Most Portuguese courses teach the Portuguese of Brazil. This one teaches the Portuguese of Portugal.
If you are travelling to Lisbon, moving to Porto, working with Portuguese colleagues or visiting family in the Algarve, you need European Portuguese — the vocabulary, the grammar and above all the sound of the language as it is actually spoken in Portugal. A bus is an autocarro, not an ônibus. Breakfast is pequeno-almoço. And Portuguese speakers in Portugal swallow their unstressed vowels in a way that leaves learners of Brazilian Portuguese unable to follow a café conversation.
This complete beginner’s course takes you from your first bom dia to real conversations in sixty-two chapters. Every Portuguese word and phrase comes with a pronunciation guide written specifically for English speakers and built around the sounds of European Portuguese. Every chapter contains realistic dialogues, cultural notes explaining how things actually work in Portugal, and exercises with answers.
Inside you will find:
• Sixty-two chapters covering greetings, numbers, travel, restaurants, shopping, work, healthcare, emergencies and social conversation
• A detailed European Portuguese pronunciation guide, with no phonetic symbols
• Clear, practical grammar — including ser and estar, saber and conhecer, and Portuguese pronoun placement
• Formal and informal address explained, including why você is complicated in Portugal
• Realistic dialogues in every chapter, with pronunciation for every line
• Cultural notes on tipping, the couvert, coffee, greetings and etiquette
• Exercises, role-plays and answers throughout
• Extensive quick-reference sections: survival phrases, 100 essential phrases, several hundred words in both directions, common mistakes and false friends
• A clearly labelled European versus Brazilian Portuguese comparison throughout
No previous Portuguese required.