Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Durante o estágio, eu vou aprendendo coisas novas todos os dias. - During the internship, I gradually keep learning new things every day.

In European Portuguese, "estágio" usually means an internship, a work placement, or sometimes a training period in a company or institution.

It is masculine: o estágio (the internship), um estágio (an internship).
Plural: os estágios.

Context decides whether it feels more like "internship" or "training period", but in everyday modern usage, "internship" is the most common translation.

Why do we say "Durante o estágio" and not just "Durante estágio"?

In Portuguese, time periods and events like this usually need an article:

Durante o estágio = During the internship
Durante as férias = During the holidays
Durante o verão = During the summer

Leaving out the article (Durante estágio) sounds wrong/unnatural in European Portuguese. You generally need the article unless there’s a special fixed expression (and this isn’t one).

Could I say "no estágio" instead of "durante o estágio"? Do they mean the same?

They are close, but not identical:

Durante o estágio focuses on the time period: throughout the internship / during that whole period.
No estágio literally means “in the internship”, and can sound more like "at the internship" or "while I’m at the internship".

In many contexts they overlap, and you might hear sentences like:

No estágio, aprendi imenso.
In/at my internship, I learned a lot.

But "Durante o estágio, eu vou aprendendo..." emphasizes the ongoing process over the whole duration of the internship, so "durante" is the better choice here.

Why is "eu" included? Could we just say "Durante o estágio, vou aprendendo..."?

Yes, you can absolutely say:

Durante o estágio, vou aprendendo coisas novas todos os dias.

In Portuguese, subject pronouns (eu, tu, ele, etc.) are often omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

Including "eu" can:

add a bit of emphasis on I specifically,
or sound a bit more explicit or careful, like in written or formal language.

So both versions are grammatically correct:

With emphasis on I: Durante o estágio, eu vou aprendendo...
More neutral/natural: Durante o estágio, vou aprendendo...

What’s the difference between "eu vou aprendendo" and simply "eu aprendo"?

Both can be translated as “I learn”, but they don’t feel the same:

Eu aprendo coisas novas todos os dias.
Neutral statement: I learn new things every day (as a general fact).
Eu vou aprendendo coisas novas todos os dias.
Suggests a process that develops gradually over time, almost like “I keep learning new things every day” or “I’m gradually learning new things day by day.”

So vou aprendendo adds a nuance of ongoing, progressive, step‑by‑step learning. It sounds more dynamic and “in progress” than the plain present.

Is "vou aprendendo" talking about the future, like “I will learn”, or the present, like “I’m learning”?

In this sentence, "vou aprendendo" mainly expresses an ongoing process that unfolds over time, starting now or in the (near) future and continuing:

It can feel like “I go on learning / I keep learning / I’m gradually learning”.
Because it’s in the context of “Durante o estágio” (a period that extends into the future), it naturally includes the idea of future time, but with strong emphasis on the progressive aspect, not just the future point.

So it’s not a simple “I will learn” (vou aprender). It’s more like: As the internship goes on, I will be gradually learning new things every day.

What’s the difference between "vou aprendendo", "vou aprender", and "estou a aprender"?

These three are different in aspect and nuance:

Vou aprendendo (ir + gerúndio)
- Aspect: gradual / progressive over time.
- Meaning: I keep learning / I’ll be gradually learning / I go on learning.
- Fits well with habits or ongoing developments, like in your sentence.
Vou aprender (ir + infinitivo)
- Aspect: more like a future plan or prediction.
- Eu vou aprender coisas novas = I’m going to learn new things.
- Focus is simply that this will happen, not on the gradual process.
Estou a aprender (estar a + infinitivo — especially European Portuguese)
- Aspect: present continuous, an action happening right now.
- Eu estou a aprender coisas novas = I am learning new things (right now / at this point in time).

In your sentence, vou aprendendo is chosen because it matches “todos os dias” and “durante o estágio”: a continuous, step‑by‑step learning process over that whole period.

I thought European Portuguese prefers “estar a + infinitive” instead of the gerund. Why is there a gerund "aprendendo" here?

You’re right that in European Portuguese the normal present continuous is:

estar a + infinitivo → estou a aprender, está a comer, etc.

But that doesn’t mean the gerund (-ndo form) vanished. It is still used, especially in:

ir + gerúndio → ir fazendo, ir aprendendo, ir melhorando, etc.
This combination has a specific meaning: gradual, step‑by‑step progression over time, not just “doing right now”.

So:

estou a aprender = I am learning (now, around this time).
vou aprendendo = I keep/gradually learn as time goes by.

In other words, the gerund is not banned in European Portuguese; it just has more limited and specific uses than in Brazilian Portuguese, and this ir + gerúndio structure is one of those standard uses.

Why is it "coisas novas" and not "novas coisas"? Does the adjective always come after the noun?

By default, in Portuguese the adjective usually comes after the noun:

coisas novas = new things
livro interessante = interesting book

You can put some adjectives before the noun (novas coisas), but that often adds a nuance or makes the phrase sound more marked or literary.

In this particular sentence:

coisas novas is the normal, neutral, everyday way to say “new things”.
novas coisas would sound unusual here, and might suggest a slight emphasis on new as opposed to old/previous things, or sound stylistic/poetic rather than natural spoken Portuguese.

So, "coisas novas" is the standard and most idiomatic order.

Why is it "todos os dias" and not "todos dias"?

In Portuguese, when you say “every day / all the days”, you normally keep the article:

todos os dias = every day / all the days
todas as semanas = every week
todas as noites = every night

Without the article:

todos dias sounds wrong/unnatural.

You can sometimes use cada without an article:

cada dia = each day
cada semana = each week

So:

Correct: todos os dias, cada dia.
Incorrect: todos dias (missing article).

Can I move "todos os dias" or "coisas novas" around in the sentence?

Yes, there is some flexibility, but not every position sounds equally natural.

Original:

Durante o estágio, eu vou aprendendo coisas novas todos os dias.

Some acceptable variants:

Durante o estágio, eu vou aprendendo todos os dias coisas novas.
- Slightly different rhythm, but still natural.
Eu vou aprendendo coisas novas todos os dias durante o estágio.
- Also fine; now the stage period is at the end, but still clear.
Durante o estágio, vou aprendendo coisas novas todos os dias.
- Without eu: very natural.

Less natural or odd:

Durante o estágio, vou aprendendo eu coisas novas todos os dias.
→ Sounds strange; eu almost never goes after the verb like this in such a sentence, unless you want a special contrast like “vou aprendendo eu, não tu” (I’m the one learning, not you).

The original word order is one of the most natural for everyday speech.