Galicia PAU Portuguese - Second Foreign Language common mistakes
Galicia PAU Portuguese - Second Foreign Language · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
In the reading-comprehension section, answering with a full sentence copied verbatim from the text instead of a concise answer that demonstrates understanding, or conversely answering only 'sim'/'não' when the question asks 'Explique porquê'.
Candidates transfer habits from other subjects where quoting the source is rewarded, or they panic at the open-ended 'Explique' format and give a one-word reply. Neither shows the examiner that the candidate has processed the meaning.
What to do instead
Before writing, underline the exact words in the question that signal the required format ('Indique', 'Explique', 'Resuma', 'Transcreva'). Practise a three-step routine: locate the relevant lines, reformulate the idea in your own words in one sentence, then add a short justification clause introduced by 'porque' or 'já que'. If the prompt says 'Transcreva', then and only then copy exactly.
Treating Portuguese and Spanish as interchangeable: writing 'também' meaning 'tampoco', using 'pero' for 'mas', 'muito' for 'muy', or producing portuñol forms like 'la problema' or 'el agua' with Spanish articles.
Most Galician candidates have strong Spanish and Galician competence, and the languages overlap enough that the brain auto-completes with the nearest available word. Under time pressure the Spanish form surfaces first and feels correct.
What to do instead
Build a personal false-friends and interference list (mas/pero, também/tampoco, muito/muy, pero/mas, todavía/ainda, sólo/só, embora/aunque, oficina/escritório, vaso/copo). Test yourself by writing ten sentences using each pair. In compositions, do a dedicated five-minute 'hispanism sweep' at the end, reading only for these items.
Losing accent and diacritic marks in writing: omitting or misplacing accents (e.g. 'voce', 'tambem', 'historia', 'agua', 'lingua'), confusing 'há' with 'ha', 'pôr' with 'por', 'pôde' with 'pode', and misusing the tilde or cedilla.
Accents carry real meaning in Portuguese (avô/avó, pôde/pode, está/esta), but candidates treat them as decoration and skip them when handwriting fast. Galician and Spanish orthography also condition different accent habits.
What to do instead
Memorise the three stress rules (oxítona, paroxítona, proparoxítona) plus the accent patterns for -em, -ã, -õe and the diferencial accents (pôr/por, pôde/pode, têm/tem, vêm/vem). Keep a running list of the twenty most frequent accented words in exam texts and drill them weekly. In the exam, reserve the final minutes to re-read only for accents.
Mixing up ser/estar, ficar and haver/existir, and using 'ter' where Portuguese requires 'haver' in impersonal constructions ('tem muitos problemas' instead of 'há muitos problemas').
The ser/estar distinction is less categorical in Spanish and Galician usage than in European Portuguese, and colloquial Brazilian 'ter' for existence leaks into formal writing. Candidates rely on feel rather than rule.
What to do instead
Learn the diagnostic: ser for inherent/defining characteristics and profession/nationality; estar for states, location of people and temporary conditions; ficar for location of places and change of state. For existence in formal register use 'há' or 'existe/existem'. Write ten minimal pairs (É alegre / Está alegre; É no Porto / Está no Porto) and check each composition for 'tem + noun' meaning existence.
Producing a composition that ignores the required genre, register and structure: writing a chat-style paragraph with no greeting or sign-off for a formal letter, or missing the required number of points (e.g. only addressing two of the three prompts) and falling well under the word limit.
Candidates focus all their energy on grammar and treat the task as 'write something in Portuguese', forgetting that the marking scheme awards content points and register separately. Time pressure then cuts the text short.
What to do instead
Before writing, spend two minutes on a skeleton: identify the text type (carta formal, email, artigo de opinião, mensagem informal), list the required content points as bullet headings, and allocate one short paragraph to each. Learn fixed frames: 'Exmos. Senhores, / Venho por este meio... / Com os melhores cumprimentos' for formal; 'Olá! / Beijinhos / Abraço' for informal. Count words roughly (lines × words per line) and add a closing paragraph if short.
Answering sociocultural questions with vague generalities ('a cultura portuguesa é muito rica') instead of naming concrete facts: countries and capitals of the CPLP, the significance of 25 de Abril, fado as UNESCO heritage, the Brazilian and African varieties of Portuguese, or key writers and musicians.
The syllabus covers the Portuguese-speaking world broadly, but candidates revise only European Portuguese and rely on impressions. They cannot recall specific names, dates or countries under exam conditions.
What to do instead
Build a one-page fact sheet: the nine CPLP member states and their capitals, the five African PALOP plus Timor-Leste, the main differences between European, Brazilian and African Portuguese (pronunciation, gerund vs infinitive, vocabulary), and a short list of cultural reference points (Amália Rodrigues, Cesária Évora, Chico Buarque, Mia Couto, Saramago, 25 de Abril, Carnaval, Festa do Divino). Review it weekly with self-quizzing, not passive reading.
In listening tasks, trying to transcribe every word as it is heard, then freezing when an unknown word appears and missing the next two sentences; or writing the answer before the audio finishes and not revising it during the second playing.
School language teaching often rewards dictation-style accuracy, and candidates have not been trained to listen for gist, keywords and discourse markers. Anxiety about unknown vocabulary blocks comprehension.
What to do instead
Use the pre-listening time to read the questions and predict the topic and likely vocabulary. On the first playing, note only keywords and the answers to the gist questions; leave gaps. On the second playing, fill in details and confirm numbers, names and times. Train with short authentic clips (podcasts, news) at normal speed, listening once for gist and once for detail, never pausing mid-sentence.
Failing to adapt to the European Portuguese register expected by the exam: using 'você' and Brazilian gerund constructions ('estou falando', 'você sabe') in a formal written task, or mixing 'tu' and 'você' within the same text.
Brazilian Portuguese dominates music, series and social media, so candidates absorb 'você' and the gerund as default. Galician also nudges towards different pronoun habits. The exam, however, expects European Portuguese norms and consistent address.
What to do instead
Decide the register before writing: formal = 'o senhor/a senhora', third-person verbs, 'estou a falar'; informal = 'tu', second-person verbs, 'estás a falar'. Keep one system throughout the text. Practise converting five Brazilian sentences into European Portuguese (gerund → 'a + infinitivo', 'você' → 'tu' or 'o senhor', 'a gente' → 'nós').
Leaving blanks or writing a single word for open questions in the reading and use-of-language sections, and not attempting items where the answer feels uncertain, thereby losing partial-credit marks.
Negative marking rumours and fear of being wrong lead candidates to skip items. In fact most PAU-style tasks award marks per correct item with no penalty for a wrong attempt, and a plausible attempt often earns partial credit.
What to do instead
Confirm the marking rules with your teacher and adopt a rule: never leave an item blank. For grammar gaps, apply elimination and insert the most plausible form; for vocabulary matching, use word-class and context clues even when unsure. Reserve the last five minutes to fill every remaining gap with a reasoned guess.
Mismanaging time: spending too long on the reading text and translation-style analysis, then rushing the composition to a few ungrammatical lines or omitting it entirely.
The composition is worth a large share of the mark but comes last, so it absorbs the time lost earlier. Candidates also over-invest in re-reading the source text instead of answering the questions.
What to do instead
Set a fixed time budget before starting (for example: reading questions 25 minutes, language use 15 minutes, composition 30 minutes, review 10 minutes) and keep to it with a watch. Do the composition before the final review, never after. If time runs short, write the composition's skeleton first (greeting, three content points, closing) so the structure is complete even if sentences are simple.