Portuguese for Newcomers to Brazil
BeginnerThis is a spoken-Portuguese survival course for someone landing in Brazil with little or no Portuguese — not a grammar course. There are no conjugation tables and no talk of "the subjunctive"; instead you get the phrases Brazilians actually use, in the order you will need them: at the airport and immigration, in a taxi, checking into a place to stay, ordering food, paying, getting around, renting a flat, seeing a doctor, and making small talk that does not fall apart after "Tudo bem?" The Portuguese taught here is Brazilian, not European, and the two differ enough to trip up a learner who studied the wrong one: this course uses "você," not "tu," as the everyday word for "you"; "celular," not "telemóvel," for a phone; "café da manhã," not "pequeno-almoço," for breakfast; "ônibus," not "autocarro," for a bus; and "trem," not "comboio," for a train. Where the Brazil/Portugal gap could confuse you in the street, the course says so. One rule is stated early because it is the single most common mistake a foreigner makes: "obrigado" agrees with the person speaking, not the person being thanked — a man says "obrigado," a woman says "obrigada," regardless of who is on the other end of the sentence. Another: "Tudo bem?" is both the question and its own answer, "Oi" is a normal, friendly hello and not rude, and "Pois não" at a counter or a shop means "go ahead" or "how can I help," never a refusal. Because false cognates are where confident learners embarrass themselves, the course names them directly and in both directions: "puxe" on a door means pull, not push; "pretender" means to intend, not to pretend; "esquisito" means odd or weird, not exquisite; "parentes" means relatives, not parents; a "livraria" sells books — a library is a "biblioteca"; "atualmente" means currently, and "eventualmente" means occasionally, not "actually" and "eventually." Diminutives like "cafezinho," "rapidinho," and "jeitinho" get explained for the social warmth and softening they carry, not translated word for word as merely "small." Practical, correctly stated facts round out the course: PIX is Brazil's instant bank transfer and is everywhere, a roughly 10 percent service charge is usually already on a restaurant bill, restaurants "por quilo" charge by weight, a foreigner can get a CPF, and addresses and the 24-hour clock work differently than you may be used to. Brazil is also treated as the large, regional country it is — an expression from Rio is not automatically an expression from the Northeast or the South, and the course says which is which rather than generalizing about "Brazilians." Pronunciation is carried by native-speaker audio throughout, never by invented spellings. By the end, you will be able to land, get around, eat, pay, settle a few practical matters, and hold a short real conversation in Brazilian Portuguese.
Course content
Certification Exam
Certification Exam
Portuguese for Newcomers to Brazil
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Certification Exam
Portuguese for Newcomers to Brazil
30 Questions
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45 Minutes
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Tips
See all"Obrigado" changes with who is speaking, not who is thanked
A man says obrigado, a woman says obrigada, no matter who is on the other end
"Tudo bem?" answers itself — it is not really a question
Brazilians ask it and answer it in the same breath, and so should you
"Pois não" means "go ahead" — it is never a refusal
The most polite phrase at a Brazilian counter sounds, to English ears, like a no
"Puxe" means PULL — the classic tourist door moment
Read it as "push" and you will shove a door that only opens toward you
