Brazilian Portuguese

Welcome to the Brazilian Portuguese language learning resource! On this page exists links to resources that will aid in your learning of the Brazilian Portuguese language and culture. The purpose of this page is to provide you with enough valuable resources to learn how to speak, read, and/or write Brazilian Portuguese as quickly and efficiently as possible.

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Recommended Resources

After researching resources for learning the Brazilian Portuguese language, these are the best needed tools currently available if you can choose only one from each category. My research is extensive, but not exhaustive — please DO explore the Detailed Resources section for a more complete list of some of the better resources available for learning Brazilian Portuguese.

Detailed Resources

Basic Textbooks

  • Sonia-Portuguese Grammar Book — “A complete, concise and practical reference.” Portuguese Grammar is a self-study grammar book written for use without a teacher.
  • Essential Portuguese Grammar — “All the grammar really needed for speech and comprehension, without trivia or archaic material, clearly presented with many shortcuts, timesavers…self-study or class use, for a beginner, as a refresher…an ideal supplement to phrase study…the most efficient system for adults with limited learning time.” This is a handy book to have around for learning Portuguese grammar. It is not specific to Brazilian Portuguese.
  • A Grammar of Spoken Brazilian Portuguese — Exactly what the title says.
  • 501 Portuguese Verbs — Each verb is fully conjugated in all tenses. It includes a list of tenses with examples of each, sample conjugations of regular verbs, a focus on reflexive verbs, object pronouns (and contracted forms of), future indicative and conditional pronominal conjugations, formation of commands, true passive voice, progressive tense, irregular and double past participles, and defective and impersonal verbs. The index includes English-Portuguese and Portuguese-English versions.

Dictionaries

Phrase Books

Newspapers and Magazines

  • Folha Online — Online newspaper from São Paulo, Brazil.
  • O Dia Online — Online newspaper from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  • O Globo Online — Online newspaper with São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and general Brazil editions.

Audio Courses

  • Sonia-Portuguese Course — “A complete and practical language course on contemporary Brazilian Portuguese on CD-ROM.” This course includes 50 lessons, over 450 short dialogues (each of which is accompanied with audio), varied interactive exercises, and 40 cartoon strips covering five everyday situations. Along with the Sonia-Portuguese Grammar Book, Sonia claims that this should be all you need to become fluent in Brazilian Portuguese. Also check out Sonia’s special offer, the Sonia-Portuguese Course and Grammar Book can be purchased together.
  • Pimsleur Portuguese (Brazilian) I, Pimsleur Portuguese (Brazilian) II, and Pimsleur Portuguese (Brazilian) III — Listen and repeat style course. Very nice to work with while driving. A great way to learn spoken Brazilian Portuguese, but not what you are looking for if you want to learn to read and write.
  • FSI Portuguese — FSI Programmatic Portuguese Course. This course was developed by the Foreign Service Institute. It’s copyright has expired making it free to the public. Note that this course can also be purchased from a variety of places such as Multilingual Books.
  • Transparent Portuguese — A complete set of materials for learning Portuguese, and one of the most interesting. Transparent Language offers a course called Learn Portuguese Now! that includes audio, video, vocabulary software, record and playback capability (microphone required), conversation practice and many more. Pick this up if you’re into flash cards. The price is probably well worth the material.
  • Brazilian Portuguese Podcast — Ongoing collection of podcasts dedicated to learning the Brazilian Portuguese language. Most of the material is free, but they give you the option of purchasing “bonuses” for lessons. Check it out.

Language Exchange

  • SharedTalk —
  • iTalki: Portuguese — A free language exchange offering many partnering opportunities. This one is fantastic for English speakers wanting to partner with Brazilian speakers.
  • My Language Exchange: Portuguese — My Language Exchange allows you to find a partner in the online community to practice your target language with a native speaker who is learning your language. Searching is free. The ability to contact someone costs, but the charge is nominal.

Travel

  • Travel to Brazil — Probably the best way to learn the language, and have fun while doing so. Spend as much time speaking with the people of Brazil as you possibly can. Idea: find a friend through the Language Exchange that you can stay with.
  • Frommer’s Brazil (Frommer’s Complete) — An informative and functional guide to travel in Brazil, but does not encompass the country as a whole.
  • Insight Guide Brazil (Insight Guides) — Full-color photography on every page. Includes cross-referenced maps throughout. Concentrates on the sights really worth seeing.

General

Culture

Audio

Video

Last updated on May 31st, 2008. Suggestions? Do you have other/better recommendations? Please, contact us.