It's flu and COVID shot season, starting today here in Portugal, see my blog today. If you need some vocabulary for the pharmacy, you'll find it right here. And if it's not for you, who ARE you speaking to today, where, and what are you going to say - in Portuguese? Please let us know and what help you might need 👇

Olá, bom dia! On this day in 1998, a former locksmith from a small village in the Ribatejo got the phone call every writer dreams of. José Saramago had won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and he is still the only writer in Portuguese ever to do so. Today’s sheet, Nº 8: José Saramago, is in the classroom, with four phrases for your next trip to the livraria (bookshop). One of them every expat needs: “Tem este livro em inglês?” (Do you have this book in English?) Watch out for “biblioteca”! It means library, not bookshop. Over to you: have you read any Saramago? Which one would you recommend to a beginner? Boas leituras! (Happy reading!) 📖

Because there is crime in Portugal (it's not a paradise...), I'll place some ocasional news about the subject here. Seven people were convicted to prison (7Y9M to 16 years) for a total of 36 robberies. They robbed houses, with old folks inside, and businesses, perpetrated in the districts of Coimbra and Aveiro in early 2022.https://www.jn.pt/3644566357/sete-dos-15-arguidos-do-caso-teia-dourada-condenados-a-prisao/

Olá bom dia! Tudo bem? Yes, it's Monday again, segunda-feira, a clear opportunity to start the week speaking Portuguese. So who are you speaking to today? Where are you speaking to them, and what are you going to say to them in Portuguese? There's also talk in the air about a book club (see last week's Expats Portugal Dream Team session where Gilda P' mentioned the President's book fair in his back garden!). Would you find a book club useful? How would you like to see it work? And if reading is a hobby of yours and you're interested in Portuguese history, you might like to tune into the Good Morning Portugal! show this morning to hear author Tim Richardson speak about his book 'Forgetting Nicholas Trant'. Oh, and here's a new special ops module for you, should you be going to a bookshop or your local library.

To my delight and surprise recently, my youngest son wanted to read a Portuguese book at bedtime. It was Pinocchio as it turned out (em Portugues: 'Pinóquio') and we read it together. The beautiful thing was not only the chance to sit and read with one of my children, but also how much I realised I understood and was able to explain to him. This is the 'collateral' benefit of the other work I've been doing; interesting because I don't read much Portuguese, consciously or purposefully. I tend to learn through other means, primarily through speaking and engagement, SWAT-style! This was a lovely option, or complementary activity, which I thoroughly recommend to you, and I'm interested to know what your reading matter is. What do you read, or what will you start with from our suggestions in the survey today? And please say more in the chat to inspire (and impress) others! PS Please share your personal SWAT 'mission' for TODAY in this pinned thread too (maybe a trip to the bookshop?!) PPS New 'recycling' mission here