Getting through AIMA: Giving your biometrics for your residence permit

🇵🇹 Portuguese says fotografia in full in official settings. Among friends you'll hear the short form foto.

💬 In everyday speech Está shrinks to Tá, so you'll often hear Tá bem (tah BAYNG). The em in bem is nasal, not a clear English m.

💬 Portuguese asks "should I…?" with a plain present-tense verb and a rising voice: Tiro is literally "I take off". Swap in another verb the same way: Sento-me? "Should I sit down?"

🇵🇹 Glasses usually have to come off for the photo, so it's worth asking before they tell you.

💬 Portugal spells it câmara, while Brazil uses câmera. Olhar para is the standard way to say "look at", as in Olhe para mim "Look at me".

💬 Assim means "like this" or "this way". It's handy whenever you want to check you're doing something right, for example Assim? on its own.

💬 Ponha is the polite command form of pôr "to put", which is irregular. You'll hear it often in shops and offices, as in Ponha aqui "Put it here".

🇵🇹 Portuguese people say Pronto constantly to mean "done, that's it", or simply to wrap up a conversation. When the clerk says it, you're finished.

💬 Literally "it already is", meaning "done" or "there you go". It's handy whenever you finish something someone asked for.

💬 Portuguese often uses the present tense for things that are scheduled to happen: chega "arrives" here means "will arrive". The final ão in cartão is nasal, roughly (kar-TOWNG).

💬 por + o merges into pelo, and por + a becomes pela: pela internet "via the internet".

🇵🇹 The residence card is mailed to the address you gave AIMA, so make sure your name is on the letterbox. The post office is CTT.

💬 obrigado changes with the speaker, not the listener. Men say obrigado, women say obrigada.