The Easiest and Fastest Way to Learn Brazilian Portuguese
Whether you want to travel, communicate with friends or colleagues, reconnect with family, or just understand more of
what’s going on in the world around you, learning Brazilian Portuguese will expand your horizons and immeasurably enrich
your life.
The best part is that it doesn’t have to be difficult or take years to master. Thirty minutes a day is all it takes,
and we get you speaking right from the first day. Pimsleur courses use a scientifically-proven method that puts you in
control of your learning. If you’ve tried other language learning methods but found they simply didn’t stick, then you
owe it to yourself to give Pimsleur a try.
Why Pimsleur?
- Quick + Easy – Only 30 minutes a day.
- Portable + Flexible – Core lessons can be done anytime, anywhere, and easily fit into your busy life.
- Proven Method – Works when other methods fail.
- Self-Paced – Go fast or go slow – it’s up to you.
- Based in Science – Developed using proven research on memory and learning.
- Cost-effective – Less expensive than classes or immersion, and features all native speakers.
- Genius – Triggers your brain’s natural aptitude to learn.
- Works for everyone – Recommended for ages 13 and above.
What’s Included?
- 30, 30-minute audio lessons
- 60 minutes of reading instruction to provide you practice reading Brazilian Portuguese
- In total, 16 hours of audio, all featuring native speakers
- a Reading Booklet and User’s Guide
What You’ll Learn
Builds upon skills taught in Pimsleur’s Brazilian Portuguese Level 1.
In the first 10 lessons you’ll begin using the past tense. Structures become more complex and informal speech is
introduced. Soon you’ll take part in conversations about ordering meals, shopping, and local tourist attractions. As you
progress, your fluency will increase as your vocabulary expands.
The next 10 lessons will allow you to further combine and build upon known elements, and produce longer and more
complex sentences. You’ll be discussing business and social activities, expressing your interests, and talking about the
weather.
In the final 10 lessons you’ll double your vocabulary and have several hundred structures to draw upon. You’ll learn to
express yourself with relative structures – faster, slower, etc. You’ll be able to ask for assistance in many situations
and to ask for directions to various locations. You’ll explore sports and leisure activities, manage changing money and
banking, and discuss travel plans. By the end of the program, you’ll be speaking at a mid-intermediate level with
near-native pronunciation, and you’ll be comfortable meeting most social demands and limited job requirements.
Reading Lessons are included at the end of Lesson 30. These lessons, which total about one hour, are designed to give
you practice reading Brazilian Portuguese, and to provide you with some in into Brazilian Portuguese culture with
proverbs, common expressions, and a broad look at things you’ll experience when visiting a Brazilian Portuguese-speaking
country.
The Pimsleur Method
We make no secret of what makes this powerful method work so well. Paul Pimsleur spent his career researching and
perfecting the precise elements anyone can use to learn a language quickly and easily. Here are a few of his “secrets”:
The Principle of Anticipation
In the nanosecond between a cue and your response, your brain has to work to come up with the right word. Having to do
this boosts retention, and cements the word in your mind.
Core Vocabulary
Words, phrases, and sentences are selected for their usefulness in everyday conversation. We don’t overwhelm you with
too much, but steadily increase your ability with every lesson.
Graduated Interval Recall
Reminders of new words and structures come up at the exact interval for maximum retention and storage into your
long-term memory.
Learning
You work on multiple aspects of the language simultaneously. We integrate grammar, vocabulary, rhythm, melody, and
intonation into every lesson, which allows you to experience the language as a living, expressive form of human culture.
Learning in Context
Research has shown that learning new words in context dramatically accelerates your ability to remember. Every scene in
every Pimsleur lesson is set inside a conversation between two people. There are no drills, and no memorization
necessary for success.
Active Participation
The Pimsleur Method + active learner participation = success. This method works with every language and every learner
who follows it. You gain the power to recall and use what you know, and to add new words easily, exactly as you do in
English.
The Brazilian Portuguese Language
Portuguese is the mother tongue of about 230 million people, mainly in Portugal and the Portuguese islands in the
Atlantic, Brazil, and Portugal’s former overseas provinces in Africa and Asia.
Tech Talk
- CDs are formatted for playing in all CD players, including car players, and users can copy files for use in iTunes or
Windows Media Player.