I Speak Portuguese Podcast #1 Routine

Start with priorities, then listen for repeated actions

The episode introduces creating a routine through goals and priorities: decide what matters and what you want a habit to help you achieve. The speaker then shifts from advice to his own day. This change gives you two listening targets: general recommendations first, personal actions second.

In the personal account, repeated eu plus a present-tense verb creates a clear first-person thread. Listen for acordo, escovo, bebo, preparo, and faço. Here the present describes recurring actions.

Follow breakfast, exercise, and the start of work

The morning begins at six. The speaker mentions brushing his teeth, drinking water, preparing breakfast, making coffee, going to the gym, returning home, showering, and preparing his workspace before teaching.

Notice the different jobs of café and café da manhã: the first can refer to coffee, while the second names breakfast. The captions become awkward around the meal description, so focus on the unambiguous sequence rather than copying that sentence. Depois disso connects an action to what follows: after that. Use it to move between two stages of your own morning.

Map the day with clock times and meal verbs

Work continues until midday; the speaker pauses for lunch and resumes at two in the afternoon. At six in the evening, the account moves into the night routine.

Distinguish até meio-dia, until noon, from às duas da tarde, at two in the afternoon. The verb almoço means I have lunch, while o almoço names the meal. The speaker also discusses rice, beans, and meat. His broad comments about Brazilian meals are conversational generalizations, not evidence that every Brazilian eats the same food. Practice the schedule language with meals you personally eat.

Hear the difference between a habit and a decision

In the evening, the speaker thinks about dinner: ordering delivery or cooking. He then mentions reading, listening to music, and trying to sleep around ten. This passage combines familiar habits with choices that can change from day to day.

Listen for se introducing an undecided alternative, and ou linking options. A useful original extension is to describe your usual evening, then add one choice you have not made yet.

Turn input into a voice message

The study discussion names listening, speaking, reading, and some grammar, then asks learners to identify what needs attention. Later, the speaker describes sending students a video or text and having them record what they understood, whether they liked it, and whether it was easy or difficult.

Try that task with this episode: listen to a manageable passage, stop playback, and record two or three sentences about its content. Separate a summary from a reaction: first say what the speaker does; then say whether your routine is similar. His confident predictions about improvement are encouragement, not a guaranteed result or a fixed timetable for every learner.

Put study on the calendar and allow changes

The speaker recommends giving study an actual place in the calendar rather than relying on remembering it. His sample allocation includes speaking, attentive listening, and reading, with optional writing.

The closing examples include rain and a power outage, an unexpected visitor, and a longer work meeting. These return to the earlier balance between routine and flexibility. For original practice, explain one change with porque, then propose a later time. The transcript's percentages and minute examples are approximate and inconsistent; do not treat them as a precise study formula.

Original practice: examples and translations

These written examples are companion practice, rather than quotations from the video.

Eu acordo às sete e preparo o café da manhã.

I wake up at seven and prepare breakfast.

Original practice: present-tense actions and a clock time; replace seven with your real time.

Depois disso, eu vou trabalhar.

After that, I go to work.

Original practice: depois disso connects this stage to a previously mentioned action.

Eu trabalho até meio-dia e almoço em casa.

I work until noon and have lunch at home.

Original practice: até gives an endpoint; almoço is a verb here.

Ainda não sei se vou cozinhar ou pedir comida.

I still do not know whether I am going to cook or order food.

Original practice: se and ou introduce the two alternatives.

Hoje vou estudar mais tarde porque tenho uma reunião.

Today I am going to study later because I have a meeting.

Original practice: explain a schedule change with porque.

Check your understanding

1. In the morning account, does the speaker shower before or after returning from the gym?

   Answer and explanation

   After returning from the gym.

   The sequence around 2:15–2:26 moves from the gym to home and then to a shower. Listen for volto para casa followed by tomo um banho.

2. Choose the phrase meaning “until noon”: às duas da tarde or até meio-dia.

   Answer and explanation

   Até meio-dia.

   Até marks the endpoint of the work period. Às duas da tarde places an activity at two in the afternoon.

3. Complete this original sentence: Eu almoço em casa. Depois ___, volto a trabalhar.

   Answer and explanation

   disso

   Depois disso means after that and refers back to having lunch. It makes the sequence explicit.

4. What should the voice message described around 7:30 include besides the content understood?

   Answer and explanation

   A reaction, such as whether the learner liked the material or found it easy or difficult.

   The speaker describes reporting understanding and evaluating the experience; the task involves producing a response after reading or watching.