It would have been really nice to teach that "tocar" needs "em" before using a sentence like this one. I hate losing hearts for things that have not been previously explained and cannot be derived from simply checking the given meanings of the words.
Duolingo translates a number of phrases in the simple present in Portuguese to the present progressive in English, no? I think Duolingo needs to accept the present progressive English translation too.
Is the pronunciation on these just really off? Even coming from a background of speaking Spanish, it's really hard to actually tell what some of these words are
You're right, but then use just tocar: "sei tocar piano/eu sabia tocar teclado" (keyboard). Plus, tocar means "to ring": your phone is ringing (seu telefone está tocando) ;)
While here but not pertaining to the question directly, does tocar also mean "to play (instrument)" or "to hold (in ones hands)"? I know in this context they don't apply but i wonder if it's the same as in Spanish