Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Este ano queremos definir um rumo claro para a nossa carreira. - This year we want to define a clear direction for our career.

It refers to the current calendar year you are in.
It can also imply a sort of new phase / fresh start (similar to English when we say “this year we want to…” about plans or resolutions).

You could also hear neste ano (literally “in this year”), but in many cases este ano is more natural and slightly lighter/less formal in everyday speech.

Why is queremos in the present tense if we’re talking about plans for the future?

In Portuguese, the present tense is very often used to talk about near or planned future actions, especially when the plan is quite certain or is being decided now.

Este ano queremos definir…
= This year we want to define… (present tense, but future meaning in context)

This is similar to English when we say “We want to do X this year”.
You could use a future tense (e.g. quereremos, iremos definir), but in natural speech present + time expression (este ano) is more common and sounds less stiff.

Is queremos definir a kind of “verb + verb” construction? Why can definir follow queremos without a preposition?

Yes, queremos definir is a modal-like construction: querer (to want) + infinitive (definir).

In Portuguese, some verbs can be followed directly by another verb in the infinitive without a preposition.
Querer is one of them:
- Quero estudar. – I want to study.
- Queremos definir. – We want to define.

You do not say “queremos de definir” or “queremos a definir” in this structure; those would be incorrect here.

What does definir add, compared with a more basic verb like escolher (to choose) or decidir (to decide)?

Definir literally means to define, but in this context it has a sense of:

to set, to establish, to determine clearly.

So:

definir um rumo claro
≈ set/establish a clear direction (not just choose something, but give it structure and clarity).

Escolher um rumo – “choose a direction” (focused on picking one).
Decidir o rumo – “decide the direction” (focused on making the choice).
Definir um rumo – “define/set the direction” (focused on clarifying and specifying it).

What exactly does rumo mean here? Is it the same as direção?

Rumo literally means course / direction / heading, like the direction a ship takes. In this sentence it is metaphorical:

um rumo claro = a clear direction / path (for your professional life).

Compared with direção:

direção is more general and used in many contexts (physical direction, leadership, company management, etc.).
rumo often has a sense of “course we are taking toward a goal”, and sounds quite natural and idiomatic in career or life-plan contexts:
- dar um novo rumo à vida – give life a new direction.
- mudar de rumo – change course / change direction (in life, in a project, etc.).

Why is it um rumo claro and not um claro rumo? Where does the adjective usually go?

In Portuguese, the default position of descriptive adjectives is after the noun:

um rumo claro – a clear direction
uma casa grande – a big house

Putting the adjective before the noun (um claro rumo) is possible but:

It sounds more poetic or emphatic, and is much less common in everyday speech.
It can slightly change the nuance, stressing the adjective in a more “literary” way.

So um rumo claro is the natural everyday structure.

Why is it para a nossa carreira with an article? Could we say just para nossa carreira?

In European Portuguese, it is very common (almost standard) to use a definite article before possessives:

a nossa carreira – our career
o nosso carro – our car
a tua casa – your house

So para a nossa carreira is the normal European form.

In Brazilian Portuguese, people much more often drop the article in speech:

para nossa carreira (BR, very common)
para a nossa carreira (possible, but can sound more formal/emphatic in Brazil).

Since you are learning Portuguese from Portugal, para a nossa carreira is the more typical pattern.

Why is nossa feminine? I’d expect nosso for “our”.

The form of the possessive (nosso / nossa / nossos / nossas) has to agree in gender and number with the thing possessed, not with the people who possess it.

carreira is a feminine singular noun (it ends in -a and is grammatically feminine):
- a carreira – the career
Therefore, you must use the feminine singular possessive:
- a nossa carreira – our career

Other examples:

o nosso carro – our car (carro = masculine singular)
as nossas ideias – our ideas (ideias = feminine plural)

Why is it para a nossa carreira and not em nossa carreira or another preposition?

The preposition para usually expresses:

direction / purpose / goal / benefit.

In this sentence:

definir um rumo claro para a nossa carreira
= define a clear direction *for our career*
(i.e., a direction that will guide or benefit our career).

Em nossa carreira (= in our career) would suggest a location or context (“in the context of our career”) rather than direction or purpose, so para is more appropriate.

Other typical patterns with para:

bom para a saúde – good for your health
planos para o futuro – plans for the future
um curso para iniciantes – a course for beginners

Does nossa carreira mean we share one single career, or can it also mean “our careers” in general?

Literally, a nossa carreira is singular: our (shared) career.
However, in context, it can refer to:

A shared career path (e.g., a couple or a team talking about their joint professional direction).
The group’s careers seen collectively, especially when you’re talking about overall direction and not about separate, detailed paths.

If you really want to be explicit about multiple separate careers, you can say:

as nossas carreiras – our careers (plural).

But in many natural contexts, a nossa carreira is perfectly idiomatic as a collective idea: “our professional life/career path as a group.”

How would this sentence sound in more informal everyday European Portuguese speech?

The written sentence is already quite natural, but in informal spoken EP you might hear some reductions in pronunciation (not in standard writing):

Este ano queremos definir um rumo claro para a nossa carreira.
Pronounced more like:
- “Sht’ano queremos definir um rumo claro pra nossa carreira.”

Features:

Este ano → ’sht’ano (vowel reduction).
para a often sounds close to “pra” in fast speech.
a nossa can become “à nossa” in sound (but spelling stays a nossa).

In writing, you normally keep the full, standard form: Este ano queremos definir um rumo claro para a nossa carreira.

How is rumo pronounced in European Portuguese, especially the r?

In European Portuguese:

rumo is roughly: [ˈʁu.mu]
- Initial r (r in rumo) is a guttural /ʁ/ sound in the throat, similar to the French or German r.
- u is like “oo” in “food”.
- Final -o is often a reduced vowel, close to a short “u” in “put”, especially in fast speech: “ʁu-mu”.

So it is not like the English rolled “r” in American English; it’s more like a French or German r at the back of the throat.