Score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 (7) 8 9 10
“Seven outta ten!”
Pros:
straightforward audio & booklet; listen, learn and repeat approach great for auditory learners; mostly sticks to 50 basic words and 20 essential phrases that will go far in your travels around Portugal; affordable; good niche product that provides a small stepping stone for learning [...]
Jan
22
2010
22
2010
Teach Yourself One-Day Portuguese by Elisabeth Smith
Jan
15
2010
15
2010
Teach Yourself Beginner’s Portuguese by Sue Tyson-Ward
Score:
1 2 3 4 (5) 6 7 8 9 10
“Six outta ten!”
Pros:
decent pacing; lots of dialogues and activities; vocab lists kept short and relevant to readings/topics; language and grammar points covered are solid for beginners; includes index, glossary & table of contents;
Cons:
European Portuguese only (but sometimes covers Brazilian use without really explaining what’s going on); [...]
Jan
11
2010
11
2010
Barron’s FSI Mastering Portuguese by Jack Lee Ulsh
Score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8) 9 10
“Eight outta ten!”
Pros:
like one long pronunciation and conversation drill in Portuguese; rather good pacing; plenty of example phrases to repeat along with; many variations of a single phrase make for solid and diverse practice; good audio breaks down phrases and tricky pronunciation points; covers grammar in [...]
Dec
30
2009
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
15
2009
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, [...]
Oct
7
2009
7
2009
Berlitz Portuguese Phrase Book & Audio CD by Emily Bemath
Score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8) 9 10
“Eight outta ten!”
Pros:
covers Brazilian and European usage; lots of phrases; well organized; color-coded and easily searchable; audio CD reads some examples to you
Cons:
Portugal-focused, leaving out info about Brazil and some Brazilian usage; no reference page numbers in the vocabulary/dictionary (needs quick search by word or phrase); [...]
Sep
28
2009
28
2009
Michel Thomas Method: Speak Portuguese (for beginners)
Score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8) 9 10
“Eight outta ten!”
Pros:
lively and engaging audio; focus on Portuguese grammar and word-building skills; strong attempt to introduce Portuguese words into your everyday use from the very beginning; no expectation that you’ll memorize vocabulary lists; audio activities integrated into the conversation of each lesson; the instructor gradually [...]
Sep
21
2009
21
2009
Conversational Portuguese in 7 Days by Fleming and Rainbow
Score:
1 2 3 4 (5) 6 7 8 9 10
“Five outta ten!”
Pros:
covers a good mix of phrases and vocabulary; some audio to get an ear for Portuguese; decent price; explains some basic grammar in context
Cons:
some “days” will take you longer than a day to process; skims over some major points so fast you might not [...]
Aug
4
2009
4
2009
Portuguese: An Essential Grammar (Paperback) by Janet Lloyd
Score:
1 2 3 4 5 (6) 7 8 9 10
“Six outta ten!”
Pros:
abundant examples; great organization; covers all basic topics of beginning & intermediate Portuguese grammar
Cons:
European Portuguese dialect only; no exercises; short, terse explanations leave some to fend for themselves; better as a reference work
Portuguese: An Essential Grammar offers a more traditional approach to Portuguese grammar, [...]