Get Started in Portuguese

Synopsis

Do you want a solid foundation to your European Portuguese studies?
If you are looking for a solid foundation to your language studies for school, work or travel, this engaging course will get you speaking, writing, reading and understanding Portuguese in no time. Through authentic conversations, clear language presentations, and extensive practice and review, you will learn the Portuguese you need to communicate naturally in everyday situations - from booking a hotel room to talking about friends and family.

What will I learn?
Basic Portuguese is slowly and carefully introduced to ensure you progress confidently through the course and build up a foundation to allow you to feel confident in everyday situations and move to the next level of your learning. It teaches grammar, vocabulary and listening, reading, writing, speaking and pronunciation skills. By the end of the course you will reach a solid Novice High proficiency level of ACTFL (The American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages) and A2 Beginner level of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) guidelines.

Is this course for me?
Get Started in Portuguese is for absolute and false beginners of Portuguese. Clear and simple explanations make the course appropriate and accessible to anyone learning Portuguese. There are extensive illustrations to support the learner working on his or her own. This course is also ideal to use with one-to-one tutoring and as a classroom course.

What do I get?
This book has a learner-centred approach that incorporates the following features:
- 10 units of learning content - covering everyday topics from booking a hotel room to talking about friends and family
- Discovery Method - figure out rules and patterns yourself to make the language stick
- Outcomes-based learning - focus your studies with clear aims
- Vocabulary building - thematic lists and activities to help you learn vocabulary quickly
- Test yourself - see and track your own progress
- Native speaker audio - available online

Access the audio for this course for free by downloading it to the Teach Yourself Library app or streaming it on library.teachyourself.com

Where do I go next?
If you want to advance your Portuguese, our Complete Portuguese course (9781444107685) will take you to an intermediate level of Portuguese.

If you want to practice your speaking and listening skills, Get Talking and Keep Talking Portuguese (9781444185492) is the perfect audio course.

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Summary

Chapter 1: Greetings and Introductions

* Real Example: Meet a person named Pedro at a party and exchange initial greetings: "Olá, Pedro! Meu nome é [Your Name]."
* Covered Concepts: Basic greetings, introducing oneself, asking for someone's name.

Chapter 2: Basic Questions and Responses

* Real Example: Ask a friend, "Como você está hoje?" (How are you today?), and respond with "Estou bem, obrigado(a)." (I'm fine, thank you).
* Covered Concepts: Asking and answering basic questions about well-being, using polite expressions.

Chapter 3: Numbers and Telling Time

* Real Example: You're at a restaurant and want to order the "Prato do Dia" (Dish of the Day), which costs 20 reais. You say, "Quero o Prato do Dia, por favor. Custa vinte reais." (I want the Dish of the Day, please. It costs twenty reais.)
* Covered Concepts: Reading and writing numbers, telling time in Portuguese.

Chapter 4: Vocabulary for Daily Life

* Real Example: You're at the grocery store and need to buy some basic items. You add to your cart "arroz" (rice), "feijão" (beans), and "pão" (bread).
* Covered Concepts: Expanding vocabulary related to daily activities, such as shopping, food, and transportation.

Chapter 5: Forming Simple Sentences

* Real Example: You meet a friend and say, "Comprei um novo carro ontem." (I bought a new car yesterday.)
* Covered Concepts: Basic sentence structure, using present tense verbs in affirmative and negative sentences.

Chapter 6: Describing People and Objects

* Real Example: You describe a friend as "Ele é alto e moreno." (He's tall and dark-skinned.)
* Covered Concepts: Adjectives to describe people and objects, agreement of adjectives with nouns.

Chapter 7: Prepositions and Pronouns

* Real Example: You want to ask someone about their hometown. You say, "De onde você é?" (Where are you from?)
* Covered Concepts: Using prepositions in sentences, using personal pronouns as subject pronouns and object pronouns.

Chapter 8: Storytelling and Past Tense

* Real Example: You recount a vacation to a friend: "Eu fui para Salvador em janeiro passado. Foi incrível!" (I went to Salvador last January. It was incredible!)
* Covered Concepts: Past tense verb conjugations, connecting sentences into a narrative.

Chapter 9: Dialogue and Conversation

* Real Example: You engage in a dialogue with a native speaker, asking questions and responding in Portuguese.
* Covered Concepts: Conversational guidelines, following the flow of a conversation, using appropriate expressions and phrases.

Chapter 10: Cultural Insights

* Real Example: You learn about the importance of "jeitinho" (cunning) in Brazilian culture and how it shapes daily interactions.
* Covered Concepts: Exploring Portuguese-speaking culture, understanding the nuances of social customs and behaviors.