Semantica Method: Brazilian Portuguese is a conversational language course divided into 36 lessons. Uniquely, the “lessons” are all videos spread across 2 DVDs. The learning process involves watching a video series of filmed conversations and interactions between Brazilian Portuguese speakers. Like many audio methods, Semantica’s program doesn’t involve written exercises or significant amounts of reading. [...]
Apr
20
2010
20
2010
Mar
25
2010
25
2010
Pois não: Brazilian Portuguese Course for Spanish Speakers
In Pois não, Antônio Simões delivers a Portuguese course with a “basic reference grammar”. It’s different from your typical Portuguese course, as it targets learners who already speak Spanish. Although there are great differences between Spanish and Portuguese, the author capitalizes on the mass of similarities between these two Ibero-Italic languages to speed up the [...]
Jan
26
2010
26
2010
Talking Brazilian: A Brazilian Portugese Pronunciation Workbook by Mario Perini
Talking Brazilian is a text book with 2 audio CDs by Mário Perini. The book aims to help learners pronounce, speak and read Brazilian Portuguese with native confidence. Like , this same author’s treatment of grammar, Talking Brazilian introduces students to the way Portuguese is actually spoken in Brazil instead of the standard formal language [...]
Jan
22
2010
22
2010
Teach Yourself One-Day Portuguese by Elisabeth Smith
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
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 [...]
Jan
5
2010
5
2010
Portuguese Complete Course: Beginner-Intermediate, by Oliveira & Living Language
Score:
1 2 3 4 5 (6) 7 8 9 10
“Six outta ten!”
Pros:
step-by-step approach to speaking; coverage of grammar and sentence structure; wide range of topics; longer, detailed book; auido CDs that follow the book’s outline; builds up from words to phrases to longer reading and listening exercises
Cons:
listen & repeat approach to learning phrases may tire [...]
Oct
1
2009
1
2009
Cortina Conversational Brazilian Portuguese: The Easy Method by Williams & Pessoa
Score:
1 2 3 4 (5) 6 7 8 9 10
“Five outta ten!”
Pros:
price, especially if you send away for the free CD/cassette; plenty of conversational back and forth; difficulty increases progressively; each example is highlighted by slightly different variations to practice
Cons:
exercises require repeating and assimilating but without much guidance from the course; some topics are useless [...]
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 [...]
Sep
10
2009
10
2009
Ultimate Portuguese Beginner-Intermediate (CD/Book) by Living Language
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 [...]