[Olá bom dia! Tudo bem. A great subject for you this Summer morning. I will be passing this marvelous medieval monument later today as its splendour is visible frm the A8 motorway. How has your Portuguese-speaking week been? Please leave one Portuguese word you've used this week in the comments - just an obrigado counts!] 📍Uma vila medieval amuralhada no centro de Portugal, conhecida como a Vila das Rainhas - e pelos locais como "Ó-bitch", recebe um grande número de turistas nas suas ruas estreitas durante todo o ano. 🎂 O nome vem do latim oppidum - "cidade fortificada." Os romanos estiveram cá, os mouros também. Em 1148, o Rei Afonso Henriques reconquistou a vila para Portugal. Em 1282, o Rei D. Dinis deu a vila inteira à sua mulher, a Rainha Isabel, como presente de casamento - começando uma tradição que durou sete rainhas e mais de cinco séculos. 💡 Imaginem receber uma vila medieval como presente de casamento. Foi isso que aconteceu em 1282 - e a tradição continuou durante séculos: cada rei de Portugal dava Óbidos à sua rainha como parte do dote real. As rainhas corresponderam: construíram igrejas, trouxeram artistas e cuidaram do povo. Hoje a vila tem apenas três mil habitantes - mas parece igual há setecentos anos. As muralhas têm 1.565 metros de comprimento e podem ser percorridas a pé. Na Rua Direita, a actividade principal é escolher entre ginjinhas servidas em copos de chocolate. Os locais agradecem a visita - e pedem que saiam antes do jantar. 🍽️ Entre pela Porta da Vila e caminhe pelas muralhas ao pôr do sol - a vista para o campo é extraordinária. Beba uma ginjinha num copo de chocolate na Rua Direita. Se visitar em julho, o Mercado Medieval transforma a vila num cenário do século XIII com justas, trovadores e falcoaria. 🗣️ Vocabulário: - a muralha - the wall / rampart - o castelo - the castle - o dote - the dowry - a rainha - the queen 💬 "O Rei D. Dinis deu a vila de Óbidos à Rainha Isabel como presente de casamento." ❓ Hora do quiz: Quantas rainhas de Portugal receberam Óbidos como presente de casamento?

Thanks @Bob Wenger, Viv, @Brian Mathers & @Peter Haglund for committing to your missions for the week. Deculpe @Lori Wong, sorry we didn't get to you, but message me separately please 🙏 @Carl Munson's personal missions for the week... missions for the week 1. Dissect a formal Portuguese letter - Overcome the “court summons” feeling of official mail (banks, insurers, etc.). He plans a module on letter formalities/grammar. 2. Learn a Portuguese song (aim for karaoke-level; even “Happy Birthday” counts). Future online karaoke idea floated. 3. Escalate an existing mission - e.g., his own neighbor/atestado task (ask the parish president + another resident to accompany him). 4. “Break the spell” - Identify habitual self-blocks (“I’m too old,” “I’m bad at languages,” etc.) and work on them by Friday. He’ll write about common reasons people avoid speaking. 5. Teach someone else a bit of Portuguese (even a short household mini-lesson). People can pick from these, invent their own, or use classroom missions; review on Friday. What VIPs committed to - Viv: Read a letter; escalate a mission; “ring this bell”; teach “him” some Portuguese. Possibly learn a song. - Bob: Keep talking to his dog Gus in Portuguese + learn more commands. Prepare language for the neighbor lady on walks (especially explaining the dog is fixed/castrated — “es dominado?” situation). Learn the Happy Birthday song. Expand neighbor conversations (tech/DIY, farm/tractor talk, etc.). Essentially several neighbor + pet-focused tasks. - Peter & Brian (Mathers Haglund household): Do banking in Portuguese. Visit the Mercado (Governo) in Setúbal. Go to “Sunsets at the Castle” (São Jorge) in Lisbon on a Saturday and try speaking with people there. Brian also: learn the birthday song + possibly read a letter. - Ongoing: watching cartoons, an RTP 1 human-interest show, the game show Agarra se Puderes (“Catch Me If You Can”), and Preço Certo.

Great work! Muito bem @Bob Wenger (BAB!), Vivianne!, @Peter Haglund Pedro, and @Brian Mathers with an 'I'! for recapping on the week and sharing some great progress 🙌 (and drinking beer WITH COKE!!!). Progress at the shop, doctors, pharmacy and with neighbours. @Bob Wenger, find the missions/modules/cheat sheets here - https://www.skool.com/gmp-vips-1236/classroom - and I will create the 'Festa smalltalk' module 🪼🍺🍗🍷 See you Monday for the next round, little by little, bit by bit, we are becoming conversational! PS I forgot to announce 'Cadet of The Week'... look at this guy! Parabéns @Matthias Lanuschny Bom fim de semana!

Great start to the week with @Bob Wenger, @Brian Mathers & @Peter Haglund Muito obrigado amigos! - FIVE missions will be picked, each, and 'celebrated' on Friday - Parabéns to @Lori Wong, this week's 'Cadet of The Week'! - Suggested missions included polishing an elevator pitch, escalating basic neighbour/café exchanges beyond “Olá, bom dia,” switching all Portuguese contacts to Portuguese on WhatsApp and email, listening to 15 minutes of Portuguese radio daily, and watching children’s TV. - Members shared practical requests (Bob needs barbershop vocabulary; Viv, newly arrived in a non-English-speaking village, wants conversations longer than 30 seconds). - Carl emphasised the core SWAP spirit - Show up, Wing it, Adapt, keep talking - and invites everyone to a Friday 5 pm drink to celebrate progress. - Ongoing one-to-one help is available via the community timeline and WhatsApp. Boa semana e boa sorte!

Here's the 'Taking a Taxi' module as requested by @Lori Wong. Please share your lived experience of using this module in this thread 👇, where we can all benefit from your SWAT contact in the field 🤗 Lori Wong to @Carl Munson "One thing I’ve found helpful is to not put so much pressure on getting everything in Portuguese because that just stops me from saying anything (I have a limited vocab). So recently, I looked up something I didn’t know how to say with Google Translate, just to help me get something started, and I’d try saying the phrase, rather than using Google to say it. From there, sometimes I could continue in bits and pieces from what I know or remember. It’s a hodge podge, but one driver said I didn’t need much help speaking. It was nice to hear that, even if he was being kind - I had thanked him for helping me with the language." This, to me, is SWAT in action. @Lori Wong *S*howed up (with a little bit of vocab, memorised). *W*inged it, in the back of the cab! *A*dapted in real time and ... *T*alked, (and likely to do so again with that sense of success and the driver's enciuragement, affirmation and validation). 👏👏👏 NOTE THIS TOO: "...not put so much pressure on getting everything in Portuguese because that just stops me from saying anything" - 🙌