Brazilian Portuguese (Pimsleur), February 12, 2000

I ordered this course because I married a brazilian girl and knew that I would be vacationing in Brasil with her, etc. After receiving the tapes, I think I listened to the complete course 2 or 3 times in about a 3 month period. Since then, I have been to Brasil, and have had many opportunities to speak portuguese with my brazilian in-laws. They've all asked why I am the only gringo in the family that can speak portuguese! My "Pimsleur Brazilian Portuguese Part I" tapes are now sitting on the shelf collecting dust, because I have moved onto "Pimsleur Brazilian Portuguese Part II", which is the follow-up course to Part I. Part II builds on everything that you learn in Part I. I went to Brasil about 2 months after I finished listening to Part I. I was able to practice my portuguese in Brasil for 3 weeks. I called cabs, ordered food in restaurants, talked to the brazilians about os Estados Unidos (the United States), etc. I am very pleased with both Pimsleur products that I've purchased. I have to go now and listen to my tapes......I am going to Rio de Janeiro in 2 months!

This worked for me!!, July 27, 2002

I bought these tapes about 10 months before I went to Brazil and slowly, at my own pace, went through the entire 30 lessons. I looked forward to doing them which I managed to do about 3X a week. I have a hard time learning new languages, but I thought this program was excellent. They forced you to think and repeat what you learned back in different ways. It was also a lot of fun. There are no real Portuguese classes around here, so this was great. One thing though, is that it helps to have some backround in Spanish to figure out how the language is put together. They don't really explain those details very well.
In Brazil, I was able to read things and pronounce them correctly, even though I may not have known what they meant. I was able to get my point across, although perhaps crudely. But I was not afraid to try to talk to people. And they really appreciated the effort. A Brazilian woman at the airport even told me I had "no accent" when I told someone the time, but she just didn't hear me talk enough.... One time I was able to call to the tour bus driver to slow down (in Portuguese) as he screeched around corners in the tour van scaring us gringos to death. It worked! All the people in the van thanked me later! I wish I'd had time to do the 2nd group of lessons and will do so if I go back. My advice is - go for it! ...

An Outstanding Approach to Language Acquisition, September 11, 2004

If you are serious about communicating orally in a foreign language, you'll want to consider the Pimsleur Language Program. My own experience with the program has far exceeded my expectations: after learning two foreign languages in high school and college classroom settings, I decided to tackle Portuguese on my own, and was told to purchase the first "course," which consists of sixteen CDs and a short reading booklet. After having completed it, my feeling is that I've made more progress speaking the language over the course of a month just by listening and responding to the thirty hours of recorded conversations than I made in a year of formal classroom instruction.

The premise is simple: each thirty-minute lesson consists of a series of conversations between a man and a woman, and occasionally you're asked to anticipate the response of one or the other and in that way participate in the conversations. By introducing new vocabulary and sentence structures slowly, and reiterating old material in each subsequent lesson - and above all, by frequently asking you to REPEAT ALOUD the native speakers in order to make the physiological connections required to reproduce the language and make sense of it by yourself - you are supposed to feel comfortable speaking in a range of more-or-less basic social situations by the end of the first level. Granted, the program may not work for everyone, although one of the advantages it has over a classroom is that you are able to set your own pace, revisiting older lessons for review ("live," rather than from notes) as many times as necessary until you feel ready to proceed. Thus even the linguistically impaired can feel comfortable learning an admittedly daunting language.

I believe that the most significant and effective aspect of the program's innovation is that it introduces the written word only after several lessons of introduction to the pure articulated sounds of the language. The idea behind this method seems is to give primacy to what is said and heard, so that learners in difficult speaking situations are prevented from trying to translate the written word instead of generating sentences from actual prior conversations. It makes sense given that speakers of language all over the world, including the United States, begin to speak well before learning to read and write (if in fact they do the latter at all). For me, the approach has worked brilliantly.

That said, if learning composition or trying to read in a foreign language rather than communicating with other Portuguese speakers is your primary concern, you should know that this program may not be for you, or at the very least you would want to consider a good textbook for written exercises to complement the Pimsleur program. I can say without hesitation, however, that Pimsleur beats hands down the other audio programs currently on the market - Living Language and Teach Yourself don't touch it. Especially for a language where books of verbs, good dictionaries, and even decent textbooks are few and far between, it's fortunate that Pimsleur has included Portugues in its growing library of audio courses. Best of luck speaking!

Same O Same O Very Good!, September 29, 2003

I am a gringo now living in Brazil. I use most everything I learned from these tapes. If you want to sample it, buy the 8 lessons first. If you learn from it....jump right up to the big ones. You can get them cheaper off ebay. Pimsleur is the absolute best course for me. I tried alot of other audio courses and they didnt do what Pimsleur did. I would get a Portuguese/English dictionary or the Portuguese in 10 minutes a day book as a help tool. Same as all the other reviews...its awesome and works.

A very easy way to learn to speak Portuguese., March 17, 2003

This series is the best way I have found to learn a language. It runs through a scenario, breaks down the sentences for verb tense, gender, etc. and will sound out difficult words syllable by syllable. When a phrase is used that the meaning is not what the words literally mean, they explain it in an easy to understand manner.

While it's always helpful to speak with a native, this course will help you accelerate your learning process so you can make the most of you conversations with your amigos brasilieros.

I would buy a book to use along with the course. It's mainly an audio course and having a grammar book, or a "Portuguese in 10 Minutes a Day" type book will help greatly.

Great System; Clarification re: Level I, March 10, 2003
Reviewer: A reader
The Pimsleur system is really wonderful. It is enjoyable, well-paced, and because you can tell you're making progress, it is self-reinforcing. I highly recommend it. Today I am on Portuguese II lesson 22, and already have Port III on my shelf ready to go. A few caveats, though:
(1) The "30-min per day" claim is misleading. I do cover one lesson per day as Pimsleur advises, but I need to listen to each lesson about 3 times to really feel that I've mastered it.
(2) I also sometimes review the previous day's lesson.
(3) For myself, it has helped to "cheat" on Pimsleur's audio-lingual approach (with a small Dover publications $. grammar book and a Port-English dictionary). In total, I probably spend about 2 hours per day on Portuguese.
(4) My neighbors probably question my mental stability, as I talk to myself while jogging or walking the dog!
(5) NOTE: A mistake I made was starting w the older Pimsleur comprehensive Portuguese tape set (16 tapes) for about $... created before they had the whole 3-level series. Nothing wrong w it, but it isn't quite consistent with I-II-III (that is, it's not the same as Portuguese I). If you think you want to do I-II-III, that is what you should buy.

Some reviewers have complained about the price. But really, when compared to the value of the time you'll invest, or the cost of a reasonable alternative (like college tuition) the price isn't bad. If you put in the effort, this product works.