Learning Notes

How to Practice Portuguese

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UnitStart Here!
8 min read

Before you jump right in, we wanted to give you an overview of how to use our platform to learn ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น portuguรชsPortuguese !

You can use the menu to navigate. The 2 most important sections are Learn and Practice:

Next, weโ€™ll discuss each section in more detail. If youโ€™re too excited for all this explanation, scroll to the bottom and click Mark as Complete to move forwardโ€ฆ ๐Ÿ˜‰

๐Ÿ“ UNITS

The Units are organized as a structured course, so when in doubt, this is the best place to start. Work through the list in order for a gradual progression of difficulty.

The courseย is divided into 4 CEFR Levels: A1, A2, B1, and B2. (i.e. Beginner, Upper Beginner, Intermediate, and Upper Intermediate.)

All levels are unlocked from the beginning, so youโ€™re free to skip around if you need more of a desafiochallenge or if there are certain topics that are more relevant to you at the moment.
Each Unit contains:

  • Learning Notes โ€“ Written articles with audio examples that explain grammar, vocabulary, and usage of European Portuguese
  • Lessons โ€“ Interactive atividadesactivities for learning new words and phrases and practicing what you just read about
  • a โ€œShortyโ€ at the end โ€“ Listen to a dialogue related to the concepts you just learned

animated image of the lessonsRemember to use the Units as your place to LEARN. Youโ€™re encouraged to make mistakes and learn from them, so donโ€™t think of it as a test. CadaEach question is an opportunity to โ€œfigure outโ€ Portuguese. If you get one erradowrong , it will repeat again later so you have a chance to correct it.
Itโ€™s the same idea when you get to the Shorty at the end. Use it as an opportunity to get exposure to realistic language. Just like out in the real mundoworld , you wonโ€™t understand everything at first. Over time, however, that exposure helps you put the pieces together and gives you a challenging and effective way to build off of your existing knowledge. โญ๏ธ

๐Ÿง  SMART REVIEW

Itโ€™s tempting to keep powering through the Units, but donโ€™t forget to review!ย Use Smart Review flash cards along the way to keep what youโ€™re learning fresh in your memory. Otherwise itโ€™s just in one orelhaear and out the other! ๐Ÿ‘‚๐Ÿ’จ
Each time you complete a lesson, youโ€™ll have the opportunity to select which words and phrases are most relevant/useful to you and add them to your Smart Review. (You can also add phrases from Learning Notes, Shorties, Videos, and more!)
This repetition ensures youโ€™re picking up the main concepts and vocabulary, and also helps you develop a foundation of โ€œgo-toโ€ phrases. That way, you can start participating in real conversasconversations as soon as possible!
animated image of the flash cards
Smart Review not only helps you review, but also facilitatesย the transition from โ€œknowingโ€ the language to โ€œusingโ€ the language. The phrases appear out of context, so you have no helpย when trying to produce an answer. (Itโ€™s easy to remember how to say a particular number when youโ€™re in the middle of the Numbers unitโ€ฆ but what about a month later when your Portuguese neighbour asks for the time?? ๐Ÿค” )
Once again, donโ€™t expect to master these right away! Itโ€™s expected that you will get a lot wrong at first. Smart Review was designed using spaced repetition, which adjusts to your performance. If youโ€™re interested, you can read more about how it works here.

You may have also noticed Listen & Speak in the menu. This is another (audio-only) way to review your Smart Review phrases, and get some speaking practice in!

๐Ÿ›  VERBS & TRANSLATOR

Here are a few other helpful tools you can use as needed:

Now letโ€™s move on to the PRACTICE section, where youโ€™ll find all of our episodesโ€ฆ

๐Ÿฟ SHORTIES, PODCASTS, & VIDEOS

Use the variety of episodes under the Practice section of the menu to really explorarexplore ย the language. This is your chance to experience how what youโ€™re learning fits into real conversations.
Filter by level or topic to find what suits you best at the moment. When it comes to the Videos, even when theyโ€™re above your nรญvellevel , the visual context may help you with the meaning.
Note: โ€œShortiesโ€ appear at the end of most Units as part of the course, but there are also hundreds more to explore under the PRACTICE tab, along with the library of Podcast episodes and Videos.

How to Use the Shorties

shorty animated gif
You can simply listen to the Shorty, answer the quiz questions, and move on, but you might get even more out of it if you get creative and consider your own personal goals. For example, letโ€™s say you just moved to Portugal and youโ€™ve been having trouble communicating when you go shopping. Use the โ€œShoppingโ€ and โ€œA1โ€ filters on the Shorties page, and now you have a list of episodes to help you prepare for your next outing.
In the beginning, itโ€™s okay to turn on the Translation feature often (using the PT/EN button to the right of the Play button). These diรกlogosdialogues are a big step up from learning isolated sentences in the Units. Itโ€™s importanteimportant , though, because native speakers donโ€™t speak at an A1 level. (If only! ๐Ÿ™ƒ ) We want to make sure youโ€™re getting exposure to โ€œrealโ€ Portuguese from the very beginning. Youโ€™ll aprenderlearn much more when you step out of your comfort zone! Over time, you can rely less on the translation and more on the foundation youโ€™ve built. ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿฝ More Shorties tips here.

๐Ÿ—ฃ DISCUSS

The DISCUSS tab directs you to our community forum where you can connect with other Practice Portuguese members, join a discussion, or ask a question about topics from gramรกticagrammar to a culturaculture to tips for moving to Portugal.

๐Ÿ”Ž Looking For Something Specific?

When you want to learn about a certain topic or just want to see what else we have to offer, browse the full Site Index, Learning Notes Index, or do a Search.

โ“ HELP

If any questions come up, check our FAQs under the HELP tab for instant answers. Reach out if you need further assistance โ€” weโ€™re semprealways happy to help! โค๏ธ

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Letโ€™s Get Started!

Jรก estรก!That's it! You just finished your first Learning Note! If youโ€™re already a Practice Portuguese member, you should see a Mark as Complete button below. Click that and then Continue to the next Learning Note where weโ€™ll introduce you to European Portuguese before jumping into the Lessons.

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