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Title: Brazilian Portuguese Complete Course (Living Languge Complete Courses. Cassette Edition) by Living Language, Crown Publishing ISBN: 0609602691 Publisher: Random House Audio Pub. Date: July, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.58
Rating: 5
Summary: The Only Inexpensive Basic Portuguese Course
Comment: Portuguese is one of the most spoken languages in the world. It's unfortunate that such a beautiful language is ignored, because people who actually want to learn it have a hard time finding a company that offers Portuguese courses. Living Language is the only company that offers cassettes in both Brasilian and Continental Portuguese. So when I decided to learn Portuguese, I bought both courses.
Unlike the dozen cassette Foreign Service Institute's Portuguese Course (which is actually in Brasilian Portuguese), the Living Language course gives the learner the basics in two cassettes. The forty lessons on the two cassettes are designed in steps. The first four lessons are about pronounciation. There is a noticable difference in the pronounciation and syntax of Brasilian and Continental Portuguese, and Living Language does a very good job in structuring both courses so that the learner is not confused.
I also like the Living Language courses because if you follow the directions, they ensure that you will learn the basics of Portuguese. Living Language offers the best variety of basic courses, and it's the only company that offers an inexpensive Portuguese course. If you want to learn Brasilian or Continental Portuguese, this is the company to pick. And remember that after you learn the basics, the best thing to do is to take a trip either to Brasil or Portugal and practice. Immersion will keep the language fresh in your head. I hope you enjoy learning Portuguese as much as I did.
Rating: 2
Summary: Cuts too Many Corners, Not What I Expected
Comment: My fantasy: I would prepare for my trip to Portugal by listening to tapes while driving to work, learning the language naturally, supplementing by skimming the textbook included and using the dictionary/ phrasebook when I got there. The tapes would be natural conversations where it would be easy to pick up phrases and pronunciation by context ("what's your name?" "My name is Mary", etc.) Without a huge effort, in a couple months I'd be able to get by.
The reality: The tapes contain only a vocabulary list of the words used in the textbook. Therefore it's impossible to get anything from the tape without reading the book at the same time- can't be used in the car. The words are all out of context, just a list read aloud. So much for "learning naturally".
The book is written for Brazilian Portuguese even though the tape (and package) is continental. The deviations are noted in footnotes-- but detailed descriptions on how to pronounce everything in Brazilian are hard to get through if it happens to have a different pronunciation on the tape. Even the chapter on different dialects misses a wonderful opportunity to make up for this shortcoming by not saying the same word with the different accents, as the book suggests it will-- the tape contains only the continental pronunciation and gives no reference point. For a bestseller, I expected a whole lot more. All the same, I have learned some phrases. The first five lessons are the hardest to get through, and I probably will get through most of it in a couple months if I don't give up in disgust.
Rating: 3
Summary: Its OK
Comment: I used this course and it was fine. However, I think that the Pimsleur courses are much more usable. I have since bought a 2nd home in Brazil, and speak quasi-fluent Portugese. I listen to all the different courses I have for refreshers from time to time, and I consistently find that the Pimsleur program is superior.
However, this is a fine supplement, and you can learn from it things not on the Pimsleur program.
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Title: Portuguese Brazilian by Pimsleur ISBN: 0743517695 Publisher: Pimsleur Intl Inc Pub. Date: 01 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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