Hugo Language Course: Portuguese In Three Months (with Cassette) [Paperback]

DK Publishing (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0789444380 | ISBN-13: 978-0789444387 | Edition: Pap/Cas

Now learning a foreign language can be enjoyable as well as challenging, and not require a trip back to the classroom. Available in both book-only or book-and-cassette format, these Three-Month Language Courses are outstanding self-study programs designed for the individual seeking to acquire a good working knowledge of a language in a short amount of time. Devoting just over an hour daily to the course, the program provides grammar lessons, contextual conversion drills, relevant word lists, and graded exercises, giving you an immediate and practical grasp of the language. In addition, pronunciation is made easy with Hugo's unique "imitated pronunciation" system, which represents foreign sounds with English syllables. Whether you are a businessman tackling an international account, a student preparing for an adventurous holiday, or simply a lover of new languages, the Three-Month Language Course makes learning easy, satisfying, and more fun than ever before.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: DK ADULT; Pap/Cas edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789444380
• ISBN-13: 978-0789444387
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,716,093 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but..., July 28, 2001

By 

Jon Free (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hugo Language Course: Portuguese In Three Months (with Cassette) (Paperback)

...I do wish they'd given an explanation as to why all the Portuguese words which end in the letter "r" have an unwritten "t" sounded at the end as well, with the result being that "ter" (to have) is pronounced "teert" on these cassettes, and "valor" as "valort" etc. If this really is the right way of pronouncing such words in European Portuguese, how come there's no mention of this peculiarity anywhere in the pronunciation guides of the accompanying book (or any others I've looked at about learning Portuguese for that matter)?? I don't know any natives to ask about this unfortunately, but I am thinking of going on holiday (vacation) to Portugal sometime in the not too distant future, and would prefer to know before then whether these t-sounds are correct or not so I'm not in the habit of mispronouncing many of their words by the time I do start communicating with native speakers!

That said however, I think the book and tapes are pretty good apart from that. Essential grammar is clearly explained, and I found the frequent exercises provided a useful way of assessing my progress by drawing attention to what hadn't yet fully sunk in and needed to be gone over again.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Languages are no longer taught like this, March 3, 2004

By 

pat dixon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hugo Language Course: Portuguese In Three Months (with Cassette) (Paperback)

This course is all based on grammar followed by texts to practise the grammar. Some texts are rather odd. In the first lesson Portuguese Maria Helena, from the Algarve, is working in Lisbon as a doctor. She says she cannot speak Portuguese but that does not matter. She is about to learn the language now. Isn't this rather odd? In a reading practice later towards the end of the book there is a text on two convicted criminals that have escaped. I hope I shall not meet them when I am in Portugal.

This course may appeal to the older generations from the days when, I am told, grammar was how languages were taught at school. This is now too old-fashioned. I prefer a more modern approach.

5 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book,but I have just that book not cassettes, July 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hugo Language Course: Portuguese In Three Months (with Cassette) (Paperback)

I need to have those cassettes as well, but I don't find any sense that I had to buy whole package 'cause it not possible to buy just cassettes. Is it really so?