There are many free and non-free online resources that solve the dilemma of how to learn Portuguese quickly. Today you’ll get a round-up of those tools!

Hopefully you will discover some new gems, and be reminded of some old classics to help you learn and improve your Portuguese.

BBC Brasil

Yes, the British can help you learn Portuguese quickly!

• Watch news videos from the BBC in Brazilian Portuguese on their You Tube channel.
• There are Portuguese language learning resources on the BBC Languages page for
  Portuguese.

Podcasts

• PortuguesePod101.com
• Tá Falado: Brazilian Portuguese Pronunciation for Speakers of Spanish. The
  podcast and PDF downloads are free.
• LingQ Portuguese Podcast with audio conversations and downloadable transcripts.

Videos on You Tube

• Street Smart Brazil has fun and short videos explaining Portuguese grammar, pronunciation and Brazilian culture made by Luciana Lage, Portuguese instructor at the University of California at Berkeley.

How to learn Portuguese Quickly With Other Free Programs

According to Learning Portuguese.co.uk, these are the best free resources to learn Portuguese.

• Idiot’s Guide to Learning Portuguese – the free pronunciation and grammar course on this site.
• Learn Portuguese with Rafa – whilst there is some commercial content, Rafa does nevertheless give away a lot of very useful information for free, and this site is well worth a look. The tone is conversational and easy to follow, and unusually, both European and Brazilian Portuguese is taught.
• Basic Portuguese Language Tutorial – mostly vocabulary lists, but also some short grammar lessons. Brazilian and European alternatives are given, but it is not always made clear which is which.
• Facebook Daily Portuguese Tips – Bite-size lessons delivered at frequent intervals straight to your Facebook news feed. Emphasis on European Portuguese.
• Portuguese Language Guide – Tips and tools for learning Portuguese, with a verb conjugator and language tests to check your progress.
• BBC Talk Portuguese – an introduction to basic vocabulary for tourists, covering a mixture of Brazilian and European usage.
• Foreign Services Institute – a US-government language course (now in the public domain, and published by Glen D Fellows) for Brazilian Portuguese, including notes about European differences. Consists of a total of 48 units in 2 volumes – typewritten and available as PDF downloads. Accompanying audio files (mp3) are also available for download.
• Easy Portuguese – a collection of lessons in Brazilian Portuguese. Audio files available. Lots of adverts though!
• Tá Falado – also Brazilian, but with the specific slant of teaching English-speakers who are already familiar with Spanish. Lessons are delivered as podcasts, with PDF transcripts.

How to Learn Portuguese Quickly With The Ten Best Resources

This list consists of both free and paid to learn Portuguese resources as compiled by Hacking Portuguese .

1. Best audio course for beginners : Pimsleur
2. Best grammar reference : Modern Portuguese Grammar
3. Best textbooks : Muito Prazer, Ponto de Encontro, Falar/Ler/Escrever
4. Best verb reference : 501 Portuguese Verbs
5. Best online tutoring & conversational practice : StreetSmart Brazil
6. Best video series : Semántica
7. Best podcast / best way to improve your pronunciation : Tá Falado
8. Best ways to learn vocabulary : Anki, Portuguese in 10 Minutes a Day, Frequency Dictionary
9. Best Portuguese/English dictionaries : Linguee, Infopédia, Larousse
10. Best Portuguese Learning Blogs

Top Ten Best Portuguese Language Learning Blogs

1. Semantica blog – intermediate-level tips and new vocabulary (also available on facebook as “Learn Brazilian Portuguese”).
2. StreetSmart Brazil blog – beginner-level tips, instructional videos, and cultural news (also available on facebook as “StreetSmart Brazil”).
3. Transparent Language Portuguese blog – excellent blog for intermediate/advanced speakers.
4. Eyes on Brazil – cultural notes with some language mixed in.
5. Fun With Brazilian Portuguese – London-based Portuguese teacher Fernando Nonohay’s blog with a huge range of tips, videos, and translated song lyrics.
6. Sua Língua – a blog in Portuguese written by a Brazilian linguist, exploring the etymologies of various words, grammar and idiosyncrasies of the language.
7. brazilianportuguese.wordpress.com – though it hasn’t been updated in a few years, Dave Maclure’s blog has some great reviews of books and other tidbits.

What Did I Miss?

Do you have a favorite resource for learning Portuguese Online that wasn’t listed above? If so, please share it in the comments below.

Photo by: Austin K

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• Brazilian Portuguese for Spanish Speakers
• How to Learn Portuguese With Soap Operas, Radio, TV and Movies
• Learning Portuguese: Beginner’s Tips
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Tagged as: Brazilian Portuguese, free, online, Portuguese

Susanna Zaraysky

Susanna speaks seven languages with native to near-native accents and is the author of Language Is Music (El Idioma Es Música, in Spanish), a short and easy-to-read book on how to learn foreign languages using music and the media. She knows that language learning can be fun if you know how to use radio, music, TV and other media. Find Susanna on her website or follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Picasa, and on YouTube.

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