Score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 (7) 8 9 10
“Seven outta ten!”
Pros:
lots of Portuguese conversation topics; good exposure to grammar; complementary audio; solid grammar review at end of book; price
Cons:
presentation of grammar sometimes inadequate; longer vocabulary lists to memorize without context; basic and less effective exercises; cultural notes are mostly distractions
Ultimate Portuguese Beginner-Intermediate covers most [...]
Score:
1 2 (3) 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
“Three outta ten!”
Pros:
multiple dialogues per chapter; price
Cons:
choice of vocabulary and phrases seems random and uninspired; the Portuguese introduced is of the textbook variety; incomplete coverage of grammar
Teach Yourself Brazilian Portuguese isn’t an awful entry in the TY series, but it isn’t stellar by any means. Its [...]
Score:
1 2 3 4 5 (6) 7 8 9 10
“Six outta ten!”
Pros:
straightforward, relaxed presentation; good fluent real-life phrases; audio CD with dialogs; price
Cons:
lots of notes and silly explanations may distract some learners; Brazilian only (a con for European learners); some mistakes in text; odd phonetic approximations/pronunciation key may distract others (including me)
The For Dummies series [...]
Score:
1 (2) 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
“Two outta ten!”
Pros:
a good many of the basic phrases you’d need to just survive (but not all!); a small dose of exposure to the spoken language
Cons:
short sections on grammar more of a distraction; very limited in scope; disorganized; learning means repeating along with random phrases; Brazilian-only [...]
Score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8) 9 10
“Eight outta ten!”
Pros:
connects ideas with words well; good coverage of basic phrases and conversation; great image and multimedia-rich presentation; useful activities
Cons:
markets itself as the be-all-end-all of language learning, but isn’t; basic phrases are very standard and not as “fluent” or realistic as some courses; vocabulary-heavy; Portuguese [...]
Score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8) 9 10
“Eight outta ten!”
Pros:
immediate and consistent exposure to the spoken language; no drawn-out explanations; variety of phrases and conversational topics; justifies its price, particularly for auditory learners
Cons:
listen & repeat/assimilate may challenge some but delight others; higher price tag; audio-only may discourage bookish students; no explanation of grammar [...]
Score:
1 2 3 4 (5) 6 7 8 9 10
“Five outta ten!”
Pros:
price (relative to other CD/audio conversation courses); full dialogs; fairly realistic usage
Cons:
limited amount and scope of material; little to guide you along at your own pace; focus on larger chunks of language; no real exercise; little attention to grammar or structure
This audio CD-based program [...]
Score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 (7) 8 9 10
“Seven outta ten!”
Pros:
price; exercises throughout; good coverage of grammar, pronunciation & conversation topics
Cons:
a bit formulaic; learning requires repeating along with dialogs and vocabulary; heavy reliance on English
This course contains ten units that teach both European and Brazilian Portuguese, with a bit of an emphasis on the [...]