Get Started in Brazilian Portuguese Absolute Beginner Course: The essential introduction to reading, writing, speaking and understanding a new language (Teach Yourself)

My only complaint is there is to much English on the CD. Not enough of the target language. Although the audio is free. I would pay for audio without so much English. Teach Yourself courses seem to be that way. I have Complete Romanian and there is just to much talking and not enoough of the target language. This is my second book from a Teach Yourself author. This is better than the Romanian. The layout is much better. Information is presented much better. I think Teach Yourself could learn from Assimil and the Old LIving Language Courses, the audio portions were all in the target language. But the 50 -50 split of English and the target language is a not a good ratio.

The most beautiful language which I ever learned in my life. Excellent book from beginning to the end. Amazing introduction, excellent explanation. I read a lot of books in my life, this is one which I can compare with The Da Vinci Code one of the world most famous bestseller. You can’t stop until you finish. It’s amazing. Excellent explanation, what do you learn, culture points, new expressions, conversations, practise. The book gives several options in just the right way to be funny, serious, light, formal, colloquial or business-like. It’s a romanse language, It’s language of love. It’s full of loving words. Activity I’m speaking four different languages, Portuguese is the most beautiful language which I ever heard in my life. It’s one of the most romantic language, It’s language of love. I remember for everybody to read this book. For every generation.

More of the same old same old. Nothing particularly good or bad about it. I found that using memrise (free app on phone and can use on their site) worked better than any of the books I purchased to learn portuguese. This book was pretty boring and I had a hard time staying interested.

very good product

My husband love it. Easy to Learn Portuguese.

It didn't come with any instructions on how to use the audio, which was supposed to be included. Many exercises needed audio. Waste of money for this amount I would've expected to a complete purchase not an incomplete one.

Very good book, intuitive and helpful. Easy to follow.

I'm a bit of a language studies junkie and I've tried many methods over the years, in a variety of languages. I'd been hoping that Amazon would offer me a course in Brazilian Portuguese so I jumped at the opportunity.The "Teach Yourself" series have never fully convinced me. I tried one for French in the past but I've always found the method slightly chaotic - with the introduction of basic phrases before the building blocks of languages are even introduced - and it's exactly the same in this Brazilian Portuguese course. Unit 1 introduces basic expressions and questions and conversations about professions, before clearly explaining how to say "I am/you are/he is" and so on. Sure, those concepts are introduced eventually but someone with no knowledge of Portuguese might get discouraged. (Disclaimer: I don't know any Portuguese but my first language is Italian, so I have a slight advantage over someone whose native Language isn't Latin-based).On the plus side, the Audio CD is very good and each section is a separate audio track, which means that you can easily skip back and forward without having to rewind the whole unit all over again.Some reviewers have complained that this book doesn't offer any interactive/online material. Personally, I think this is a good thing. There are plenty of apps and language learning websites out there who offer that kind of thing. As someone who learnt a second language before all this technology was available, I find a lot of those materials a little gimmicky and often very inaccurate with poorly recorded pronunciation tracks and incorrect grammar. This kind of book offers you a good, solid introduction to the language, at low cost and with no need for an internet connection - useful for anyone who uses their commuting time to learn a language.One final thing: I found a typo in one of the first pages - in the numbers section, it says 'vinte e quarto' when it should be 'vinte e quatro'. It's a small thing but this shouldn't happen in a language learning book - a beginner needs to have the absolute certainty that the book is *always* correct.

I was interested in this as in the not too distant future I will be accompanying my husband on one of his semi-regular work trips to Brazil. I came to it with absolutely no knowledge of Portuguese (shamefully I have visited Portugal on holiday without using the language).The course includes both a CD and a book. I have used a variety of courses to revive Italian and French, such as the Michel Thomas method, Hugo, Auralog Tell Me More. Whilst I find the Michel Thomas method, which involves no written exercises, useful for reviving my language skills, when learning a new language I like the combination of books & CDs as I find the information sticks better. This Teach Yourself absolute beginners course delivers on this approach. Although not exclusively aimed at tourists, there are sections which visitors will find useful - e.g. asking for directions, information useful when booking hotels or eating or shopping. The book includes grammar exercises, comprehension exercises after listening to something on the CD, etc., exercises involving matching a Portuguese sentence to the English equivalent. For me this kind of approach works well.There are some handy hints at the beginning of the work to help you get the most out of the course - some sound sensible but I am never going to decorate my house with labels on everyday items to learn the Portuguese equivalents even though I can see it might work, nor am I going to write up flashcards. However, the advice about studying every day but in short sessions is useful, together with the advice to concentrate on getting the gist of the conversation.I haven't been using the course long but I have done a bit each day and then reviewed what I have been learning at the end of the week to see how much I can remember and understand. It is beginning to stick in my mind which augurs well. I will update this review as I go along. I like also that this is the first stage with extra courses to follow on if you want to continue.