Prime Ways - Portuguese

Language Reviews

Today it is one of the world's major languages, ranked 6th according to number of native speakers (between 191 and 230 million). It is the language of about half of South America, even though Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas. It is also a major lingua franca in Portugal's former colonial possessions in Africa. It is an official language in nine countries (see the table on the right), also being co-official with Cantonese Chinese in the Chinese special administrative region of Macau, Tetum in East Timor and Spanish and French in Equatorial Guinea. There are sizeable communities of Portuguese speakers in various regions of North America, notably in the United States (New Jersey, New England, California and south Florida) and in Ontario, Canada.

Michel Thomas ( by Michel Thomas)  No memorizing, no text books, no drills, no homework!

Portuguese has been produced by popular demand at the Michel Thomas institute. The course is hosted by Virginia Catmur along with native speaker Paulo Santos who ensures correct pronunciation is achieved. It is the same vehicle of teaching in that there are two others who are learning from scratch too. If you find yourself getting annoyed with them, then it means you are making considerable progress! The instructors have done a fantastic job in teaching this difficult language and after the Advanced course you will be forming long and complex sentences in Portuguese. This is very impressive indeed! For Portuguese there is an Introductory course, Foundation and Advanced. The courses are all audio and are expensive to buy on CD. Please also look at the reviews others have given.

Rosetta Stone

Rosetta stone are probably the most well known language software people on the market and for a good reason. They are a good example of getting what you pay for! The whole experience is based on "total immersion". At each stage of learning you listen, read, speak then match up the words and phrases to the pictures or videos. There are no translations! It is quite passive but extremely effective. If you treat it like a game you can learn very fast because  its addictive. It is also structured in such a way as to give a defined progression which is so often lacking in traditional language learning methods. Worth 5 stars but because of the price we gave it 4.

Pimsleur ( by Paul Pimsleur)

Pimsleur start you off immediately speaking Portuguese and listening to it to respond. These courses are truly excellent but they are expensive and you may not be suited to this way of learning. These are all audio courses and teach conversational Spanish by using them for 30 minutes each day. There are 3 levels and each level comprises of 30 half hour length lessons, each level building on the previous one. No explanations regarding verb conjugations though but there is an English speaking host who guides, prompts and gives you not much more than word meanings. However it is an extremely effective method and has been used extensively within Govt and educational establishments. The price is however quite high ~$300 per level. You can read about the method here

	Teach Yourself Portuguese ( by Sue Tyson-Ward)
	This is an excellent course for brushing up on some essential Portuguese before landing at the airport! There are 20 themed conversations designed to get you understood on your travels but this is only the very basics and you won't be able to understand much Portuguese being spoken at you. That said its is a good introduction and very reasonably priced.

	Earworms ( by Marlon Lodge)
	Earworms Portuguese is produced along the same lines with the same type of vocabulary and the others in the range. There is an English man conversing with a Portuguese woman and asking her how to say things in Portuguese. All the time there is a rhythmic sound/beat going on to her syllables which is designed to stick in your mind rather like a catchy song. The vocabulary being taught is basic but essential and is a relaxing experience. You don't need to make any real conscious effort as your brain is absorbing it through the beats. There are two cd's in the Spanish range and you can listen to samples by clicking the pictures on the left. Overall a fun and enjoyable experience, reasonably priced and it works! But only for basic survival skills.