Why is it so hard to make friends in Portugal?

• I have been living for 4 months now in Portugal - and all my friends are foreigners!!! Why is it so hard to make Portuguese friends? Sometimes I get the impression that they prefer to stay amongst themselves. This is not really what I expected when I came here.

  30 May 2007, 08:18 Linda

Replies

• Linda. Why is it so had to make friends

  Hi Linda,
  Generally I do not think it is hard to make friends in Portugal. I am 73 and have moved from the UK. I live on my own apart from my dog and do need to have friends. Language is a big problem, but I have found most people try to help me. Could it be that the ladies feel you might be a threat, or something like that?

  Sid Barry. calvossis@yahoo.co.uk 24 Jun 2007, 10:09 - Report

• Wrong email address

  Hi,
  Its Sid again.
  my email address is [email removed]

  Sid Barry 24 Jun 2007, 10:11 - Report

• Language

  Linda............. maybe because you havent made an effort to speack Portuguese , like Bom dia = good Morning or even Obrigada = Thank You !!!!!
  Try and You wioll see it helps..........A LOT !!!

  Lina 31 Jul 2007, 06:36 - Report

• learning the lingo

  Hi Linda and to anyone else who is looking to learn Portuguese. I think its essential when you live in another country to try and learn their language. I will admit its a hard language to learn, as in the English language we don't have the genders and of course the pronunication is another thing. But for a basic couse have you tried www.bbc.co.uk/languages, there is one for Portuguese. It would help you with the basics.

  Jayne 11 Feb 2008, 10:41 - Report

• linda

  Hi linda
  Linda you are in portugal not in england so its better try to learn portuguese.
  The portugueses are good people but people put in your head that you are in portugal,so be portuguese.
  Good bless portugal

  jon 28 Mar 2008, 08:23 - Report

• Retireing In Portugal

  HI,
  
  I was born in the Azores and will be retired with 2 years. Ive never been back, am I still considered a Portuguese citizen and if not what do I need to do before i move there

  Luis 30 Jul 2008, 07:32 - Report

• Making friends in Portugal

  Before you ask how hard it is to make friends, you have to put things into perspective right?!
  
  I am a Brit. I previously lived in London for 5 years and have now lived in Lisbon for 3 years. I made friends in London with brazilians, polish, south africans, brits, french, cypriates, etc, bec for one thing, we all spoke the same language...English.
  
  I knew I was going to eventually move to Portugal, and I began learing portuguese while in London. Now I am here, I studied further in the language. I thought all of this was the right thing to do.
  
  Recently, I was having lunch with some portuguese friends and friends of theirs. I was asked by one of the portuguese guys if it was difficult to make friends with Portuguese, which I agreed it could be sometimes.
  
  But we both whole heartedly agreed that Language was the made barrier to making friends!!! And second to that, if you (the brit) don't percevere in making the friendship stronger, at least to begin with, you will not keep those friendships.
  
  We brits are the foreigners here in Portugal, and if we want to fit in, we are the ones who need to make the effort.
  
  So my advice to Linda, is to make the effort...learn the language and make an effort to strengthen those friendships. Because then you will be introduced to many more people who will accept you as a friend more readily!

  Daren 28 Aug 2008, 02:54 - Report

• I'm moving to Portugal

  Hi, I am Graham from Cambridge planning to move to Portugal next month to live and work following divorce! I have a little Spanish but certainly intend to learn Portuguese. My first problem will be finding somewhere to live. How difficult will it be for me to find single accomodation very soon after arriving? I land in Oporto on November 30th. Any advice or suggestions anyone?

  Graham 25 Oct 2008, 11:08 - Report

• Moving to Portugal

  Hi Graham. By now you should be preparing your move to Porto. Great city, you will like it. I don't think is too difficult to find accomodation. Try the website www.portocity.olx.pt or real estate agency www.era.pt or www.remax.pt.
  You can find good apartments in Boavista or Antas district. For more traditional downtown Porto. Next to the sea and river Foz area is the probably the best place to live.
  Knowing some spanish it will help, but young people should be able to speak english. I hope I could give you some help. Regards

  Reivax 15 Nov 2008, 09:55 - Report

• trying to make friends

  i came into portugal september 2008, and have been trying to make new female friends, but its difficult , i need female company,
  [email removed]

  tony 16 Nov 2008, 04:04 - Report

• yooooooo

  i came to portugal in the year 2010 and on my way home i made many pals...
  am mikail
  [email removed] [email removed]

  miakil 21 Dec 2008, 09:16 - Report

• making friends

  Hey,
  
  I moved to Porto recently and i'm having the exact same problem. I've been out a few times with some guys i've met but the problem is I can't form really good friendships with anyone. Whenever i'm in a group situation i'm aware of the fact that they are struggling to speak English... just for me, and I feel bad. I think unless you can communicate reasonably fluently it'll be hard to make friends with a group of Portuguese. Especially, those in the 20's and 30's.

  Kate 06 Feb 2009, 09:02 - Report