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December 2009

Dec
30
2009

Dicionário da língua portuguesa by Porto Dicionários Editora

This new, up-to-date Portuguese language dictionary is a heavyweight contender for your reference shelf. If you’re an intermediate or advanced student of Portuguese looking for a real Portuguese dictionary, this is one of the most impressive.
It’s published in Portugal by the staff at Dicionários Editora, O Porto. It includes the spelling reform rules, listing [...]

Dec
30
2009

Dicionário Inglês-Português & Dicionário Português-Inglês

Score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8) 9 10
“Eight outta ten!”
Pros:
dedicates all its pages to the one thing a dictionary’s supposed to handle: words to look up; impressive coverage of huge number of words; good layout; cues help pick between multiple translations of the same word (assuming you know a good deal of Portuguese); [...]

Dec
24
2009

Living Language Portuguese Learner’s Dictionary

Score:
1 2 3 (4) 5 6 7 8 9 10
“Four outta ten!”
Pros:
Portuguese-English section good enough for certain look-ups; sample sentences beneath some entries; actually decent if looked at as an extensive vocabulary list rathern than a comprehensive dictionary; a nice extra when packed with Living Language’s Portuguese lesson book & CD
Cons:
price for the number of [...]

Dec
22
2009

Portuguese: A Language Map by Kristine Kershul

Score:
1 2 3 4 (5) 6 7 8 9 10
“Five outta ten!”
Pros:
artistic and visual; good choice of survival phrases; clear division into topics; fold-out may attract some on-the-go travelers and language learners; stays basic and doesn’t go off on any tangents like travel tips or cultural notes (phrases only!)
Cons:
despite its visual appeal, visual learners would [...]

Dec
21
2009

Teach Yourself Portuguese Grammar by Sue Tyson-Ward

Score:
1 2 3 4 5 (6) 7 8 9 10
“Six outta ten!”
Pros:
covers a great deal of grammar up to the later intermediate level; explanations and examples of Portuguese sentences; lots of exercises with variety and relevance to topics; decent balance of both Brazilian and European Portuguese (but not perfect, so proceed cautiously); verb tables and [...]

Dec
17
2009

Portuguese Made Nice & Easy by REA

Score:
1 2 (3) 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
“Three outta ten!”
Pros:
sixty pages of Portuguesee phrases; decent attempt at conceptualizing “fill-in” phrases (to help you build a variety of Portuguese sentences); price
Cons:
attempts to be Portugal-centric (European only), but includes some Brazilian without indicating the difference; does not TEACH you Portuguese like the name suggests, only [...]

Dec
15
2009

Hugo Language: Portuguese in Three Months by Maria Fernanda Allen

Score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 (7) 8 9 10
“Seven outta ten!”
Pros:
covers a lot of grammar; exposure to wide array of written Portuguese in ten lessons; good extra material; will have you reading large amount of Portuguese by the end; can be completed in three months if dedicated; lots of practice with the written language, [...]

Dec
11
2009

Portuguese Phrases For Dummies by Karen Keller

Score:
1 2 3 4 5 (6) 7 8 9 10
“Six outta ten!”
Pros:
decent coversage of phrases; lots of explanations about language and phrase use in Brazil; pronunciation guide; introduction to grammar; strong vocab index with page numbers; engaging text and formating; Portuguese phrases given in useful spurts rather than long lists
Cons:
Brazilian only (explicitly treats language usage [...]

Dec
11
2009

Portuguese Memory Book by Harrison and Welker

Score:
1 (2) 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
“Two outta ten!”
Pros:
many of the memory jingles are clever; does a decent job of highlighting English words and word-parts that simulate pronunciation of Rio Carioca dialect
Cons:
pronunciation is Brazilian only; long list of vocabulary; no context for vocabulary; awkward technique for memorizing 500+ Portuguese words; no pacing [...]