How to learn Portuguese easily and quickly as your second language

Portuguese is one of the most spoken languages in the world. It has 200 million speakers across Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and many other continents.

Therefore, learning Portuguese is an invaluable asset as well as a rewarding experience. Learn&Co offers a variety of tutoring services with fluent Portuguese speakers. Choose your preferred service on our website and schedule your first tutoring session at your own convenience. Dive into our step-by-step guide of tips and tricks that will have you speaking Portuguese in no-time!

Reading in Portuguese
Having a Portuguese tutor
Get specific with your goals
Daily Learning
Cover the basics
Explore the culture
Practicing with native Portuguese speakers

Reading in Portuguese

Reading in a foreign language might seem like a daunting task. But if you find stories or articles that interest you, this could be a hugely beneficial for your learning schedule. When you’re reading, highlight words and phrases that you don’t understand and look them up after. This will help boost your memory and broaden your Portuguese vocabulary.

Reading will also give you an understanding of grammar and how to structure sentences.

Also reading the news in Portuguese is great! You can follow current events and things that you are interested in while improving your reading skills.

Having a Portuguese tutor

A tutor allows your progress to be overseen by an expert. This will speed-up your learning process while creating an encouraging environment. Although learning independently is encouraged, it can leave you feeling directionless. A tutor is perfect for coaching you through difficult times.

Hiring a language tutor can be one of the fastest ways to learn a language

Learn&Co provide excellent tutors who can aid you in your quest to learn Portuguese. We have fluent Portuguese tutors who will tailor to your specific needs. They work with you toward being a fluent Portuguese speaker one step at a time. Hiring a language tutor can be one of the fastest ways to learn a language. It allows you focus on all the skills that you struggle with.

Get specific with your goals

Planning is an essential part of studying. Having an overall goal like “learning to speak Portuguese” is important. However, a clearly structured plan with proper time distribution is what will ensure you learn Portuguese as fast as possible. A good tip to motivate you is having a specific goal in mind. What were the reasons as to why you chose to study the language?

For example, if you want to travel to Portugal or Angola, your goal could be to learn some key phrases. Phrases that would be useful in specific scenarios such as hospitality, ordering food, transport, and even asking for help. Therefore, you can break down the situations and vocabulary pertaining to each of them.

Daily Learning

Your success in learning a language depends on how much time you can put into it. The basic elements of the language (colloquial speech) can be learnt relatively fast. However, gaining a more in-depth understanding of Portuguese might take a long time.

If you want to master Portuguese fast, you should remain consistent in your studying. Find the time in your day to go through the essentials like vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. 30 minutes of Portuguese lessons every day is much better than 1-2 hour study sessions a week. So, stay focused on the language and don’t forget to repeat what you already know. By doing so, you won’t let the learned material slip away from you.

Cover the basics

For an absolute beginner, it’s essential to cover basic Portuguese words. Also phrases such as greetings, days of the week, months, numbers and question words. To memorise useful Portuguese phrases, label objects around you. Use flashcards and write a Portuguese phrase on one side and its English translation on the other.

This is one of the best ways to pick up some additional vocabulary

After you have at least 1,000 words under your belt. Include the most common adjectives and nouns. Also, once you know how to conjugate several verbs, you will instantly have a variety of sentences at your disposal. Keep a vocabulary of popular Portuguese phrases divided by topics like weather, time, greetings, and so on.

Explore the culture

Language and culture go hand in hand. Learning the language is a way to embrace the rich culture of the Portuguese-speaking countries. Also, through the language you’ll expose yourself to art, cinema, literature, music, and cuisine. You can even get familiar with new customs. Thus, learning the language adds to your overall knowledge of the culture which serves as common ground with native speakers.

Music is a useful tool to aid the learning process. It can prove to be particularly useful when learning Portuguese. The melodic nature of music allows for information to be retained quickly. The consistent repetition of songs will ensure that you pick up on certain phrases said within the song which will overall increase your vocabulary. In addition, music will give insight into how language is used regularly. It will give you insight of general day to day speech. Music is a fun and enjoyable tool to learn language from home.

The melodic nature of music allows for information to be retained quickly

Learning language through media will allow for familiarity with the vocabulary. Giving specific insight on pronunciation and tonality. In addition, this method of learning is great for understanding context specific to the language. When consuming Film and Television we advise that you watch with subtitles. This will build understanding of the language both in speech and written text. This will contribute toward your linguistic growth. Overall using media is an enjoyable and convenient method to learn language from home.

Practicing with native Portuguese speakers

We all know how the saying goes practice makes perfect and there’s no better way to practice speaking Portuguese than hearing it being spoken by a native speaker. This is a great and efficient way to learn Portuguese as you are having first-hand experience of how the language is spoken on a regular basis in addition, a native speaker can provide insight on the language and the customs that follow it, with language there can be a variety of context clues that won’t be evident to you through reading a textbook. A Portuguese speaker can be found from the comfort of your home. Learn&Co offers tutors who are native speakers of various languages, under their tutelage they will ensure that your learning experience is both informative and rewarding.

Portuguese, like many European languages, will take time and effort to master. But with it being used worldwide and in some very important spheres, learning it will have a great impact on your life – from your career prospects to your ability to communicate with all different types of people. Learning Portuguese will open up unparalleled opportunities for you, and by following the guide above you will be on your way to mastering it in no time.