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
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Sep
3
2009
3
2009
Teach Yourself Brazilian Portuguese Complete Course (Book & CDs) by Sue Tyson-Ward
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 [...]
Sep
2
2009
2
2009
PORTUGUESE in 10 Minutes a Day (book and CD-ROM) by Kristine Kershul
Score:
1 2 3 4 5 (6) 7 8 9 10
“Six outta ten!”
Pros:
lots of simple exercises to keep pace quick; useful words and phrases; lovely presentation; colorful, attractive drawings
Cons:
nearly entirely vocabulary-driven; price for such a basic knowledge; lots of repeat and rewrite; Brazilian only (a “con” if you’re learning European Portuguese)
Overall, I’m ambivalent about Portuguese in [...]
Sep
1
2009
1
2009
The Everything Learning Brazilian Portuguese Book: Speak, Write, and Understand Portuguese in No Time by Fernanda Ferreira
Score:
1 2 3 4 (5) 6 7 8 9 10
“Five outta ten!”
Pros:
price; exposure to useful Brazilian Portuguese; conversations and phrases don’t sound “textbook-ish”; material is well organized
Cons:
dry presentation; lack of relevant conversation topics covered
Call me crazy, but I have trouble keeping “Everything”, “Dummies” and “Idiot’s” guides straight. And that applies to their Portuguese lessons, too. [...]
Aug
6
2009
6
2009
Portuguese For Dummies, by Karen Keller
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 [...]