## Where the words come from

The reading paper is built from real-world material: a pharmacy's opening hours, a bus-ticket
rule, a library notice, a text message about a broken heater, a short description of someone's
week.

So the vocabulary that pays is the vocabulary of ordinary life. Not literary Portuguese, not
business Portuguese, not the specialised terms of your own profession.

## The categories worth systematic attention

- **Time and dates.** Days, months, opening hours, *de segunda a sexta*, *a partir de*, *até*.
  These decide answers in notice questions constantly.
- **Prices, quantities and numbers.** Same reason.
- **Transport.** Tickets, stops, delays, schedules.
- **Shops and services.** Pharmacy, post office, bank, appointments.
- **Housing.** Rent, landlord, repairs, utilities.
- **Health.** Appointments, symptoms, prescriptions.
- **Work and study.** Schedules, colleagues, simple arrangements.
- **Family and routine.** The everyday speaking topics, which overlap heavily with the writing
  tasks.

## The small words that decide questions

This is where marks are actually won and lost, and it is not really vocabulary size.

*Só*, *não*, *exceto*, *apenas*, *sempre*, *nunca*, *antes*, *depois*. Negatives and restrictions
flip the meaning of a notice, and the wrong answer option is usually the one you would pick if you
skimmed past one of them.

## Make sure the words are European

If your Portuguese came from Brazilian sources, the everyday categories above are exactly where
the two varieties diverge. Learning the right word for a bus or a bathroom matters more here than
expanding your vocabulary in general.

## How to actually retain it

Spaced review beats rereading lists. Words resurface on a schedule set by how well you know them,
so your time goes to the ones you keep forgetting. That is how our vocabulary review works, and it
is included with a subscription.