Customer Reviews

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

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...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.

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.

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?