(The top image link is for Brazilian Portuguese. The second links to the European Portuguese product.)

Talk Now! Learn Portuguese offers a software package that trains individual learners to speak basic Portuguese words and phrases from a home computer. These lessons include audio files that read the phrases out loud, games & activities for each topic, and progress tracking. The program supports a microphone or headset for recordings.

You can purchase Talk Now! for either Brazilian Portuguese or European Portuguese (which is just labeled “Portuguese” on the software’s cover).

Since I haven’t acquired a copy to review, I haven’t rated this course. If you would like to recommend this product to others, please post your comments below or contact us send a copy to this site for review.

Cons:
despite its visual appeal, visual learners would have benefited from images that correspond to the phrases; Brazilian only (a con for European Portuguese learners); fold-out format cumbersome for some travelers (do you like laminated maps?); coverage and variety of phrases is less than traditional phrasebook for the price

Portuguese: A Language Map is not a book, but an eight page laminated fold-out. It fits as many Portuguese phrases as possible onto the space of two sides of a placemat, with the exception of spots dedicated to attractive watercolor drawings.

The phrases cover 14 different traveler-friendly topics from meeting people (Como vai?) to hotels and room service (Fiz uma reserva) to shopping (Aceita cartões de crédito?). Each section contains one or two dozen must-know phrases, which seem well chosen and fit the topic. The top and bottom borders also count to one thousand in Portuguese for easy access.

Each phrase is accompanied by an English-friendly pronunciation reading, which is less than optimal if you can listen to a native speaker instead (or, at least, read Portuguese sounds written in IPA). Still, this guide gives you a rough idea of how to pronounce words as you speak Portuguese (por-too-gaysh).

The layout of words and phrases follows Portuguese in 10 Minutes a Day. According to the back of the product, this map is offered bundled together with that book as a companion phrase chart.

I don’t think the coverage offered by Portuguese: A Language Map can compare with other Portuguese phrase books available online or at your local bookstore. However, if you like the layout and style, and you plan to travel to Brazil, it’s worth it for the ability to reference vocabulary quickly. On the other hand, I’m used to the book format, and find this foldout stylish but unwieldy.

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 lists phrases; the intro is a distraction; imperfect selection and layout of phrase topics; missing a good way to look up specific phrases

The Research and Education Association (or REA) publishes Portuguese Made Nice & Easy with the intend of giving you “just enough of the language to get around and be understood.”

In its meager seventy pages, this introduction to the Portuguese language dedicates the bulk of its text to a phrasebook-style list of Portuguese vocabulary and sentences. The short foreword presents a missable history of Portugal and an overview of Portuguese pronunciation (actually more of an introduction to their English-friendly way of transliterating spoken Portuguese).

After this, you’ll find sixty pages of phrases, interspersed with b&w photos of buildings and statuary in Portugal. Each line of this phrase book uses the following layout: English phrase praw-nun-see-AY-shan (Portuguese phrase). For instance, you’ll see Where is AWN-djee AH (Onde há).

If you don’t understand the pronunciation system, you’ll find little guidance. Even if you do, it fails to distinguish between dialects and, in extreme cases, leaves you with a pronunciation that will sound flat-out wrong to most Portuguese speakers. Despite the book’s focus on Portugal, some words are given only in Brazilian without any indication, such as twenty VEEN-chee (vinte).

The phrase book goes beyond a list of words and phrases by dealing with a good range of “fill-in” sentences. You’re told how to say “I want___” / “I like ___” and given a list of things to fill in the blank. While the technique is ubiquitous in phrase books, it’s approached somewhat methodically and consistently here. Still, the phrases leave something to be desired, particularly in how they fail to lead learners toward more complex (but necessary!) constructions like verb+noun+adjective.

The book has no index, but the table of contents offers a very rough overview of topics. The range of those topics alone leaves room for improvement and expansion. An alphabetized word list with selected vocabulary ends the book, but it’s unclear what’s been selected here and why, especially with no page numbers to cross-reference.

Overall, it’s a sub-par phrase book for students and travelers to Portugal or even Brazil (it insists on using você, never tu, for example). Specifically, I can’t condone the pronunciation key or coverage of topics. This is nothing more than a quick, cheap, lackluster way to get a feel for Portuguese phrases. I don’t imagine a better one should cost you much more.

Cons:
Brazilian only (explicitly treats language usage in Brazil, so look elsewhere, European Portuguese learners!); some topics less useful, other helpful ones missing; more of a lesson course on Portuguese phrases than an actual phrase book; pronunciation cues are rough and inexact – need to hear a native speaker and/or use IPA; some info simplified or even misleading

The compact Portuguese Phrases for Dummies attempts to offer a beefed-up phrasebook for students and travelers. Let’s take a look at this smaller-than-average (for a Dummies book), chatty book and find out exactly what it delivers to language learners.

You’ll cover a range of topics from “Shop Till You Drop” to “A Place to Lay Your Weary Head”. Each chapter covers one such topic, all in the expected Dummies format. Along the way, the author gives loads of insight, tips and musings about Brazil, Brazilians and the Portuguese language as it relates to each topic.

Portuguese phrases are listed between explanatory paragraphs a handful at a time, and are marked by checkmark bullet points. You’ll also find “words to know” (key words) on blackboard backgrounds as well as tables of more “functional” phrases scattered throughout the chapters.

Pronunciation is given in sounds-like-English syllables. For example, the word namorar is transliterated “nah-mo-dah“. Pronunciation reflects Brazilian speech, since this book sets its sights exclusively on Brazil.

The book takes the time to include a few extras. These include an easy but predictable Portuguese pronunciation guide, a chapter introducing grammar, and fun sections on phrases that make you sound more like a local native. The book ends with an index of vocab words with page number references.

Personally, I enjoyed my read through Portuguese Phrases for Dummies. But I quickly recognized that this hybrid phrase/lesson book doesn’t meet the ideal of a phrasebook or of a lesson book. It’s not a language tool for travel or business. It’s a book about Portuguese phrases. If you can accept that, you may get something out of it. If you’re learning Brazilian, it might be worth it for the book’s extra info about language use in Brazil less often shared with beginners.

A word of caution for the learner. If your ideal phrasebook is a list of survival phrases in translation broken down by topic, this book misses the mark. If you need a European or even a Brazilian Portuguese phrasebook, look elsewhere. If you want a book that talks you through Brazilian Portuguese phrase usage, you’ll find some satisfaction and amusement here.

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); learners: this is still just a survival Portuguese phrasebook!

Berlitz Portuguese Phrase Book is a little phrasebook with glossy pages, an attractive layout and clearly defined sections. The edges of each section are marked by different colors, and the section’s topic written in the upper right of each odd page. All this makes the book visually easy to flip through.

For such a small book, the range of phrases covered is commendable. The organization and layout is also useful. For example, English phrases are on the left unless the situation calls for translation from Portuguese, like reading a menu. Portuguese examples are given in red, with Brazilian variants bracketed (like comboios [trens] for “trains”). English translations are in black.

Blue and yellow “Essential” boxes focus your attention on key Portuguese phrases you need to know. “You May See” and “You May Hear” boxes give you an instant idea of other words you’ll encounter. Color photos visually enhance some sections.

A basic pronunciation key helps you speak the phrase aloud, but you can rely on the CD to actually listen to native Portuguese speakers read every phrase in the “Essentials” boxes.

This is clearly intended to be used as a survival travel phrasebook, not a way to learn Portuguese. In that light, it’s best suited to travelers heading to Portugal. Brazilian variants render the book multi-dialectal, but coverage of Brazil and Brazilianisms isn’t watertight by any means. It would be even more convenient to have audio examples for every phrase, but what’s here is enough to start getting by in Portuguese.

Cons:
if you don’t get the pronunciation symbols, this book offers nothing new; missing some phrases I’d want to use; I question some of the topics they address and others they don’t for Brazil; just a survival phrasebook; Brazilian only (a negative if you want to learn European Portuguese)

Outside of the quick pronunciation guide and tips at the beginning, Say It Right in Brazilian Portuguese does one thing: it lists Brazilian Portuguese phrases and gives a visual representation of how to say them.

This phrasebook represents Clyde Peters’ attempt to apply his pronunciation key to the Portuguese of Brazil. In this system, vowels are circled, simple consonants are capitalized, syllables are divided by hyphens, and accented syllables take a mark on the vowel. You can see an example right on the book’s cover with the word olá! (“hello!”).

Outside of this pronunciation system, the book is what you’d expect from a Portuguese travel phrasebook. There are sections for health, shopping, getting around, and the like. There are “phrasemaker” pages that help you combine the start of a phrase (“I would like to go…”) with possible options for ending it (“to the bank”, “to the hotel”, and so on). A very short English to Portuguese dictionary (glossary) lists words with the book’s signature pronunciation key. The last page has a quick index of topics, and the inside front and back covers double as a reference guide for pronouncing the symbols in the key.

If you don’t understand its somewhat unique symbolic pronunciation system, Say It Right in Brazilian Portuguese won’t appeal to you. If you do, it’s a decent survival Portuguese phrasebook. Either way, I’d prefer hearing real speakers on audio CDs or in person to decoding imperfect symbols (IPA is more accurate, for example). It’s not “the fastest way to correct pronunciation” as it claims, at least for most of us, but it might do the trick for your most basic phrase needs.

Cons:
Brazilian Portuguese only (a “con” for European Portuguese learners); these first eight lessons are especially basic; auditory learners should skip this and move up to the more complete Pimsleur courses

Pimsleur’s goPortuguese contains the first 8 lessons of the Pimsleur Comprehensive program for a lower price. These lessons lead you into the “full” version of the course. This short, very basic course is a good way to sample the Pimsleur method to see if it works for you. However, if you think Pimsleur does work for you, I recommend that you skip to the more robust Conversational or Comprehensive versions instead.

goPortuguese contains 4 CDs with the eight lessons, but also gives you the MP3s in case you find that more convenient. It also comes with a 160 page “audio-book” that covers some of the basics of Portuguese grammar, but this booklet doesn’t stand out in itself. The all audio lessons are the star here.

I’ve done an in-depth http://portuguese-language-learning-reviews.nativlang.com/?p=135 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 assimilate them; short, limited exercises; for beginners and near-beginners; Portugal-focused, but with Brazilian variants