I just finished Pimsleur Brazilian Portuguese III and would appreciate recommendations for improving my vocabulary.
It was one of the better introductory courses I’ve studied. I learned the material very quickly, and it was a boost to my confidence when I could understand most of the dialogue when listening to Portuguese-language radio - even when the announcers slur or have very strong accents.
However, as I’m sure you’re aware there’s a level between finishing a Pimsleur course (at least the ones I’ve studied) and true fluency.
Could you recommend anything for vocabulary learning? Not to sound arrogant but I don’t feel that I need anything for beginners.
I recently bought a Collins pocket dictionary… do you think this is a good way to accomplish this?
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Many thanks for joining our community! It’s great to hear you have finished your Pimsleur Portuguese III course and are able to understand spoken Portuguese on the radio. I think what you need to do next is find a good story that you are interested in. Or a movie for that matter. Whatever it is, make sure it grips your attention not just because you want to learn the language but because you want to follow the story! Do you know any good Portuguese or Brazilian writers? What about movies – get any DVD that comes with a Portuguese language audio track and watch it in Portuguese.
Please, let me know what you think.
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]
I like your ideas!
In fact I have watched a few Brazilian movies & TV shows such as “Cidade de Deus” and some of the well-known ones. The movies I’ve seen are generally well-acted and very realistic (although perhaps not for the faint-hearted :shock: ) I love the scenery.
Do you think that a comprehensive dictionary, such as the one I recently bought, is worth the money?
Thanks.
Hi Tim, a Portuguese/Portuguese dictionary is always a good investment. In addition, you can use online dictionaries like Babylon Pro as they will help you read texts on the Internet. Also, you might want to register on a Portuguese language forum. I mean, a forum for native speakers of Portuguese where the members talk about a certain subject (any subject that you are interested in such as movies, songs, cooking, sports…) You will be amazed at how much of the conversations you understand because the language will be simple but authentic.
Let me know what you think.
