How to learn Portuguese language basics in one month?

The Portuguese language is spoken by more than 220 million people and it’s one of the best Romance language globally. The Portuguese language is spoken mostly in Brazil and Portugal, but it’s also a common language in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Macau, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea and Mozambique.

In order to learn a language as fast as possible, you must keep in mind that there are some points that are the cornerstones of language learning:

• Vocabulary acquisition
• Passive practice
• Active practice
• Pronunciation

You could prioritize them, in the same order they are written! It entirely depends on what you what to achieve, why you want to learn your target language!

For learners who wish to understand Portuguese more than they want to speak it, you will need more to know a lot of words with their correct pronunciations. That’s where Memrise comes to shine.

You could learn the 5000 most common words in Portuguese with Memrise, an app, and its Spaced Repetition System (SRS). There are other apps that use SRS too; if you don’t find a good list of most common words in Memrise, you can find them in other apps. I find this is the best way to learn vocabulary, as you will literally learn at your own pace.

For passive practice, you could choose Wikipedia, YouTube and Spotify. It’s best to learn a language with stuff you like than stuff you don’t. Find YouTube channels teaching Portuguese, besides numerous songs to lay your hands on! Take your pick!

This way you will acquire new vocabulary in order to start writing and speaking Portuguese. Don’t fret over pronunciation because Portuguese is not so different to Spanish and French! Mind you, you are at a great advantage if you know any romance language before learning Portuguese.

Of course, Speaky is for active practice exclusively. Find at least two partners to start with: One to write Portuguese with and one to read it from. Progress ahead to hold small meaningful verbal conversations.

If you find a word that you don’t know or a word that doesn’t resemble anything you know of previously, write it down in your notebook. Keep tips extended by people, about Portuguese pronunciation or grammar, handy for ready reference.

You could think you’ll be able to write Portuguese in just one week or hope you’ll be able to speak it in two weeks! But that may not be realistic at all! What I can tell you for sure is, that at the end of four weeks you’ll be able to understand the language without much trouble and that people will be able to understand you, if you devote at least 25 hours a week diligently.

You may not be able to write a dissertation, but at least you’ll get something useful out of it: To read and listen to Portuguese on a wide variety of topics and to speak and write about daily stuff, hobbies and many more.

Thanks to the era of the app, it is easier nowadays to find resources to learn everything you want. Unfortunately, this also means you will find a lot of stuff that might be useful for someone else, but not for you.

The tools I am about to mention are well suited for most people. How would you know it suits you or not? Trial and error. I advise you to use these same tools, but I also encourage you to try different ones. That way you can create your own system for language learning that is well suited for you.

• Memrise is an awesome list of the 5000 most common words in Portuguese. This includes words from both Brazil and Portugal. This kind of list lets you focus on words you will actually use instead of learning the first words that you don’t even care about.
• Youtube and Spotify: The best way to learn a language is by immersion. Most of us who can’t go to Brazil or Portugal to stay there can listen to music and watch videos in Portuguese. This is the best alternative approach to immersion, and I suggest you try to get the best out of it.
• Speaky is an app is intended for language exchange and has million-plus users that are willing to help you practice the language you are learning. If you can help them practice your language too, they will be really thankful.
• Wikipedia: I don’t think I need to explain what this site is about. Wikipedia is by far everyone’s first choice because you can find any topic you want in it. While you read information about stuff you know or like, you will come across several words you might end up using!
• Notebook: Write a journal, a diary anything that helps you capture notes, new vocab, phrases etc, in Portuguese! I prefer pen and paper over an electronic device for notes but you could choose what you are comfortable with!

These are the tools you can use to learn Portuguese in one month. Hope my explanations can help you identify them, use them and understand what each one is appropriately used for! Since each learner has their own way of learning, this may not be the best option for you. Nevertheless, feel free to experiment with different tools that are best suited for your learning.