Portugal: culture and manners
Portugal: culture and manners: a chapter of the Trip to Portugal Book, with the words, places and habits that make a first trip easier.
10 cards · History
Each Zap teaches up to 5 new cards, so you learn the deck a few at a time.
Checked by the Brain Zap team · reviewed 23 Oct 2026
Sources: Visit Portugal (official tourism site), Portugal (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Preview
Melancholic song of Lisbon, often about longing
Show answerHide answer: Melancholic song of Lisbon, often about longing
Fado
Learn more: Fado became part of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011.
A deep longing for someone or something missed
Show answerHide answer: A deep longing for someone or something missed
Saudade
Learn more: It runs through fado, poetry and everyday talk about home.
Painted blue and white tiles on walls
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Azulejos
Learn more: Lisbon has a whole museum of them, in an old convent.
Black and white stone pavements
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Calçada portuguesa
Learn more: Its wave patterns in Rossio square recall the sea.
Lisbon's June festival with grilled sardines
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Santo António
Learn more: On the night of 12 June, the old quarters fill with music, basil pots and parades.
About this topic
Portugal is warm and polite without fuss. People greet friends of friends with two kisses, dine late, and love to talk about football, family and food. Its arts, from painted tiles to fado, carry a gentle melancholy called saudade.
This is a chapter of the Trip to Portugal Book. Some cards let you hear the Portuguese, some show a place glowing on the map, and some put you in a real situation, at a café or a station. Each comes with a hint before you answer and a short reason after. Once you know most of this chapter, the next one starts arriving in your Daily Zap.
All 10 cards
Melancholic song of Lisbon, often about longing
Fado
Learn more: Fado became part of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011.
A deep longing for someone or something missed
Saudade
Learn more: It runs through fado, poetry and everyday talk about home.
Painted blue and white tiles on walls
Azulejos
Learn more: Lisbon has a whole museum of them, in an old convent.
Black and white stone pavements
Calçada portuguesa
Learn more: Its wave patterns in Rossio square recall the sea.
Lisbon's June festival with grilled sardines
Santo António
Learn more: On the night of 12 June, the old quarters fill with music, basil pots and parades.
Colourful rooster, a national symbol
Rooster of Barcelos
Learn more: Legend says a roasted rooster crowed to prove a pilgrim innocent.
Portugal produces about half the world's supply
Cork
Learn more: The bark of cork oaks is harvested every nine years without felling the tree.
Meeting a friend's friend, women usually get
Two kisses
Learn more: Men usually shake hands with each other; kisses go right cheek first.
Locals usually sit down to dinner around
8 to 9 pm
Learn more: Restaurants fill late, and lunch, from about 1 pm, is often the main meal.
Speaking Spanish to locals, they may answer
In English
Learn more: Many understand Spanish, but answering in English is a polite reminder.
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