43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great start for learning Portuguese, June 29, 2008
This review is from: PORTUGUESE in 10 minutes a day® with CD-ROM (Paperback)
Okay, so I've only had this book and CD-ROM for a few weeks. I guess I figured there would be lessons of a certain length (each taking about 10 minutes), so that I could check them off (a bit obsessive-compulsive, here), but no, they just encourage you to keep at it and do whatever you can do in the book in 10 minutes. I've only spent 3 sessions doing this, but it's definitely interesting enough that I've spent an hour or more each time. It is very well written, easy to follow.
The CD-ROM is addictive, as I found myself listening to the words and repeating after them almost every day. They have several things to do to learn colors, numbers, rooms in a house, places of business, objects you would use in an office or bathroom, etc, as well as phrases you would use often. I've had trouble putting aside Spanish pronunciation and wrapping my tongue around the oo's, so having someone repeat whichever word I want to say OVER AND OVER is great. There also are pages with 150 stickers to post around the house with names of household items (you might put the word for "cat" on a stuffed cat, tho), flash cards, and pages with menu items that I certainly will practice and cut out and take with me on my visit to Brazil.
I have also been listening to Pimsleur's Brazilian Portuguese CDs, which are quite good. I do like being able to see the written words (which Pimsleur's doesn't provide) while learning a language, so that feature makes this book worthwhile. What I'd like to see are more CD-ROM interactives for learning language, as I'm sure if they were like those provided on the included CD-ROM (need more words and phrases, please), I would spend hours working on learning the language.
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great addition to my Portuguese learning!, April 8, 2008
This review is from: PORTUGUESE in 10 minutes a day® with CD-ROM (Paperback)
I have other books and programs (Rosetta Stone) for learning Portuguese. This is a great addition that is easy to have along when my computer is not convenient to use. I try to spend lots of spare minutes just working on a new page. Only complaint at all is that it says it is for Brazilian Portuguese, but all given pronunciations are not necessarily the right pronunciations listed for Brazil Portuguese....more traditional. But if you know the way they say things differently in Brazil, then it is a great way to add vocabulary.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good, Fast Overview of Brazilian Portugese, June 30, 2008
This review is from: PORTUGUESE in 10 minutes a day® with CD-ROM (Paperback)
PORTUGUESE in 10 minutes a day® with CD-ROM (10 Minutes a Day)
This book and CD Rom give a very basic introduction to Portugese and gives exceptions where needed when Brazilian Portugese varies from the European.
Being a very visual person I really appreciated the colorful drawings and the interactive CD that gave you real life examples to associate the Portugese words with. It's far easier for me to remember how to say the words for blouse or cat or pharmacy or tea when I picture these things first. This is a far more natural way of learning a language than conjugating verbs and learning tenses. I tend to remember a word when I can associate it with an image, sound or smell.
For those wanting to delve more deeply into the language I would recommend Berlitz for 1. a review of the basics and 2. total immersion - nothing helps the speed of learning like being forced to know the words to ask to go the bathroom!!
Remember that Berlitz has several iterations: face-to-face, online and a brief CD (for this language). Keep an eye on [....] for special promotions and pricing to continue your studies.
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