Setting up a Portuguese voice
- Record 5 to 15 seconds of a native speaker of the variety you want: Brazilian, European, or African Portuguese.
- Set the voice's Language to Portuguese.
- Test with nasal vowels, a number and a question.
Brazilian or European
The sample sets the accent, and it's the biggest choice you'll make. The script should match it, because the two varieties also differ in vocabulary and grammar:
| Brazilian | European | English |
|---|---|---|
| ônibus | autocarro | bus |
| trem | comboio | train |
| estou fazendo | estou a fazer | I'm doing |
| você | tu (informal) | you |
For both markets, make two scripts with two voices, one from each side of the Atlantic.
Writing Portuguese for the voice
- Accents and tildes change words: avô / avó (grandfather, grandmother), pais / país (parents, country), e / é, nos / nós. Keep ç, ã, õ.
- Numbers as words: dois mil e vinte e seis, R$ 10,50 → dez reais e cinquenta centavos.
- Dates and times: três de março, nove e meia.
- Abbreviations: Sr. → senhor, Dra. → doutora, p. ex. → por exemplo, etc. → et cetera.
- English loanwords are common in Brazilian Portuguese; check how they come out, and respell any that don't sound right.
A passage to record
Fazia semanas que eu queria gravar isso, então lá vai. É uma noite tranquila, o café está pronto e finalmente tenho
alguns minutos só para mim. Vamos ver como fica.
"I'd been meaning to record this for weeks, so here goes. It's a quiet evening, the coffee's ready and I finally have a few minutes to myself. Let's see how it turns out." (Brazilian; a European speaker might say "Há semanas que queria gravar isto, por isso aqui vai.")
A dialogue to test with
Ana: Você já chegou? Estou te esperando desde as oito.
Pedro: Desculpa! O trânsito estava impossível.
Ana: Tudo bem, agora você está aqui. Vamos pedir?Review
Have a native speaker of the target variety listen to every line. A Brazilian listener notices European vocabulary immediately, and the other way round.