This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the B1 level.
My suggestion* for these two weeks is to focus on:
*There's always room to adjust the course according to the group's preferences:
After this course, you'll have come closer to the B1 level and have the tools and strategies to get there and beyond.
Not sure if you should enroll in the A2 or B1 course?
Geared toward Absolute Beginners, this course gives you a solid start and foundation to build upon.
This is an introductory course to the Portuguese language as spoken in Portugal. Throughout the course, we will focus on the Portuguese sound system and basic Portuguese grammar.
You will also learn how to introduce yourself and day-to-day, useful phrases. Finally, we will discuss learning resources and strategies to support your learning journey.
After the course, you will have a basic understanding of European Portuguese pronunciation and grammar. You will also be capable of engaging in simple, short oral interactions. Last but not least, you will be aware of a variety of learning resources and strategies to help you succeed at learning the language.
I will keep you updated on upcoming course seasons
This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the A2 level.
My suggestion* for these two weeks is to focus on:
*There's always room to adjust the course according to the group's preferences:
After this course, you'll have come closer to the A2 level and have the tools and strategies to get there and beyond.
Not sure if you should enroll in the A2 or B1 course?
This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the A1 level.
If you have just started your learning journey, you may find this course too challenging. Consider enrolling for the Clean Slate A0 instead (if available).
This is an all-round course, meaning that we’ll work on all aspects of language learning (at the A1 level):
After this course, you'll have come closer to the A1 level and have the tools and strategies to get there and beyond.
Not sure if you should enroll in the A1 or A2 course?
There are so many online resources for those of your learning Portuguese! As a language learner, you definitely should use this wealth of content in your favor.
Now, in language learning as in any other field, there are the good the bad, and the ugly. Thus the question: what are the best online resources to learn European Portuguese?
In this article, I will take you by the hand and guide you through those resources that are actually worth your time and, for the premium ones, your money. Read on.
If you are looking for one-off payment online courses, then take a look at
Alternatively, here are a couple of subscription platforms where you can learn European Portuguese from beginner to upper intermediate:
For those of you who understand how crucial pronunciation is to language learning, consider the following courses:
Oftentimes, language learners believe that speaking in their target language will only be possible at a later stage in their language-learning journey. That is not true. In fact, such a mindset holds you back and slows down your learning.
And here’s the thing! There are, nowadays, tools that make it simpler than ever before to make new native-speaker acquaintances or find tutors with whom you can practice. Here are a couple of them:
Further reading! Learn how to drill your speaking from day one: Practice Speaking Portuguese Without Leaving Home.
Many students learn best through organic materials like short stories. If you’re one of them, take a look at these resources:
As a Portuguese learner, you want to start sharpening your ears right off the bat. Here are a couple of suggestions for podcasts designed for beginners and lower-intermediate levels.
On Portuguese Lab, you will find plenty of short podcast episodes to listen to. There are also available free transcripts for some of the episodes.
In this well-humored and entertaining podcast, Carla and her co-host present you with everyday life dialogues/role-plays and then go back to break it down for you, bit by bit.
Practice Portuguese is a paid subscription learning platform. You can access the audio content free of charge, but you’ll have to pay a monthly fee to get hold of the transcripts and other goodies that come along with the subscription.
If you’re a YouTube fan you’ll be pleased to know that there are a few channels suitable for beginners.
Further reading! Discover more YouTube channels catering to Portuguese language learners: 10 YouTube Channels for Portuguese Language Learners.
When you start learning a new language, one of the first things you do is to grow your vocabulary – no words no talk, right?
Drops is a spaced-repetition app that helps you increase your vocabulary retention rate. As a matter of fact, it is the only quality spaced-repetition app (that I am aware of) that has European Portuguese available.
This tool can be very useful, especially when you’re dealing with bigger chunks of text. For instance, when you need to write a text in Portuguese but you’re not able yet to formulate your thoughts directly in the target language.
You can then write it in your tongue to get the first draft in Portuguese. There are, however, a couple of things that you want to keep in mind.
First off, Google Translate defaults to Brazilian Portuguese. If you are learning the European variant, you need to go to settings and choose European Portuguese.
Also, the bigger your input text is (in your mother tongue), the higher the chances are that the output (in Portuguese) comes out with issues concerning structure, word choice, and misinterpretation of context. So, you always need to scrutinize it, sentence by sentence, to get it idiomatically right – an excellent drill to improve your idiomatic feel for Portuguese.
These are all similar tools and are suitable to translate small phrases or single words at a time. They give you back contextualized usage examples and different ways to use the same word or expression.
Infopedia is a Portuguese-Portuguese online dictionary listing several usage examples of any word that you might want to look up. Only the fact that it is Portuguese-Portuguese makes it more immersive than the options above, which is excellent for your learning.
Verb conjugator! Most importantly, you can use it to check any Portuguese verb conjugation. All you need to do is to write the verb in the search box and click on the “Conjugação” button – it will conjugate all tenses for you. Another online verb conjugator is also provided by Reverso context.
This is a very capable online audio phrasebook accessible either through a mobile app or your browser. You can freely browse through dozens of different everyday life themes.
As you advance your Portuguese language skills you will, at some point, reach the fluency threshold. This will allow you to start listening to Portuguese radio and podcasts, watching TV programs and YouTube channels, etc. – the same ones native speakers listen to and watch. Isn’t that wonderful?
Here are a few suggestions of media resources you can use to solidify and further grow your language skills.
The big advantage of audio content is that you can listen to it on the go, which is a big advantage for those of you with busy lives.
When it comes to radio broadcasting, I’d recommend that you listen to channels that are more news-oriented and with programs debating politics, society, and current affairs. Some of your options are Antena 1, TSF, and Rádio Observador .
There are dozens of good Portuguese podcasts to choose from. Here’re a few suggestions:
These are short-format episodes that will take you to all the corners of Portugal to show you its culture and heritage. Each episode will be about a specific place of interest.
This is a conversational podcast where the two hosts pick up topics related to social behavior, family, and relationships in general.
Once a week, four commentators sit around the table to discuss Portugal’s current affairs, not without a good dose of humor.
The host of this program interviews different personalities to discuss arts, architecture, history, science, and music, among others.
More podcast shows! Are you an avid podcast listener? Here’re some more suggestions for you: 16 Podcast Shows to Nurture Your Portuguese Language Skills.
Here’s an article (in Portuguese) listing the 10 most popular Portuguese YouTubers in 2020. It ranges from fashion and lifestyle to gaming and technology, to humor and entertainment.
RTP (Rádio Televisão Portuguesa) is Portugal’s public service broadcaster and you can browse many of its TV programs online. Go to RTP play. Some programs might deny you access if you’re streaming from abroad without a VPN.
Granted, you will come across series and films in English with Portuguese subtitles. By watching these, you may learn a couple of new Portuguese expressions. Better than nothing.
But don’t be mistaken! Watching foreign programs with Portuguese subtitles is second-best (at best).
Ideally, you want to watch stuff in your target language, Portuguese. It is of course way more challenging to keep up with it, but well worth the effort since you will learn so much more.
Tips! A handful of Portuguese tv-shows come with subtitles (unfortunately, it is not common practice to subtitle Portuguese programs). You might be interested to glance at the following: 22 Portuguese TV Shows Online with Subtitles to Boost Your Language Learning.
If you happen to subscribe to a streaming service like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, you’ll definitely find Portuguese/Brazilian movies and TV shows.
Try, firstly, to watch them without using English subtitles – you will then be 100% immersed in your target language, which brings the best possible results (from a language-learning perspective).
Alternatively, you can take the first round with subtitles, and then a second round without. Or even better, maybe you will find TV shows and films that you have watched before and that you are familiar with – that is an excellent opportunity to fully immerse yourself in your target language.
Reading tips! Now that you’ve learned about all these resources, make sure you also have a sound learning strategy guiding your choices:
• Here’s How to Push Through Your Portuguese Speaking Skills
• Mindsets and Strategies to Learn Portuguese the Best (or any other language)
Break Free from the Tyranny of the Present Tense
Stay tuned for upcoming online courses and other learning materials.