[Pead01]

Hi

Can anyone suggest books and/or cds for learning European Portuguese? There seems many that cover Brazilian Portuguese but as we are relocating to Portugal itself I really need to learn the European form of the language.

At present I have the Hugo Portuguese in 3 months book and cd however I have a feeling that this may be Brazilian Portuguese???

thanks
John

 

[rubytwo]

Hi

Can anyone suggest books and/or cds for learning European Portuguese? There seems many that cover Brazilian Portuguese but as we are relocating to Portugal itself I really need to learn the European form of the language.

Hi John,

Yes there are plenty of options for Brazillian Portuguese but a lot less for European. I'm using the Michel Thomas method CDs which are quite effective.

Cheers
Learn Portuguese - Learn to Speak Portuguese with The Michel Thomas Method

 

[Siovan]

Hello John,

I have two recommendations:

Book: Learning Portuguese by Russell Walker and Rafael Tavares. This book is written in English and covers pronunciation and grammar. I think Rafael Tavares also has a web page, maybe google it?

Website: Practice Portuguese. It's run by two guys, one from -Lisbon and one from Canada and is specifically for those learning European Portuguese. They have two sections - a podcast section, great for listening and it also has English transcripts and a Lessons section where they do verbs and vocab. I am a member but there is also a free section I believe.

Boa sorte!

 

[siobhanwf]

:welcome: Siovan

 

[Pead01]

Hello John,

I have two recommendations:

Book: Learning Portuguese by Russell Walker and Rafael Tavares. This book is written in English and covers pronunciation and grammar. I think Rafael Tavares also has a web page, maybe google it?

Website: Practice Portuguese. It's run by two guys, one from -Lisbon and one from Canada and is specifically for those learning European Portuguese. They have two sections - a podcast section, great for listening and it also has English transcripts and a Lessons section where they do verbs and vocab. I am a member but there is also a free section I believe.

Boa sorte!

Dear Siovan,

Thank you for your helpful suggestions. I will look up both the book and the website. Very Helpful!

cheers
John

 

[Pead01]

Hi John,

Yes there are plenty of options for Brazillian Portuguese but a lot less for European. I'm using the Michel Thomas method CDs which are quite effective.

Cheers
Learn Portuguese - Learn to Speak Portuguese with The Michel Thomas Method

Hi Rubytwo,

Thank you for your very helpful suggestions. I have looked up the course book/cd on Amazon and although the introduction is quite inexpensive, the full course is around £70-80 which is a bit too expensive for me. I have approached a few people to learn Portuguese via skype which will be helpful and the publishers of the Hugo 3 month course have confirmed their book/cds cover European Portuguese which is also helpful.
many thanks
John

 

[Maggy Crawford]

Hugo is about the best and used very often by teachers here.

 

[Pead01]

Hugo is about the best and used very often by teachers here.

Hi Maggy,

Thank you. Yes, it is a relatively inexpensive but good course. I have sent the book to my friend in Lisboa who is going to help me with lessons.
thanks
John

 

[happilymambo]

Hi Maggy,

I've recently finished the free smartphone app called Memrise, and it is in European Portuguese. I am now planning to start another app called Portuguese Fun Easy Learn. Memrise gave me lots of practice with vocabulary and phrases, but no practice actually speaking and checking for correct pronunciation, which Portuguese Fun Easy Learn does have. But I will need to go online to find out how to use the Portuguese Fun Easy Learn program before I start it.

Another smartphone app that is really great for carrying on conversations in Portuguese is the Google Translate app. You can speak or type in English what you want translated, and it will respond with the Portuguese equivalent. You then switch the arrow direction between English and Portuguese, and have the Portuguese person you are conversing with type or speak his reply, and it gets translated immediately into English. Then switch the arrow direction back again, speak or type some more English, and so on back and forth until the conversation is ended.

Hope this helps,
Daniel M. McKee

 

[Siovan]

Thanks Siobhan!

 

[Captainbeaky]

+1 for the google translate.
It's very useful when out and about / shopping / eating etc,.
It also has a function that translates text on the fly, using the phone camera.
Great when you are trying to decipher menus or food labels when shopping.

For websites, I use google chrome, as it auto-translates.

Are you in Portugal? If so, then go to your nearest school and enrol on the Portuguese course - my course starts next month, for the princely sum of €10!

 

[Easyriders]

Another vote for Memrise, I am finding it very useful. The "Meet the natives" part, where native Portuguese speakers say various phrases only confirms what I suspected - some speakers are very clear, but some drop consonants, vowels and even whole words! This is probably true of any language, imagine a Geordie talking to a Scouser!

 

[HeyBubbles]

Hi Maggy,

I've recently finished the free smartphone app called Memrise, and it is in European Portuguese. I am now planning to start another app called Portuguese Fun Easy Learn. Memrise gave me lots of practice with vocabulary and phrases, but no practice actually speaking and checking for correct pronunciation,

Best way to learn to speak it is by speaking it with local Portuguese. Accents and dialects vary considerably, so learn with a local is best.

 

[sangerm]

Televisão? Get a TV and aerial. Autotune to the terrestrial channels and watch RTP3. This is mainly news but they have running subtitles which remain onscreen long enough to look up a few words and give you the gist of the story - and most of the presenters speak in clear portuguese. The added benefit is that you find out what is happening in the country!

Personally, I find listening to local people tough for a beginner. You are already trying to grapple with grammar and vocab - if you add a heavy accent on top of that it's a bit of a stretch for me.

Private lessons are not too badly priced depending on how you are fixed. I used to pay £35 an hour in London vs. Eur15 here in Portugal.

 

[Missymissmonday]

I´ve been studying both Spanish and Portuguese for the past 4 years through Skype with language exchange partners and I find it very effective and motivating. The easiest site to find a partner for free is Conversation Exchange. By the way, Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese is more or less exactly the same when written. I do email exchanges (for corrections) with 4 Brazilians and one conversation exchange on Skype with a European Portuguese person for the correct accent. I´ve only learned Spanish through Skype and I have a much higher level in it, due to only practicing with one person all these years, 3 to 4 times a week. It takes dedication. Try it.