Top Resources That Helped Me Master Portuguese

A video of me speaking Portuguese after 2 years of learning

I have been learning Portuguese for about two years now, and although I can't speak it absolutely perfectly yet (though honestly, even native speakers will make mistakes at times), I will say that I feel I am already proficient in the language. Several people on Instagram and TikTok have commented on my proficiency, as well as how quickly I seem to have grasped the language. So, I thought it would be useful to other Portuguese learners out there if I shared some of the resources that have helped me learn the language.

Books:

1. Learn Portuguese for Beginners - Language Learning University This book is an amazing resource for those looking to deepen their knowledge of Portuguese grammar. It covers all the grammatical concepts you would need and provides examples as well. However, it doesn't provide any exercises for you to practice and apply right away, which was the only downside for me. Still, this book is a great reference to have. In addition to grammar, the book also has a whole section of useful phrases, already categorized into different topics and situations. You can memorize these ready-made phrases, and use them in conversations right away! I also love the fact that this book has a few bilingual (Portuguese/English) short stories, which is super helpful for learning vocabulary, and seeing the grammatical concepts discussed actually being applied. I like learning languages with short stories, because you can also observe sentence structures.
   

2. Teach Yourself Portuguese: A Complete Course for Beginners This workbook is a bit similar to the above recommendation in the sense that grammatical concepts are discussed and explained with examples. The difference though, is that the concepts are taught via dialogues. I find this incredibly helpful, because you can see how the concepts would directly apply in real life and in real conversations. I also like that this workbook provides exercises for you to practice, which for me, always helps to reinforce and solidify concepts. After I finished working through this book, I really felt like I had a good working knowledge of Portuguese, and could already start to have some basic conversations with native speakers.
   

3. Portuguese Short Stories for Beginners - LingoMastery Speaking of learning through stories again, this book by LingoMastery contains 20 short stories that you can read to boost your vocabulary and reading comprehension skills. Each chapter/story is focused on a specific theme or on applying a specific grammatical concept in the context of a story. Potential new, unknown words are bolded in every story. These words can be found again in the vocabulary list at the end of each chapter with their meaning in English. There is also a summary at the end of each chapter. My favourite thing about this book is the fact that there is a "mini quiz" at the end of each story too, where you can test your comprehension and see if you understood the story properly.

   
   

4. Intermediate Portuguese Short Stories - LingoMastery After completing Portuguese Short Stories for Beginners, you can advance to this book, which is at the intermediate level. The format is the same as the beginner level, with a vocabulary list, summary, and quiz at the end of each chapter. However, in this book, each chapter focuses on applying specific grammatical concepts in a story, as opposed to having a specific theme.
   

YouTube Channels and Podcasts:

1. Portuguese with Leo This was the very first channel I started watching in the Portuguese language. The reason I like this channel is that it feels very similar to another channel I used to watch while brushing up on my French. Instead of posting solely videos that focus on grammar and sentence structure, this creator also posts videos about Portuguese culture, geography, and history. In addition to that, he also does a few vlogs in Portuguese, where he introduces you different places in Portugal! I really enjoy the variety of videos that this creator provides. He also has a podcast of the same name, with each episode being about a different topic. Sometimes, he talks about language learning tips in both his videos and his podcasts, which is great not only for learning Portuguese, but also for any other language you would like to learn as well. I also like the fact that he provides the Portuguese and English transcriptions of each podcast episode on his site.
   

2. Practice Portuguese Okay, I always have SO MUCH FUN while watching content from this channel. I LOVE the couple who creates content on this channel, because only one of them is a native speaker. The other is Canadian and has learned Portuguese to a level that is extremely proficient. Hearing him being able to speak so fluently has given me so much motivation, because it has allowed me to see that it is possible to "master" the language as a foreigner and as an adult. I also really love the dynamic of this couple. They seem like really lovely people. Their content is more like video podcasts, where they talk about a variety of different topics, but they also have a few videos about Portuguese legends, which I also found very interesting. They also have a website that focuses more on the grammar of the Portuguese language. You can find all sorts of grammatical concepts there, with each concept getting their own dedicated page. Everything is explained clearly and concisely with examples as well, so that you can better understand how the grammar functions in context.
   

3. Speaking Brazilian Language School This is a great channel for those who want to focus a bit more on grammar and vocabulary. Each video on this channel is a short lesson dedicated to a specific topic. The videos are not super long and the explanations for each concept are not too lengthy or confusing. Some videos are focused on just explaining and providing examples for grammatical concepts or tricky vocabulary, while others are more interactive in the sense that they are in a quiz format. Occasionally, this creator will also post a few vlogs of her travels in Brazil, which are always fun to watch! What I like about this channel as well, is the fact that for each video lesson, you can download a corresponding FREE PDF that not only revisits everything talked about in the video, but also provides exercises that allow you to practice the grammar or vocabulary discussed in the lesson.

Online Meetup:

Now, you can't expect to learn to speak a language without ACTUALLY speaking it, right? That's why finding opportunities to practice speaking is so important! I discovered meetup.com earlier this year, and through this site, I've managed to find online groups that meet up every week or every month to practice having conversations in Portuguese. This has been very helpful for me, because I don't often get a chance to speak to people in Portuguese in my day-to-day life. I'm sure I'm not the only one with this issue. You can also find in-person meet-ups through this site, if that's what you prefer. Either way, as long as you're getting in some speaking practice on a regular basis, you will notice that over time, your fluency will improve.