Welcome to Hacking Portuguese! No matter whether you’re just thinking about learning Portuguese, already know a little bit, or are fully conversational, this site is here to help you level up and reach your goals. I have been a student of Portuguese for 3 years, and I only recommend things that I have actually used as a learner and found helpful.
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When you’re just starting out, the sheer number of Portuguese resources out there can be overwhelming. At this point, I wouldn’t worry about finding the ‘best’ course so much as finding something that hooks you on the language and keeps you coming back. Here are some courses that I recommend for absolute beginners; any one of these could be a gentle gateway to Portuguese:
– These 30 short videos tell the story of Paul, a young American journalist who comes to Rio to write a travel story. Through his adventures (and mishaps) with his Brazilian guide Raquel, we get introduced to the sound and structure of Brazilian Portuguese as it’s spoken in Rio, and we learn enough of the language to survive as a tourist in the cidade maravilhosa. The videos are focused on situations that travelers will find themselves in: ordering food, checking into a hotel, riding in a cab/bus/subway, meeting a colleague. The story is entertaining and the instruction is well worth the price.
– A subscription-based website with multiple levels of instruction – more than enough to keep a beginner busy for a year. They have done an excellet job at creating a complete learning environment that includes integrated text and audio for reading and listening practice, a visual dictionary, and a built-in flashcard app for studying vocabulary.
– a high quality beginner-level podcast from the wonderful folks at UT Austin’s BrazilPod.
– A gentle introduction to the language, this colorful, unintimidating book won’t teach you much grammar or pronunciation but will teach you a few hundred basic vocabulary words for everyday objects, colors, numbers, weather, clothing, and much more. The workbook format encourages you to practice by writing in the book, and sheets of stickers let you label household items with their Portuguese names. A great foundation for future studies. My recommendation: don’t bother with the CD version.
– Although I wrote a fairly critical of Duolingo, I have heard from many people who used it to great success. It has a very gamified interface, and of all of these resources it’s the one you’re most likely to get addicted to. The biggest problem I see is that Duolingo trains you on reading and writing without much listening or speaking practice.
– I don’t need to say much about Rosetta Stone, other than that it is pretty good but very expensive, and you can learn just as well using the less pricey or free resources that I recommend here, if you’re willing to put in just a bit more work. Here’s some more of my thoughts on the .
– This flashcard app comes with a few dozen premade lists of beginner-level vocabulary, including professional-sounding audio pronunciations. A simplified version is also available for iOS devices. Good for hearing the sounds of Portuguese and learning some basic vocabulary and travel-oriented phrases.
Of course, nothing beats a good tutor or group class. .
Though there’s a lot of great Portuguese material online these days, there are still a few must-have reference books that you will probably want to own. Here’s my .
You may also want a or teach-yourself .
– Don’t let the speed of the speakers or the advanced level of the dialogs scare you away – you don’t need to understand what they’re saying to get the most out of this audio/pdf series. The focus here is on the sounds of Brazilian Portuguese, and no one explains it better than Professor Orlando Kelm and his amiable team of Brazilian and Venezuelan colleagues. Though it’s aimed at Spanish speakers, the explanations are in English and require no prior knowledge of Spanish (and as a bonus, you’ll learn a thing or two about Spanish in the process). Be sure to download the pdf guides for each lesson.
– Find out how to pronounce a word with this user-submitted collection of 107,000 recordings of Portuguese words.
– Available for both European and Brazilian dialects, Pimsleur is much-hyped but, in my experience, really does work. Over the course of 90 half-hour audio lessons, this course takes you from the absolute basics to a low-intermediate level, focusing only on the sound of the language. The recorded conversations and audio prompts provide ample opportunity for you to fine-tune your pronunciation. Best of all: if you have access to a library, you can check out the cds for free.
– This is the only book I know of that focuses exclusively on the sounds and pronunciation of the language. A good resource for a beginner who wants to have a solid foundational, or a more advanced speaker who wants to improve their pronunciation and soften their accent. The accompanying CDs are good for those who don’t have the benefit of a native teacher.
– A good basic overview of the unusual grammatical features of Brazilian Portuguese, most useful for those who are already familiar with at least one Romance language (esp. Spanish). Once again, you don’t have to actually understand the entire dialog to benefit from the focused grammar explanations. Be sure to check out the pdfs that accompany each lesson.
– The best of a crowded field of grammar references, “the green book” as I call it teaches the language with an ear to how Brazilians actually speak. No matter where you are with your studies, this book will help you level up. The entire second half of the book is an ingenious Practical Communications Guide that every student should own. Whatever stubborn little points of grammar are frustrating you, I guarantee this book will demystify them and provide much-needed clarity. Intermediate/Advanced speakers especially will gain insight into the more subtle uses of the colloquial language.
– You’ve seen these books before. If you’re ready to really get into the various verb moods and tenses – and no Romance language has more of them than Portuguese – then this is an indispensable reference. The explanatory chapter in the front leaves a lot to be desired (get the green book for that) but the real value is in the verb tables, a real lifesaver when you are learning irregular verbs and confusing pairs like ver versus vir.
You might also want to try one of the recommended .
– For Beginners. This colorful, unintimidating book won’t teach you much grammar but will teach you a few hundred basic vocabulary words for everyday objects, colors, numbers, weather, clothing, and much more. The workbook format encourages you to practice by writing in the book, and sheets of stickers let you label househol
If you want to learn to speak Japanese, check out the 36 JAFL Japanese lessons that are available to download on this page. In addition, you may download a complete transcript of all the lessons, as well as several Japanese grammar guides. All of this material is free.
I continue to listen to these lessons and frequently revise the audio files, the transcript and the other documents, in an effort to make them more accurate and easier to use. In addition, I add new lessons from time to time. Therefore, I suggest that you come back here periodically to check for new material. Also, please pay attention to the dates on which the files were last updated. These dates can be seen in the list below. In addition, the dates when the files were last revised are embedded in the individual file names.
Again, these lessons are entirely free. However, if you would like to give something back, please recommend this page on Google by clicking on the button below. Scientific studies show that a higher number of Google 1’s leads to higher search rankings (at least on Google). Therefore, if you click on this button, it’s more likely that potential students like you will be able to find this site in the future. If you don’t already have a Google account, you will need to sign up for one, but I hope that you will find that a minor inconvenience. Thank you!
The JAFL Transcript is 424 pages in length and contains more than 7,000 “questions” in English, each of them followed by an “answer” in Japanese. You will find suggested mnemonics written in italics scattered throughout the transcript. If these mnemonics are not helpful, please ignore them or change them.
1.65 MB Last revised 4-5-16.
5.0 MB Last revised 4-5-16.
5.0 MB Last revised 4-5-16.
The JAFL Long Grammar Guide is 60 pages long. The last 3 pages contain an index.
Last revised 11-2-15.
Last revised 11-2-15.
Last revised 11-2-15.
The JAFL Short Grammar Guide is only 11 pages long, and it’s relatively easy to carry around. It contains most of the information found in the Long Grammar Guide, in a very abbreviated format. However, it only includes material found in the first 27 lessons. It includes a 2-page index.
Last revised 9-19-14.
Last revised 9-19-14.
Last revised 9-19-14.
The JAFL Ga vs. Wa document is 3 pages in length. It lists 15 points to consider when you are deciding whether to use ga or wa in your sentences.
Last revised 7-28-13.
Last revised 7-28-13.
The JAFL Japanese Verb Tenses document is 5 pages long. It outlines the differences between u verbs and ru verbs, distinguishes between verb roots and verb stems, and explains how to identify and use transitive and intransitive verbs. It also explains how to use eba, reba, tara, nara, dattara, eru, reru, rareru, tari, oo, yoo, and tokoro. It describes how to use the exclamatory tense, the imperative form, the causative tense, the passive tense, and the causative passive tense.
Last revised 3-13-15.
Last revised 3-13-15.
Last revised 3-13-15.
Notice: the audio files that can be accessed by clicking on the links on this page are mp3 files that have been converted to zip files. You may download them, save them to your device and unzip them before playing them.
Please be aware that some devices, including iPhones and iPads, may automatically attempt to play or stream zip files, without success. If you are using an iPhone, iPad or iPod, it’s best to start by downloading these files to the computer where you have installed iTunes. Each download may take several minutes or sometimes much longer, depending on your internet connection. Then unzip each file and save it in a folder on your computer. (Note: if you use the FTP download method described below, you will not need to unzip the files.)
Create a playlist in iTunes and name it, for example, “Japanese Audio Flashcard Lessons.” Drag the audio files from their folder to this new playlist. Finally, connect your portable device and synchronize it with iTunes.
Important: there are two different ways to download the audio files, as well as the document files: “ordinary” downloads and file transfer protocol (FTP) downloads. Which one should you use?
Here are four scenarios to consider:
A. If you have a relatively slow internet connection, you may find that when you use the “ordinary” download method (clicking on the underlined links on this page) your downloads seem to “time out.” Or, as a number of students have reported, some audio files may not play properly after you have downloaded them using the “ordinary” method. In that case, use the FTP method, as described below, since the FTP method will allow you to download large amounts of data reliably, with no risk of timing out or acquiring damaged files. Also, the files available via the FTP method are ordinary mp3 files and do not need to be unzipped.
B. If you intend to download a large number of files at once, you will also find it more convenient to use the FTP method. Note that I cannot guarantee that this site will be operational forever. Therefore, I suggest that you consider downloading all of the files now. The best method for downloading all of the files at once is the FTP method described below. This method will allow you to place the files that you want to download into a single queue, and your computer will download them reliably, regardless of how long it takes.
C. If you have a fast internet connection and only wish to download one or two files, use the “ordinary” method, i.e., click on the red links on this page.
D. If you have a slow internet connection and are unable to get the FTP download method to work, you may be able to locate an internet cafe near your home, or a public library with computers you can use, with a connection that is faster than the one you have at home. After you log in to a computer at the internet cafe or the library, use the “ordinary” method to download the lessons. Then store the lessons on a USB flash drive.
To download these JAFL files as FTP files, use an FTP downloader like Filezilla (for Windows computers) or Cyberduck (for Mac computers). If you want to use Filezilla, for example, start by watching this .
There are several places where you can download Filezilla Client (I don’t think you need the Filezilla Server), but if you aren’t careful, you may end up downloading some nasty malware, such as Vosteran Search, which hijacks your browsers and forces you to watch annoying advertisements. Therefore, I suggest using .
You still need to be careful, even when downloading from the official Filezilla site. Click on the big green Download button, but do not click on any of the other Download offers that may then appear. Be patient, and wait for the window that will allow you to choose to “Run” the software installation. Then click Run. You may be prompted to download a “SourceForge Download Manager,” and you should do that. Decline all other offers that may pop up on the screen. Finally, click Install Now. When you see a screen allowing you to Choose Components, you may select all of the components shown.
Once you are in Filezilla, you will need the following information:
FTP HOST (also known as the Server, in Cyberduck): ftp.japaneseaudiolessons.com
FTP USER: studentdownload@japaneseaudiolessons.com
FTP PASSWORD: Japanese123
PORT: 21
You should now be able to see the text and audio files listed on the right side of the screen. You may right-click on an individual file to download it. [Note: if you right-click on a file and see that the option to Download that file is greyed out (meaning, not available), you may also download that file by simply dragging it from the right side of the screen to the left side and dropping it onto your desktop or into any other folder on your computer.]
If any of the files that you have already downloaded are older than the ones listed on this page, I suggest that you delete the older files and download the more recent versions. More recent versions are more accurate and user-friendly.
13.6 MB Direct objects. Te and de forms of verbs. Kudasaru and kudasai. Da and desu. Aru and arimasu. Dewa arimasen and ja arimasen. Wa and ga. Particles, pronouns. "Softening" your sentences. 15 minutes. Last revised 3 -22-14.
24.4 MB More on te and de forms. More particles. Suru and shimasu. Negative forms of i adjectives. Iku and ikimasu. Iru and imasu. Negative forms of na adjectives. Interrogative pronouns. Wa and ga. 27 minutes. Last revised 3-22-14.
31.2 MB The shoo ending. Kurai, gurai and goro. More particles. Te iru and de iru. Transitive and intransitive verbs. More pronouns. Kakaru. 34 minutes. Last revised 2-2-14.
24.5 MB U verbs and ru verbs. The ku form of i adjectives. Hoo ga ii. De and ni after place names. Active and inactive verbs. More pronouns. Suki. Past forms of i adjectives. Turning adjectives into adverbs. 30 minutes. Last revised 4-5-16.
30.8 MB Counting, numbers, days of the week and of the month, etc. Counting objects up to 10. The use of tai to mean “desire.” The use of kara and node. The use of na as a synonym for desu. How to use 17 common verbs, as well as i and na adjectives, in their non-past, non-past negative, past, and past negative forms. Naze and dooshite. 34 minutes. Last revised 3-28-14.
25.7 MB Subete and zenbu. Conjunctions. Using te and de to mean “and,” including the use of kute. How to say “something will be all right.” 28 minutes. Last revised 6-12-15.
21.0 MB Hajimete. Expressing intentions. Expressing probabilities. Ga vs. no. Forming a noun from a verb stem. 23 minutes. Last revised 3-28-14.
39.6 MB Using te to mean “because.” Using nagara to mean “while.” Using mo to indicate that a quantity is more (or less) than expected. Expressing duration. Using hodo. Expressing comparisons. Expressing “etcetera.” Stating opinions. Counting years, months, weeks and days. 43 minutes. Last revised 6-22-14.
24.5 MB Using naru to mean “becomes.” Making noun phrases. Verbs of giving and receiving. 27 minutes. Last revised 5-11-14.
66.5 MB Transitive and intransitive verbs. Using 20 common verb pairs (one transitive and one intransitive verb in each pair), practice in the use of the non-past, non-past negative, “te” and past forms. Also, for transitive verbs in this group, the imperative form. Using shimau to mean “completely” or “thoroughly.” Turning something into something else. Using demo to mean “at least.” 1 hour and 14 minutes. Last revised 6-22-14.
31.7 MB Using oku to mean “do in advance.” Using made ni to indicate “by” a certain time. Using the te form of an adjective as an adverb. Talking on the phone. 35 minutes. Last revised 3-30-14.
48.5 MB Using hazu to mean "ought." Using koto ni suru and koto ni naru to mean "decide" and "schedule." Using moshi and moshimo to mean "supposing." Using tara ii to mean "it would be nice if. "Using shi to mean" and. "53 minutes. Last revised 2-14-14.
45.7 MB Using ni to mean “for a purpose.” Using question words with ka, mo and demo, to mean “some,” “all/every” and “any.” Using cha as an abbreviation for te wa and ja as an abbreviation for de wa. Using kadooka to mean “whether or not.” Negative requests and negative commands. Verbs of giving and receiving. 50 minutes. Last revised 4-5-14.
57.2 MB Saying “all day (night, year, summer, etc.) long.” Using chuu ni and juu ni to mean “sometime during” or “before the end of.” Expressing “same as” and “different from.” Saying “still do” and “no longer do.” Attributing information to a source. 1 hour and 3 minutes. Last revised 5-22-14.
50.4 MB Using na to mean “desu.” Using dake and bakari to mean “only.” Using noni to mean “even though.” Using yoo and mitai to mean “similar to.” Using to and tara to mean “if” or “when.” Giving directions. 55 minutes. Last revised 6-29-14.
44.3 MB Making suggestions. Using the te form of a verb to express the idea of giving or receiving an action, as opposed to a thing. 49 minutes. Last revised 5-22-14.
40.2 MB Using te hoshii and te moraitai to ask a person to do something. Using sugiru to mean “too much.” Using te mo ii to mean “OK if I?” 44 minutes. Last revised 12-12-14.
61.3 MB Apologizing. Using dekiru, eru or rareru to mean “able to.” Using tari to mean “etcetera.” Using yoo ni naru to mean “get to the point that.” Using yoo ni suru to mean “see to it that.” Using uchi ni to mean “while still.” Using aida ni to mean “while.” Making nouns from verbs. 1 hour and 7 minutes. Last revised 5-26-14.
65.7 MB Using shika to mean “except for only.” Nanda and nante. Using garu, soo and deshoo to mean “appears to be.” Using to iu no wa, to no wa, and tte to say “as for the one called.” Using tame ni and yoo ni to mean “for the purpose of.” 1 hour and 12 minutes. Last revised 8-28-15.
49.9 MB Using oo and yoo to mean “I shall.” Using to suru to say “try to do.” Using tokoro to say “on the verge,” “in the process,” or “just finished.” Using bakari to mean “a while ago.” The exclamatory tense. Using eba and reba to mean “if, then.” The imperative tense. Giving praise and encouragement. 54 minutes. Last revised 7-7-14.
48.9 MB Using nara and dattara to mean “in case it is.” Honorific and humble verbs. Giving directions. 1 hour and 1 minute. Last revised 2-15-16.
66.4 MB Using ki ga suru to mean “I have a feeling.” Using soo, yoo, rashii, and items with their Portuguese names. My recommendation: don’t bother with the CD version.
– Once you’ve acquired the basics, this simple dictionary of the 5000 most frequently-used words, sorted by frequency, part of speech and theme, will give you a broad base of more advanced vocabulary.
– Board games? Films? Pets? Taking a shower? Bicycling? Eggs? Whatever you like to do when you’re not learning Portuguese, Laurena Rowe’s blog has a page of vocabulary all about it. (And learning the jargon of your work, hobbies and interests is one of the best ways to increase your vocabulary). Or just pick a random list to study each week using Anki. Either way, you will have hundreds of new words at your command.
– a brand new site that offers a fairly sophisticated vocabulary-learning platform. I checked out some of their intermediate word decks and was impressed to find that their words go far beyond the basics.
– A subscription-based website with multiple levels of instruction from absolute beginner to high-intermediate. Each lesson introduces new vocabulary words, and a built-in visual/pronunciation dictionary and spaced-repetition flashcard system helps you learn them.
– Widely acknowledged to be one of the most effective ways of memorizing almost anything, Anki is the best spaced-repetition software out there. It’s also available . Also see my page on .
And finally, you might want to take a look at my pages on , , and the 1000 most common and in Portuguese.
Perhaps you also need a good online or paper ?
I have a whole page on strategies and resources.
Looking for some Brazilian films to watch? Try .
– A book of newspaper articles, short stories and essays about Brazilian culture, for intermediate-advanced students.
– An NYC-based Brazilian book importer and a great (though not always cheap) source for Brazilian novels, literature, children’s books, nonfiction, textbooks, and music books. I recommend , an intermediate-level collection of essays about all the places where Portuguese is spoken in the world.
Many textbooks contain interesting things to read. The best for this are Para a Frente, Ponto de Encontro, and Português via Brasil.
I also have a whole page on , including links to Brazilian newspapers, blogs and magazines.
Online tutoring: – Luciana Lage and her team of professoras offer fun, affordable conversational sessions for all levels, via Skype.
is a fantastic new site that lets you find language exchange partners (ie Portuguese speakers learning English) to practice with. There’s a built-in video chat interface to make it as easy as possible.
– If you live near a city, chances are there are opportunities to practice your Portuguese with teachers, other students and native speakers.
I have just for you!
You’ll want the page
High-intermediate and advanced speakers sometimes feel like they’ve reached a plateau where they’re not getting any better. If you’re ready to level up, try some of these resources:
– A website for high-intermediate speakers with 7 thematic lessons that will enrich your knowledge of Brazilian culture and deepen your understanding of the grammar. Dozens of videos provide plenty of practice listening to Brazilians with every type of dialect and accent.
– For the truly brave, or at least the already-fluent, CB provides annotated videos of Brazilians having real, unscripted conversations. It’s challenging stuff, but fascinating to observe the language in its natural environment. Orlando Kelm and a team of Brazilian instructors provide a play-by-play commentary on the expressions and structures deployed by the conversationalists.
– Nearly as challenging as Conversa Brasileira, but scripted and more fun to watch, these videos show scenes in the daily life of young cariocas (Rio de Janeiro residents). The characters speak at a normal pace using lots of colloquialisms, but it’s all transcribed and explained through cut-in teaching moments. Well-acted and filmed on location in various settings across the city (Copacabana beach, Santa Teresa, a farmer’s market, a boteco, a favela, the bus, a salon) these dialogs provide an enjoyable glimpse into Rio’s unique culture and language. Observing the interactions with vendors is especially useful for anyone travelling to Brasil.
– A textbook designed for third-year university classes, this is the best of the very few ‘advanced’ texts out there. If you think you’ve got a good vocabulary, try some of the readings in this book. Entirely in Portuguese.
– The companion exercise book for the excellent grammar reference that I suggested above. This is the Marine boot camp of grammar workbooks. It’s challenging, and contains no cartoons or audio, but it will get you where you’re going. I especially like the exercises for the Practical Communication Guide, which quiz you on using proper formal/informal register.
See also my pages on .
And finally, the best way to level up is just to go have more Portuguese conversations. Whether it’s via a Meetup.com group, an online tutor, a language exchange with an English learner, or a small group class, has plenty of suggestions on where to meet other people to converse with.