The 1. 0 best resources for achieving fluency in Portuguese. On this page I’ve compiled the resources that I have found to be most useful for those teaching themselves Brazilian Portuguese. These are the best of the best; I only recommend materials that I actually own and that have helped me reach my Portuguese goals. If you’d like to see how these resources could be combined into a program of study, see the Roadmaps page. As this continues to be the most popular page on HP, I have been keeping it updated to make sure it reflects the most current resources out there. Valeu! last updated September 2. Best online video series : Sem. Series I is a collection of 3. The videos follow a young American travel writer who comes to Rio on a work assignment, where he meets his Brazilian colleague Raquel, who shows him around the city and tries to keep him out of trouble. Welcome to the BPP Site. We are now also proud to present CTJ’s Brazilian Portuguese Program. Uruguayan Spanish is way more similar to southern Brazilian Portuguese compared to Mexican Spanish, and definitely compared to Spanish from Sevilla, for example. Brazilian Portuguese phrasebook. Also, Brazilian television programs are popular in Portugal, and the use of voc Brazilian Portuguese (portugu Free Portuguese to English translation. Translate Portuguese to English online and download now our free translator to use any time at no charge. One of the wonderful things about this series is that it is actually filmed in Rio with great Brazilian actors, which provides quite a bit of realism and also exposes you to how people actually speak and interact in Rio — you’ll hear plenty of that famous carioca accent (listen for all the shhhhh sounds). The actors are charming, the narrative is engaging, and the clips are short enough that they don’t overwhelm you with new material. The acting is pretty good and provides good insight into how to handle several common social situations – taking the bus, catching a cab, checking into a hotel, ordering at a restaurant, etc. Series II is a collection of 1. I wouldn’t recommend them as an immediate followup to Series I because the dialogs are quite advanced and the actors speak as a normal (fast) pace. But for more advanced learners who want some listening practice, these are excellent. Instead of one long serialized narrative, each video tells a different story of life in the cidade maravilhosa. The quality of the acting and production is even higher than Series I and it’s all shot in HD. Rio again forms the backdrop, but this time the stories are those of everyday cariocas from all walks of life – a young couple shops at a farmer’s market; two friends chat about an unplanned pregnancy on the beach; a woman haggles with some scrap metal dealers on the street; a couple of women get lost in a favela while trying to meet up with their friend. What I love about the Series II videos is seeing cariocas in their native habitat, speaking in a way that illuminates the informal colloquial style of Brazilian portuguese. Each scene is shown first with no aides, and is then repeated by a narrator who speaks slowly with subtitles in portuguese so that you can catch everything that’s said. They do highlight some new grammar and vocabulary and break out into a few . And get 1. 5% off any subscription with the coupon code “hacking- portuguese” woot! Alternative: Two more excellent resources for listening are Clica. Brasil and Conversa Brasileira, from the same folks who brought you T. Clica. Brasil is designed for intermediate speakers, while Conversa Brasileira is more for advanced speakers, but both feature collections of conversations that have been transcribed and annotated. These are videos of actors conversing spontaneously and unscripted, using very colloquial language. You can choose to just listen, or follow transcriptions in English or Portuguese. The producers have inserted teaching moments liberally throughout, including lots of fascinating things you’ll never find in a textbook. It’s a very eye opening look at spoken Portuguese, and you will end up learning some pretty sophisticated points of usage. Best Audio Course for Beginners: Pimsleur. An excellent and much cheaper alternative to Rosetta Stone for the absolute beginner is Pimsleur. This is an audio- only method consisting of 9. In my case it took me 7 months because I ended up not doing them every day and had to repeat them occasionally. What Pimsleur has going for it is that rather than asking you to just memorize and repeat phrases like so many other courses, it actually prepares you for conversation by training you to quickly turn English thoughts into Portuguese speech. This means you’re actively involved in remembering the vocabulary you’re learned and engaged in putting the words together in new ways. Pimsleur has the advantage of being by far the cheapest beginning conversation course available, especially if you can get it from your local library. For more advantages and disadvantages to using Pimsleur, see the page on Language learning on a budget: Great alternatives to Rosetta Stone. Alternative: as a considerably cheaper alternative to Pimsleur, consider Portuguese. Pod. 10. 1. You have a bunch of options when it comes to grammar references, but I have no reservations about telling you to you forget all of them and just buy this book. Let’s take a look at some of the fantastic things about . First, it was published in 2. Second, it’s specific to the Brazilian dialect of portuguese. Third, it was written by someone who really gets that Brazilian Portuguese is actually two different languages. There are different ways of expressing yourself in Portuguese depending on whether you’re speaking or writing, and whether the situation is formal or informal. Linguists call it diglossia. And this is probably true for Portuguese more than any of the other Romance languages. Many Portuguese grammars tend to ignore the more informal variant of the language, despite the fact that it is the version all Brazilians speak in day- to- day life. Note that I’m not talking about slang, g. As a student, you need to be fluent in both registers. And here is where this particular book rises above the rest. John Whitlam isn’t afraid of vulgar ordinary spoken Portuguese, and he’s happy to show you the places where the language diverges, the places where you have choices in the level of formality that you use. The book is divided into two parts, a grammar reference and a practical communication guide. The grammar section is excellent, covering everything from the nuances of pronunciation and spelling up through very advanced topics. As an example of the attention to detail, consider the section on subject and object pronouns. This is one area where there is a bewildering confusion of different rules depending on the context and register. This section does not gloss over these important differences or try to prescribe an overly formal but more “correct” style, but instead goes through the differences methodically, illustrating how pronouns are used in informal speech vs. This kind of granularity is a great help to students who are looking to fine- tune their command of the language. The 2. 38- page communication guide, however, is where this book shines. Combining elements of a traditional grammar and a phrase book, the approach is novel: Rather than looking up a specific grammatical subject, you look up what communication task you’re trying to accomplish, and the book presents you with a range of options. A few of the headings give an example of the breadth of information here: “Giving permission”, “Reporting on other people’s opinions”, “Talking about plans for the future”, “Saying one is sorry about something”, “Describing a person’s character and attitudes”, “Saying how certain one is of something”, “Wishing someone a good sleep or rest”. Under each heading the book presents several options in varying levels of style and formality, from formal written style to highly colloquial informal speech. When there are multiple ways of saying something, the book discusses subtle nuances in meaning between them. In a language with such distinct differences in formal style and register as Brazilian portuguese, being presented with a wide range of options for saying something is incredibly useful and allows you to choose exactly the right register for the situation. Besides being a great reference to have for any student of Portuguese, I think this book holds special value for more advanced students. If you’ve already worked your way through a textbook and are wondering how to proceed, or if you’re an advanced speaker wanting to know how to get that native polish to your language, this book will help you. Chances are, even if you speak the language pretty well, there are some things that still trip you up. For example, I still struggle to use. Well, I guarantee you, whatever your particular stumbling blocks are, this book will provide some much needed clarity and nuance. I learn something new almost every time I open it. Though this reference is definitely not a textbook and I wouldn’t recommend working through it cover to cover, there is an accompanying workbook of exercises that can help you practice the material in each chapter. Other options: There is one other grammar reference that I think is of similar quality to Whitlam’s book, and that is Portuguese: A Reference Manual. The only thing I don’t like about this one is that it is visually chaotic, filled with tables and charts that could use the attention of a good typesetter, perhaps some different fonts or colors too. And it lacks the communication guide that makes Whitlam’s book so great. There’s one more excellent option, but only if you are really deep into your Portuguese studies, or have a more academic interest in the language. Modern Portuguese: A Reference Grammar by Mario Perini (aka the orange book) is without a doubt the most detailed, comprehensive book on Brazilian Portuguese you can buy. It too takes an interest in detailing the differences between the written and spoken varieties of the language. Mario Perini is an actual linguist, and although the book is sophisticated enough for fellow linguists, the writing is surprisingly accessible for a motivated student. So if you really want to geek out on the language, this is the book for you, but if you just want a good workhorse grammar, get the green book. See my review on Amazon for more details. Portuguese classes in Houston . This block of classes will run for a total of 8 Weeks. Block of 8. If you arrive late please be very discreet and do not interrupt the class. If you need to sign up for for the block before class, please arrive early, and allow at least.
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