How to learn Portuguese in the streets of Goa

Evelyn Siqueira

LEARN PORTUGUESE

From roads to business establishments, many signboards in Goa display Portuguese words. Here are a few along with their English translations.

Portuguese | Goa | Casa Bhonsle | Panjim | restaurant | Photo: Katia Goes

BOA CASA

Boa Casa literally translates to ‘Good House’, which is an apt name for this store which specialises in home furnishings and upholstery.

Portuguese | Goa |Boa Casa | Panjim | upholstery | Photo: Roxanne D'silva

CAFE REAL

Some words have the same meaning in English as they do in Portuguese, such as cafe which also means ‘cafe’ in English, which is the name of this popular decades-old café in Panjim.

Goa| Panjim| Cafe Real | Portuguese | restaurant | Photo: Katia Goes

FARMACIA ANANTA

Farmacia sounds like the English word for ‘pharmacy’, and that’s exactly what it means. In Goa, drogaria is another Portuguese word that is often used in place of farmacia.

Portuguese | Goa | pharmacy | Panjim | farmacia | Photo: Roxanne D'silva

BARBEARIA INDIANA

Back in the day, barbers’ shops sported the word barbearia, the Portuguese word for barber.

Portuguese | Goa | barber| Panjim | barbearia | Photo: Roxanne D'silva

RUA DE NATAL

The word rua means ‘road’ and can be spotted on many signboards including Rua de Natal, which was constructed somewhere in the 1880s in Panjim’s Latin Quarter of Fontainhas.

Portuguese | Goa | rua de natal | Panjim | Fontainhas | Photo: Venita Gomes

LOJA CAMOTA

Loja is a Portuguese word that you’ll find on stores selling all kinds of things from general merchandise to clothes to stationery and paint, and translates to the English ‘store’.

Portuguese | Goa | Loja Camota | Panjim | shop

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