It has a vocabulary that highlights some specific characters such as:

espreitadeira a woman who spies on her neighbours

janeleiro said of one who spends much time at the front window, especially a young woman who is something of a coquette

pesamenteiro one who habitually joins groups of mourners at the home of a deceased person, ostensibly to offer condolences but in reality to partake of the refreshments which he expects will be served

It also has some wonderfully individual idioms such as:

cão picado por cobra, tem medo de linguiça a dog that has been bitten by a snake is afraid of sausages (ie once bitten, twice shy)

para baixo, todo santo ajuda ("going downhill, all the saints help"), meaning that it's easier to go downhill (literally or figuratively) than uphill

água mole em pedra dura tanto bate até que fura ("soft water on a hard rock beats for so long that it finally breaks through"), meaning that persistence pays off

As for attempting the correct pronunciation try ‘Amanhã’ (meaning tomorrow). The ‘nh’ is a sound with no real equivalent in English and is pronounced somewhat similarly to the ‘ny’ in ‘Enya while the ‘ã’ is also pronounced nasally and is somewhat similar to ‘an’.

Adam Jacot de Boinod is the author of The Meaning of Tingo and Other Extraordinary Words from around the World, published by Penguin Books.