards everywhere, here’s this week’s phrase: “Não dá mais!” It means “Enough is enough!”, or literally “It doesn’t give any more!” Over to you: what’s your Rossio memory? A ginjinha, a train from the station, a night at the theatre, being offered drugs?! Até já! 🌊

Olá, bom dia! The smell of the padaria at seven in the morning is one of Portugal’s great free pleasures. And today, 16 October, is World Bread Day, so bread is our icon. Today’s sheet, Nº 16: O Pão, is in the classroom. It has four phrases for the bakery counter, plus a guide to the regional loaves. Here’s a language nugget: in Lisbon, the humble bread roll has two names, papo-seco and carcaça. And if you want to sound like a local, ask “É de hoje?” (Is it today’s?). The answer is always “Claro!” (Of course!) Over to you: what’s your favourite Portuguese bread, and where’s the best padaria near you? Bom apetite! 🧈

Apparently, Portugal just opened the world's first commercial-scale wave energy installation off Peniche — 24 oscillating wave surge converters generating 40 megawatts from Atlantic Ocean swells and powering 15,000 Portuguese homes continuously. The Peniche Wave Array sits 3 kilometers offshore in 30-meter water depth, harvesting powerful Atlantic swells arriving with average heights of 2.5 meters year-round. Each WaveRoller device uses a hinged panel fixed to the seabed that rocks with passing waves, pumping hydraulic fluid through generators at every wave cycle. Annual capacity factor reaches 42 percent — comparable to onshore wind turbines. Portugal's Atlantic coastline receives among the most energetic wave resources in Europe. National wave energy potential is estimated at 5,500 megawatts — enough to cover 30 percent of Portugal's total electricity demand from ocean waves with full resource development. Portugal has approved 400 megawatts of additional wave arrays along the same coastline. Source: AW-Energy Finland, Portuguese Renewable Energy Association, European Commission Innovation Fund, 2025.