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 [...]
Mar
25
2010
25
2010
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
7
2010
7
2010
Modern Portuguese: A Reference Grammar by Mario Perini
Score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 (9) 10
“Nine outta ten!”
Pros:
solid treatment of huge range of grammar and sentence structure topics; plenty of examples of real-life Brazilian Portuguese in use; author focuses on grammar as it’s used by native speakers in Brazil, unlike the standard language of even Brazilian Portuguese textbooks; well organized; great [...]
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 [...]
Dec
21
2009
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
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
1
2009
1
2009
Harrap’s Pocket Portuguese Grammar
Score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 (7) 8 9 10
“Seven outta ten!”
Pros:
covers European and Brazilian Portuguese; solid organization by major grammar topics; color and formatting design clearly sets relevant topics apart for easy look-up
Cons:
too compact to cover some of the more difficult aspects of many topics; explanations focus on formation over real-life usage; index not [...]
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
Portuguese Verbs and Essentials of Grammar by Sue Tyson-Ward
Score:
1 2 3 (4) 5 6 7 8 9 10
“Four outta ten!”
Pros:
short explanations and good examples; overall decent organization; good coverage of beginner-intermediate Portuguese grammar topics; low price
Cons:
no exercises; unclear relation between some sections and chapters; missing a crucially needed look-up system for reference use
Sue Tyson-Ward’s Portuguese Verbs and Essentials of Grammar promises an in-depth [...]
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 [...]