Learn the Portuguese Language Fast with These Easy Strategies
Posted by Portuguese is one of those languages that makes people love to travel. As soon as you hear the musical, poetic sound of Portuguese vowels, you start to picture yourself dancing to soft music on a Brazilian beach at dusk. However, before you buy your tickets, we strongly advise you to learn the Portuguese language or, at least, the very basics of the Portuguese language.
On this page, you will find 5 unbeatable tips to learn the Portuguese language fast and without having to do any actual study!
→Sign Up Now: Free Trial Portuguese Lesson With a Native Teacher!←
1. Listen to Brazilian music
Brazilian music is listened to all over the world, even by people who can’t speak a word of the language. From Caetano Veloso to Marisa Monte, Brazilian musicians are unafraid to explore various musical genres, including samba, bossa nova, jazz, rock, and funk carioca.
Do you like music with a lot of rhythm and soulful slow vocals? Then Follow our advice on how to learn the Portuguese language through Brazilian songs.
How to learn the Portuguese language with music
Our first piece of advice for learning Brazilian Portuguese is to listen to Brazilian music, but not just as a leisure activity or something you do while cleaning the house or fixing dinner. We mean actively listening to it, taking the time to read and understand the lyrics, and even sing along to your favorite tunes.
Of course, we don’t discourage you from playing Brazilian music in the background; on the contrary — this can definitely help you become familiar with the sounds of Portuguese and learn the language faster. However, by taking the time to listen to the lyrics, following the song and writing down your favorite lines, you will improve your oral comprehension of the language, expand your vocabulary and improve your pronunciation much faster!
You didn’t think music could help you so much, did you?
2. Watch Brazilian TV shows
After dancing and singing to your favorite Brazilian songs, you are allowed to sit down in front of the TV… but only to start watching Brazilian television!
Watching Brazilian TV series will help you become familiar with the Brazilian accent, as well as improve your pronunciation and enrich your vocabulary. All of this while you enjoy some of the most exhilarating stories ever depicted on the small screen!
How to learn the Portuguese language with Brazilian television
Watching Brazilian TV shows is a great way to stay in your Brazilian bubble. This is perfect to learn the Portuguese language quickly and naturally. But watching an entire episode in Portuguese is not something that a beginner learner will be able to do overnight. It is a process involving a few steps:
- At the beginning, when you are just starting your learning process, it is okay if you watch these series with English subtitles and just get passive exposure to the sounds of the language.
- Halfway through a telenovela or TV series, you will start to notice recurring words, phrases and idioms that you will be able to understand without reading the subtitles.
- After finishing the show, instead of moving on to the next thing you can rewatch your favorite episodes with Portuguese subtitles and see how much you can work out of what the characters are saying.
- Finally, choose your favorite scene from your favorite episode and play it without subtitles. By this time, memory, predictive skills and your knowledge of the Portuguese language will all come into play and allow you to understand most of what is said in the scene.
3. Learn complete sentences, not just words.
If you are planning to go to Brazil and you only have a few weeks to get yourself ready, don’t waste your time studying verb tenses and other complicated grammar distinctions. It is best to dedicate your energy to learning the most common Portuguese phrases that will allow you to have basic conversations, shop around, ask for directions or ask for help.
Imagine that you are an English learner and you want to say your name in English for the first time. Instead of learning the six personal pronouns and then doing the same thing with the different conjugations of verb ‘be’, why not learn the sentence “I am Carol” without dwelling on grammar distinctions that can wait for later?
With Portuguese, it’s the same thing: learn phrases that convey clear ideas, not isolated words.
How to learn core phrases in Portuguese.
One way to go about it is choosing a few topics that you think you will use often (such as introducing yourself, asking for directions or ordering food in a restaurant) and learn complete sentences that you can use in each situation.
Your goal should be being able to hold interactions with native speakers without getting lost or feeling frustrated.
Once you master the basics of Portuguese, the rest becomes easier and faster!
Here are some useful phrases in Portuguese that should come in handy during your time in Brazil:
- Introducing yourself: Olá, meu nome é _________. (Hello, my name is _________.)
- Asking for directions: Como posso chegar ao ________? (How can I get to ________?)
- Ordering food in a restaurant: Gostaria de pedir ________. (I would like to order _______.)
- Checking in a hotel: Gostaria de me registrar (I would like to check in.)
- Inquiring about a price: Quanto custa? (How much does it cost?)
Don’t burden yourself by focusing on the intricacies of question formation in Portuguese! Instead, try to learn a few of these phrases and you should be more than able to get by!
Remember: It is always easier to remember complete sentences than isolated words or grammar distinctions!
4. Set your devices to Portuguese
The fastest way to get from intermediate-level Portuguese to fluency is to make the language part of your everyday life. By changing the language settings on your devices, you can start to get used to the sounds and nuances of spoken Portuguese every time you use your phone or tablet. But it doesn’t stop there. You can use your devices to do all the things you normally like to do, but in the target language!
How to learn the Portuguese language by using your phone
Looking for further immersion in the Portuguese language? You can achieve this in a few simple steps:
- Change all the settings and menus on your phone, computer or tablet to Portuguese. This way, you’ll come across the language every time you use these devices.
- Set your browser’s home page to a Portuguese news website, so that you can start the day with reading headlines in Portuguese.
- Look for apps that contain fun Portuguese exercises and games. These may includes multiple-choice questions or quizzes that test your knowledge of the language. Having fun while learning a language is one of the best ways to improve your skills!
5. Take a tailored Portuguese course online
For a comprehensive way to learn Portuguese, there’s nothing better than taking a tailored online course. Online courses offer an immersive experience in the language, with exercises and activities designed to suit different levels and help you progress.
With the help of a qualified language teacher, you can learn Portuguese in an effective and targeted way, while focusing on the areas that you need to improve.
How to learn Portuguese with Language Trainers
At Language Trainers, we don’t have fixed language courses. Instead, our online classes are tailored to each student’s individual needs. You can get in touch with us for a free trial lesson and then choose the specific areas of Portuguese that you want to focus on.
Once our experienced teachers have been informed about your current level, learning goals and even your personal interests, they will create a custom-made course program designed just for you. You can then enjoy engaging and interactive lessons that will help you to understand Portuguese faster and with more accuracy.
→Sign Up Now: Free Trial Portuguese Lesson With a Native Teacher!←
What’s more, we use the latest technologies to make sure that you can get the most out of each lesson. To achieve this, we use a combination of video conferencing, interactive whiteboards and more!
Laura (Brooklyn), who took 10 lessons before traveling to Rio, had something to say about her lessons.
“Taking online classes with Language Trainers was a great way to make sure I had a good grasp of the language before my trip. The lessons were well-structured and the teacher was very nice. I even got to practice speaking in situations related to my trip. It really paid off, as I had no problem communicating in Portuguese when I was in Rio!”
So, why not give it a try? Get in touch today to learn more about our Portuguese courses and start your journey to speaking the language like a local!