Books

Students often ask what the best book to learn Portuguese is. There are several good books available. The best one for you will depend on your goals and your learning style. Here are a few books to consider.

  Ponto de Encontro

Ponto de Encontro is one of the most complete books in the market, and is used by most universities and language schools. It is one of the only books with extensive explanations of verb conjugation, how the verb tenses work, and when they are used. Ponto de Encontro teaches Portuguese from Brazil and from Portugal. In each grammar topic and exercise, the book explains the difference between the two versions of Portuguese. It is a dense book. If you decide to get it, I strongly recommend that you also get their workbook Ponto de Encontro Brazilian Activities Manual for additional exercises. There are two versions of the workbook: a Brazilian and a continental Portuguese version. Make sure you are getting what you really want.

Ponto de Encontro also has a set of CDs to help you practice listening and speaking. Each chapter of the workbook has a section called Laboratório with exercises that use the CDs. The book also has an excellent DVD! I highly recommend that you get it. The DVD brings Brazilian and Portuguese content. From the main menu you can select which version of the DVD you would like to see. Each chapter brings a group of native speakers talking about different things: school, work, travel, health, food, and more. The DVD is an excellent tool to work on your listening comprehension skills. The workbook has exercises to help you get the most out of the DVD. I love working with this DVD in my classes. I really think you will like it too.

Ponto de Encontro also has a good website with exercises that you can do online and get the correct answers as you work on them. You do not have to buy the book to access the online program.

 Falar Ler Escrever Português

This is a good book for exercises that use repetition. It does not give you grammatical explanations; it shows you how to do something and then it makes you practice with exercises. This is for Brazilian Portuguese. Each chapter starts with a dialogue or short text. The book has its accompanying set of CDs (sold separately) which contains all the dialogues and texts from the textbook (orange cover). This is a great book for students who want to do lots of straight-forward, repetitive exercises. In my opinion, repetitive in this case is a good thing and does not equate to boring. You need repetition to learn a language. The exercises will gradually build on vocabulary. For even more exercises, there is the Caderno de Exercícios.

Colloquial Portuguese of Brazil 2

For students who are already conversational, I recommend Colloquial Portuguese of Brazil 2. This book has several dialogues that use everyday informal language. It also brings concise grammar points and you can buy the accompanying CDs to listen to the dialogues and practice oral exercises. This book was published in 2008, so it has up to date language.

 Bem-Vindo

I like Bem-Vindo a lot! It has interesting texts and good exercises. It is a fast-paced book. I recommend it for Spanish speakers and intermediate students. The book has three versions of its excellent workbook: 1) for native speakers of English (green cover); 2) for Latin-American students (blue cover); 3) for Asian students (sorry about the generic term here, but that is how they put it). I recomment the first two workbooks no matter where you come from.

They also have their own CD set, which I highly recommend. It has dialogues and texts from the textbook. The CDs will be a wonderful tool to develop your listening comprehension.

Please note: When purchasing Bem-Vindo on Amazon, be very careful to make sure you are getting what you want. When they say "Livro do Aluno", it is the textbook.

Ultimate Portuguese

Each chapter begins with a dialogue followed by its translation, short and to the point grammar explanations, and a few exercises. I like the dialogues and use them a lot in my classes. The grammar explanations are objective, which is good, but in my opinion they are not enough. The exercises are few and not very interesting. The dialogues and accompanying CDs are the main strength of this book. Most of the chapters are Brazilian Portuguese; a few chapters bring Portuguese from Portugal. Please note: You can find the paperback edition without the CDs and the complete set with the accompanying CDs. I suggest you get the one with the CDs.

Street Smart Brazil students benefit from all these books and more. We use our own workbook with original content. In addition, we have all the books above in our library and we know them very well. We are able to pair students with the right books and we allow students to experiement with them. This way, our students can decide what is best for their learning.

For an updated list of good materials and more, visit StreetSmartBrazil.com/store

I hope that helps :)

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