Introduction:

Portuguese is the 6th most spoken language in the world. Portuguese has around 215 million native speakers. It is the most spoken language in South America and the 2nd most spoken language in Latin America. The Portuguese Empire was Europe’s first colonial empire. As a result, Portuguese is an official language in 9 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. There are also around 1,228,126 Portuguese speakers in the United States. The three largest Portuguese-American communities in the US are located in Providence, Rhode Island; Boston, Massachusetts; and the New York/Northern New Jersey area.

Although the Portuguese language has a fine resemblance to Spanish, it is more closely associated with the Galician spoken by about 3 million people in the northwest corner of Spain. Portuguese-speaking people can easily understand Spanish.

Are you looking for the best way to learn Portuguese? Well, you are in luck! Here are 6 excellent tips that will get you straight to Portuguese fluency.

The Foreign Service Institute of the US Government claims that a native English speaker would only need around 600 hours or 24 weeks of study to reach fluency in Portuguese. So what are we waiting for? Let’s see what is the best way to learn Portuguese and start learning it right now.

• Begin your Portuguese training with the best language learning app available

Language learning apps are now guaranteed shortcuts to speak Portuguese fast. With Multibhashi, the language learning app, the Portuguese language will literally become glued into your brain after just a few weeks of training.

Featuring compact Daily Lessons, vocabulary builders to help you learn new Portuguese words fast, real and simulated conversations to get you fluent on the go and much more, Multibhashi puts your brain on autopilot while you simply enjoy your trip to Portuguese fluency. Multibhashi doesn’t necessarily teach advanced Portuguese grammar. Instead, it focuses on getting you fluent in Portuguese using the inductive method – learn by doing, context and example, and extrapolate to rules. That sounds like a great start for your Portuguese training, doesn’t it?

• Read children’s books in Portuguese

Now that you know quite a few Portuguese words and phrases, you can continue your training with reading on a Kindle. Why a Kindle? Because it has an integrated vocabulary that allows you to see a word’s definition by simply tapping on it. The enthusiasm for discovering new Portuguese words on your own will help you learn faster.

And what better reading material is there than children’s books? Yes, you read that right. Since you are only at the beginning of your Portuguese journey, children’s books are the most suitable for your level of proficiency. From easier books, you can then move to O Principezinho (“The Little Prince”) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and then to Harry Potter e a Pedra Filosofal (“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”) by J. K. Rowling.

Meanwhile, also continue your daily training in the language learning app. Because learning Portuguese – or any other language – is like a war on multiple fronts. If your strategy is good, you’ll win on all of them. If not, you could get stuck in a siege forever. So be smart and you’ll learn faster than you think.

• Use flashcards for those Portuguese words that can’t seem to stick

Some Portuguese words just won’t stick. A lot of people know your pain. We’ve all been there. Luckily, flashcards will do the trick. Put down on sticky notes the most stubborn words and make sure you’ll see them every day (by the bed may be a good place for them). Before you know it, you’ll find yourself mastering the very Portuguese words that caused you headaches just a while ago.

• Train your ears with TV series, movies, music, or short videos in Portuguese

Did you ever notice that when you spend some time in another country and then come home, it seems to you that you still hear people speaking the same language they did abroad? That’s mesmerizing, isn’t it? Well, your brain got used to the language. And in order to boost your Portuguese skills, you have to have the same experience with Portuguese.

Watching Portuguese movies, TV series, short videos, or listening to Portuguese music doesn’t sound like such drudgery, doesn’t it? Well, that’s what you’ll have to do in order to train your ears for the Portuguese language. So do some research, choose what suits you best, and speak Portuguese like you never knew you could!

• Talk to yourself in Portuguese

If you can’t find any online friends to help you practice Portuguese, you can even talk to yourself. Not by yourself, but to yourself. As crazy as that sounds, expressing your thoughts in Portuguese can help you master the language faster. If you prove to be persevering, you’ll soon discover that you will be able to form a line of thought directly into the Portuguese language.

• Enroll in online classes

By enrolling yourself in a Portuguese learning class, you’ll be exposed to a bunch of other speakers and a language expert. You can ask the teachers to adjust their speaking speed as per your understanding; you can also ask them to pronounce words with emphasis on the first letter because as a beginner student, you often cannot differentiate between the words and a whole sentence of eight words may sound like one long long word that never ends!

• Practice, practice, practice

Take advantage of every single chance you have to listen to Portuguese The old adage of “practice makes perfect” certainly rings true here. Rather than standing stunned like a deer in the headlights when someone throws rapid Portuguese at you, constant listening practice will help you get the gist of what they’re saying. Soon, you’ll be able to distinguish critical keywords. This means you can understand the context

Now you know what is the best way to learn Portuguese. Start learning, keep your eyes on the goal and never give up! 

Boa sorte!