I thought I would start this thread in order to collect recommendations for any books. Personnaly, I would like to see a book directed at someone who speaks Spanish.

Hey PowerSlave or others,

I have been looking around Amazon for books on learning a little Portuguese. Some of the reviews differentiate between Continental and Brazilian Portuguese. Obviously my interest is in Brazilian.

It was my experience in learning a little Spanish that for getting started purposes there was no big difference between Iberian and Latin American Spanish other than that stupid vosotros thing and why do they all lisp over there.

Anyway in your unique and always humble opinion is the difference more pronounced with regard to Portuguese. Any advice ?

FWIW, I cannot speak from any personal experience but recently met a coworker who is of Portugese birth and speaks the language fluently.

She insists that whatever it is they speak in Brazil, it is not Portugese. I have no idea what you should make of that. It is one woman's opinion. I have no doubt you could find at least one person in Spain who would swear whatever they speak in Mexico, it is not Spanish.

There is a HUGE difference between Brazilian and Portuguese Porgtuguese. The Portuguese version would actually be easier for a Spanish speaker to under stand because in Brazil they slur and slush a lot of "hard" sounds, especcially endings.
Go to a good university bookstore, and you will probably find a decent book for learning Brazilian Portuguese.

Incidently, the US State Department's language program treats Brazilian Portuguese as a different language than Portuguese from Portugal.

Good point POWERSLAVE, to further confuse issues, the Cariocas' (those who live in Rio) have their own slant on Portugese as well.

It is called cariocesh. Also Paulistas (from Sao Paulo) and Mineiros (from Belo Horizonte) think all Cariocas are Lazy.

A lady in Lisbon told me that what the Brasilians spoke was like 'ebonics in America'. And a statement like that spoke volumes as to the attitudes of the continental portuguese.

Thanks guys,

I picked up an elementary Pimsleur tape and a couple of introductory books. All are specified as being Brazilian Portuguese. I'll put up some reviews after I work my way through them.

Anybody else attempt to learn a little Portuguese after getting to the adequate point with Spanish ? I'd be interested in hearing how it went.

I did and am now fluent in both languages. I took several semesters of Portuguese in college and lived in Rio for a time. I keep in practice talking with girls on IRC in #brasil and over ICQ, as well as a number of "amigas" in San Diego

I am finishing up a 2nd year of JC Spanish classes this week and will begin a 3rd year in September. No lo domino, pero he hecho progreso. Me enorgullezco de que haya logrado porque trabajaba duro. Ademas les caigo mejor a las chicas.

In preparation for a week long trip to Brazil this fall, I was going to spend the summer picking up a little Portuguese. I was wondering if my Spanish would be much of a help. I hear that there is a lot of overlap betwen the languages in that they are both Romantic languages with Latin roots.

Any quick pointers to a Portuguese newbie whose Spanish is probably best categorized as adequate ?

TIA

More a casual dabbler than a practioner, but the Latin roots of these various languages become more evident the more I stumble around. Hence, actually making learning a second or third language less daunting. Biggest problem for me is remembering which is which.

Was shooting the breeze with a Mexican maide at a US hotel I was staying at recently and, decided to brave my spanish. I kept saying sim instead of si. Of course when I'm in Rio, I keep saying si. Many of the Brazilians understand Spanish, though there is a definite overtone of disdain for the language. More one of national pride. Not to worry, it only surfaces amongst those you will spend little to no time with. By example; I was shopping at a little grocery store on Atlantica and bumped into a lady in one of the crowded aisles. I blurted perdon. She harumphed and corrected me by saying DISCULPE!

Think spanish with a german accent. Rio Roiss is Heo Hoish. Reals is Heyish. Monte Carlo is Monch Carlo.

~ serious problems above, be kind ~

Here are a couple of web sites that I have found for beginner's Portuguese:

Short lessons site, includes a comparisom to Spanish:

http://alfarrabio.um.geira.pt/spl/index.html


Potuguese para viajantes

http://www.travlang.com/languages/cgi-bin/langchoice.cgi?page=main&lang1=english&lang2=portuguese

I bought the "Quick and Simple Brazillian Portuguese" Pimsleur tapes from Amazon. There are about 4 hours of very basic intro materials. It cost $16 and I am happy with them. It's a good starting place and supplements well a basic introductory text. They are on a par with the quality of the rest of the Pimsleur products. This is very basic stuff. If you already speak a little Portuguese it would probably be a waste of time.

I borrowed a couple of 3-4 hour audio tapes from my local library. The simple phrase books work the best for me. I can't remember more than the basic stuff. Try to phrase your questions to get yes and no answers. My basic Spanish seemed to convert ok.

I tried the first site referenced by Gitano.
I like it, made me want to learn more. I was a bit apprehensive seeing all these double vowels.
Just got from Amazon:
Portuguese Dictionary from Collins Gem
Brazilian Portuguese by Sue Tyson Ward
Also Say It in Portuguese: Brazilian Usage is coming from Barnes And Noble as they had a free shipping plus sales on certain books.
My goal is not to learn to speak Portuguese, more to say a few phrases and try to understand language basic grammar to try understand the garotas.
I was happy to see many words are identical to Espanol.

I gave away my portuguese books which had useful phrases as cariocas have a hard time learning English. These books are a good way to unwind between session.
The R can be silent in Portuguese so most difficult to pronouce for cariocas as well as "th".
D is pronounced Dj
T can be pronounced tch

I bought the Pimsleur Portuguese Brazil I set. Like all of the Pimsleur sets it is pricy but so far I really like it. I ordered it for about 1/2 off list price via AllDirect.com.

I found a book called "Com licenca - Brazilian Portuguese for Spanish Speakers". The book is geared towards English speakers who speak Spanish that want to learn Brazilian Portuguese.

Author - Antonio Simoes
ISBN - 0-292-71142-5
University of Texas Press

Athos mentioned Pimsleur for language learning. Never used Pimsleur, but I have another recommendation, good, and real cheap: Living Language - Brazilian Portuguese (note: must be Brazilian!!!). Publisher is Crown, available everywhere at around US$20-$30. Cassette and CD versions available as far as I know. It was the cassette version I bought at $20 (1994). This series is recommended for Spanish as well, by the way.

No BS, all useful stuff clearly spoken, comes with a guide/grammar and a separate dictionary which has very thoughtfully bolded the most commonly used words you'll encounter. Great help if you're in a study-rush, reviewing, or otherwise minimalizing your study.

Yes, outside the cities, you're going to be hearing Portuguese and not much else. Interestingly, they'll understand your Spanish if it's good (the Sao Paulo Portuguese is very Spanish-sounding), but you won't understand a thing they say in reply unless you've done some homework. Guaranteed.

Fascinating linguistic parallels and deviances from Spanish if you're interested in that kind of thing.

Another good learning source to follow the Living Language Brazilian Portuguese course is Barron's 'Mastering Portuguese', a 12-cassette, watered-down version of the Foreign Service Institute's language training program for government officials. I picked mine up at Bookstar in the USA in 1994, still available at Amazon. Make sure you get the cassettes! Around $60.

The full FSI course is available from Audio-Forum (www.audioforum.com) - 34 cassettes, 2 books, and a hefty price tag of $450. Hey, memorize and destroy! Pack light!

mysimon.com is a great place to find the best online price for various books etc.

amazon.com and Barnes&Nobles tend to have everything but their prices aren't so great. They both have "Mastering Portuguese" for $60. Alldirect.com has the best price - $50.

Here is a link for some online portuguese lessons
http://www.travlang.com/languages/cgi-bin/langchoice.cgi

Well, here is my worthless 2 cents on this subject. I once touted the Barrons Foreign Language Service cassette set, but I've decided that is much too fast paced for me. If you are good at languages and are a quick learner, this one may be for you. I find the Pimseluer cd set more my speed, but it costs about $200 for the first set, and the second set sells for a bit more on ebay or amazon.com's auction section. My problem with Pimsleur is that it is primarily (almost solely) oral, and I am one who needs to see the words (dictionaries can fail me here, I can't figure out the spelling of spoken words in many instances) and also need to know some of the rhyme and reason of grammar. Fortunately, I find the Teach Yourself Portuguese book ($15 or $22 with audio cassettes) by Sue Tyson-Ward is an excellent complement that explains grammar in simple terms and allows me to see the words I'm trying to say. She also wrote another book about Portuguese grammar but that one is too fast paced and is for language majors only.

To add to Wilmafint, I find reading that book much easier after listening to Pimsleur. I ordered the book online and it did not come with the cassette so I am not sure I can recommend it but with Pimsleur it is a good complement.
I like Pimsleur as I learn to pronounce words correctly. I'll give up correct spelling as I do not need it for this hobby.

Wilmaflint:

You mentioned Barron's as 'too fast-paced'. Note that I recommended starting with the Living Language series, then moving up to Barron's. From what I've seen of the Teach Yourself series - 1 book (Vietnamese) - it's probably OK as a starter (But I also know that not all all books within a given series are equally good - e.g. Rutledge's "Colloquial" group - Thai is excellent, Khmer is crud beyond the half-way point, VN is mediocre.)
And make sure your 'Teach Yourself' course is Brazilian rather European Portuguese.

There's a lot of language-learning junk out there - including the popular Language 30 series (little or no grammar, no explanation of why anything is constructed the way it is, hard to decipher which words perform what function). Better to stick with materials that people have worked with successfully.

I agree that you need to see the words spelled out - hey, teaches you to read for one thing! and allows info to be burned into your brain by a second, important route - and if you don't have grammar you'll never be capable of creating your own speech, or understanding anything that's not explicitly in your course materials.

I find that most people in foreign countries don't speak like phrase books!

The Pimsleur Portuguese Brazil CD´s have paid off for this trip. I only crammed thru half of the course but it has served me well. I can imagine if I complete all 3. The biggest problem has been when I say something to a taxi driver or girl, they think I know portuguese and they take off like a bat at a hell chatting...ooops I tell them back to square one please.

So yes expensive but if you are going to be a Brazil nut a must have especially those of us on a tight schedule during the day..I listen going and coming from work.

I'm agree that the Pimsleur tapes are great especially for those of us who are primarily trying to learn how to converse in Brazilan Portuguese (as opposed to learning how to read and/or write). Unfortunately I think there are only 2 sets for Brazilan Portuguese right now. Pimsleur does come out with new sets every once in a while though.

I did the basic before the first trip, and now I'm halfway through comp 1. I should have it down before I leave on the 4/23. I'll start #2 when I return, hopefully have it nailed before my 3rd trip in May. Yes, I'm planning on going back a third time before I even leave for the second time

Pimsleur port #3 is due out this month

Great news Dood on Pimsleur #3. Let me know when it is out.

The best book on Portuguese grammar I've seen is "Essential Portuguese Grammar" by Alexander da R. Prista. This guy reduces the language to a few basic rules and does it in 80 pages (plus 25 pages of appendices). Great supplement to Pimsleur, and it only costs $5.95.

It's in my bookshelf, WilmaFlint, and I agree. Cheap and good. But don't forget the very useful 'Living Language: Brazilian Portuguese' set for a possible next step, cheap at US$20 to US$30 depending on cassette vs CD mdium, which I found to be great (haven't seen Pimsleur, which is considerably more expensive, I think). All good.

Off to Asia for 5.5 weeks in 18 hours...I'll have to do Macau some day! But not likely with US$3 to US$5 VN honeys in Cambodia...

Boa sorte...

For all those who would like to supplement their Portuguese lessons while they are here in Rio.

I now have a Portuguese language teacher that has been teaching Portuguese to foreigners both Conversation and Business courses, for the last 2 years in one of the best schools in Rio on my payroll. She will be available in the afternoons from 12 noon until 2 PM every week day.. Cost is 100reais for one (1) hour a day for 5 days.

I just finished 3 years of Spanish at a local JC. I'm getting back to picking up a little Brazilian Portuguese for a trip to Rio for Labor Day. I am not intending to be a serious student of this language, I'd just like to make pleasant chit-chat with the garrotas. A good buddy leant me the first set of the Pimselur CDs and I'm making progress.

I'd like to supplment these with a few odds and ends. I noticed that "Essential Portuguese Grammar" got a good review above and will probably buy a copy.

I noticed the book called "Com Licença" that Young Tom posted about on January 10th above. This is the only book that I have seen that introduces Portuguese for primary English-Spanish speakers. I was about to buy a copy at Amazon, when I noticed that somebody ripped it in a review. Anybody here have any opinions on this book ?

Obrigado,
Gitano

I just want to put a plug in for the Pimsleur III Portuguese CDs. I think that it is the next best thing to being there in terms of aquiring conversational skills.

I have been doing Pimsleur I for a week and am astonished at how quickly you learn and retain from this system...I second your plug wholeheartedly...

YT- can you give me an estimate on % how fluent you will be after III....I am guessing 15% after II but am only half way thru....

Layne - that is hard to quantify. I think that even if one listens to all 3 levels, one probably still won't approach fluency; my guess is that one really needs to live in Brazil for a couple of years in order to become fluent. That aside I think that it is well worth the money & my guess if you finish up level II and III that you'll probably at least double your current Portuguese knowledge & be able to converse fairly well about basic things (well worth the effort IMHO).

Admin: Spam removed

I am learning Portuguese right now with the Pimsleur CDs. I've tried other courses, but Pimsleur is the best. It is expensive if you buy the CDs from a commercial source. I saw some scurrilous vendors on the net selling the courses in MP3 format for $5 per course ($15 for Units I-III). But I'm guessing that their activities may not be completely legit.

Right behind Pimsleur is Barron's Mastering Portuguese. I am using Barron's as a supplement to Pimsleur. The Barron's tapes focus on accurate pronunciation. Also, everything you hear is printed in the book. In this regard, Pimsleur is deficient because many words sound the same but are spelled differently. I paid about $70 for the Barron's course on Amazon.com. I would have relied more heavily on Barron's if the course was on CD. (Seriously, who has a tape deck these days?)

My adult friends who have learned Portuguese warn that the CDs and tapes will not lead to fluency. That is something which require a patient Brazilian girlfriend or alternatively, several months in Brazil.

Using messenger really helps with reading comprehension - assuming your partners know spelling and grammer!

My experience with IM with the girls is that they use grammatical and spelling shorthand much like when the text-message me on the phone. I found it of little help. I do have a few garotas that write me fairly long email messages, and that helps, especially if they're willing to comment on my usage.

I IM with girls that use correct language (sure some don't... but with the ones that do) and ask them to correct me. I also look up words (words, not sentences) in freetranslation.com.

This alone won't do it, but complemented by Pimsleur and/or friends (in person, Brasilians) can do it.

If you are persistent, and say take notes of something you learn in one place and then ask for confirmation from another place...

Admin: Spam removed

If you're serious about studying portuguese, here are 2 excellent books:
1. Grammar of Spoken Brasilian Portuguese by Earl W Thomas. Excellent book.
2. new book called Using Portuguese: a guide to contemporary usage by Ana Sofia Ganho, Timothy McGovern, that one is advanced, teaches slang and classroom portuguese. Awesome book.
Both books have a green cover.
Other books do not compare very well.
I am taking course at local U., Pimsleur is good for starting speaking but learning from the ground up now I can write and understand pronunciation and all the damn accentuation. Knowing another latin language like Spanish or French helps tremendously for vocabulary.

Looking forward to my 1st trip to Rio in March and after doing a bunch of research on CH figured it would only be better to learn the language. Why waste time when you're there?

There is great stuff to learn here on CH, check out Off Topic > Foreign Languages > Portuguese

Full listing of Pimsleurs courses.

Also did some research online and found Pimsleurs basic from Amazon / Audible. You can download it and put to CDs.

Pimsleurs Basic Portuguese >

Been doing it for a week and know that it's going to make my trip that much better!

Should you decide you want to do the full Level 1 course, check Ebay. Often you can find used Level 1 courses there on the cheap.

for anyone interested in learning portuguese, i will ad my two cents about how i got the job done in a relatively short period of time.

first of all, if you are only in brasil for a short time i highly highly recommend the book "how to say everything in portuguese". you can buy it is every book store in brasil and it is invaluable, much better than any other short term language guide i have seen. for my first month in brasil i used this every day to communicate with garotas in my apartment and it was great cause it tells you how to say anything you want to express and is easy to navigate. there is also a book by the same author called how to say everything in english (for portuguese speakers) and i bought one for the girls who stayed with me for long periods and they found it very helpful.

To develop my portugues skills more I found a brasilian student in the city where i live who can't work legally and teaches portuguese on the side. She charges me 10 dollars and hour and when i am in the united states i usually work with her 5 hours a week. I found her via craigslist and i am sure there are brasilian students in every city who can't work legally and would love to do this. working with her is great because not only does she know how the locals talk and about the culture, but it is individual instruction at a good price (she is also very hot). i didn't start working with her until i had already spent about 4 months in brasil (hanging out all the time with programma girls and not really having contact with well educated brasilians, etc.). i thought i knew the language pretty well but she corrected a lot of my errors and told me a lot i didn't know.

I work with her using the book Brasil! Lingua e Cultura (she started me out using books that evidently are used at some universities to teach portuguese, none of which contained any english which made them very confusing). After I saw the Brasil! book things went a lot smoother. you can find it online and it is in the 3rd edition, there is also a workbook that is very helpful. for me it was the best book for learning portuguese because it is for english speakers (as opposed to the popular fala brasil, Bem Vindo, and Portugues para Estrangeiros which only have portuguese in the most part).

also, obviously, it has helped a lot that i am in brasil frequently and can therefore practice with the locals a lot. as everyone else has mentioned and i will repeat, knowing the language helps a lot not only with the girls, but with dealing with everyone in the country, it is a different experience entirely. most people on this board probably won't want to invest the time to do it, and i can certainly understand that, but if you are interested, this is how i learned and i get along pretty well now, so it is worth giving a shot.

Having a teacher helped me a lot. I found one in Rio (R$25/hr) who really improved my ability to use the language in one month of one-hour lessons every day, despite her tendency to gossip about program garotas for as much as half the lesson some days.

Good idea to use craigslist back home, the one teacher I've found in LA gets $30/hr.

I also found a teacher on Craig's List for the Sacramento area. She is charging me $25 an hour.

The book series that most university courses use in Brasil (in courses for foreigners) is called "Avenida Brasil." There are two levels (1&2) and the book comes with audiotapes (separate purchase) and you can by another book of exercises to go along with the text. My current class is using the second volume. It is completely in Portuguese, so not intended for complete beginners.

One of my professors in Rio recommended a book I've found very helpful if you really want to understand Portuguese grammar: "Modern Portuguese: A Reference Grammar" by Mário Perini. It's a huge book, but really helps provide a deeper understanding of the complex grammatical rules. It's probably overkill if you just want to stick to conversations in the present indicative tense, as most toursits seem to do. Perini also has a good but expensive book, with two CDs, called "Talking Brazilian: A Brazilian Portuguese Prununciation Workbook" that I've found helpful.

The "Avenida Brasil" books are probably not easily found in the US, and probably easiest to find in very large bookstores in Brasil (like Livraria Cultura in SP) or in university bookstores. The Perini books are available on Amazon.