Customer Reviews

Portuguese Now! 8.0

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I got this CD before I had learned anything in Portugese, not even hello. It was scary. Total immersion was just not going to cut it for the complete novice. I got the Living Language book/cassette combo, went through that, THEN this CD became useful. The CD is overall a pretty nice set-up. It has video, pictures, read along, and you can even record your own voice (which just confirmed how much practice I need). There are a few long passages you can listen to while watching the pictures roll by and/or while reading the words. The passages are interesting to, about The samba, and Rio de Janiero. Not your typical "Oi, tudo bem? This is still a beginners CD, but once you have finished a beginners book/cassette, it will make a world of difference, and the immersion won't be quite as scary.

When I first downloaded this program onto my computer, I felt overwhelmed. The directions were not clear and there were so many areas to explore, I didn't know where to begin. However, as I began to learn how to work the program I found it to be an extremely useful tool to learn Portuguese. Not only can I practice my pronunciation of Portuguese words, but I can also close my eyes and listen to a native speaker to test my listening comprehension. Also, I can play a game to pratice my language skills as well! If you are serious about learning Portuguese I highly recommend you purchase this program. Yes, it's confusing in the beginning. . . however as time passes you will find it one of your most useful means to learn the language. I enjoy using the program and although I've owned it now for 5 months, I still have many areas to explore on the CD. However, keep in mind if you are a serious student of Portuguese this program is not the only tool you will need to learn the language. I recommend buying a great dictionary and grammar book to understand how the language works (this CD has hints about Portuguese grammar, but does not explain it in detail). If you purchase the books and the program, you will learn portuguese without a tutor or teacher! I'm already testing my language skills by reading articles on Portuguese websites. Thanks to this program, other tools, and my weekly (almost daily) study habits I can understand much of what I read!

For anyone planning a trip to Brazil, this is a good program to get. However, for anyone interested in learning continental Portugeuse (i.e. European dialect) this module is not as useful. For a non-native speaker, the Brazilean dialect often seems faster and more melodic than the language spoken in Portugal. The continental language is often slower and more pronounced, or annunciated. Overall, the package is good with useful interactive activities. However, the package should be labelled "Brazilean Portuguese".

This program is fair but it doesn't cut learning portuguese just by itself only because it doesn't have a good grammar program. I bought the 501 portuguese fully conjegated verb book and an english to portuguese pocket dictionary along with this program. With these three things, you will kick at learning portuguese! This program gives you an A+ way to speak portuguese and hear native people speak it and how you should dictate your accent. It shows how to write portuguese as well. It is easy and fun to use. With a dictionary, you will be able to expand your vocabulary, and with the verb book, you will know the proper grammer and tenses for a ton of verbs. All together, these three things pack a punch and are the dream combination. Remember, you get a ... dollar rebate on this program, and if you can find an online coupon for ... dollars off, for amazon, you already have a ... dollar discount. Get the program, the dictionary, and the verb book and you will really excell at portuguese. Trust me, you will not be disappointed. This combo of items is a must but if you want the super deluxe combo so you can go all the way with 100 percent full comprehension of the language, get these 3 items as well as the living language cassetes. If you take my advice I guarantee you will have a fun, enjoyable, and successfull expierience. It really works! Take my advice! Cheers and Obrigado!

I was utterly impressed with this product. What I like the most is the easy-to-read pronounciation meter with friendly indications like "Keep trying". Just imagine: you listen, you repeat, you compare, you learn.

Excellent video, excelent history about the samba. Beautiful talking alphabet.

Caveats: Grammar doesn't include pronounciation rules. Even though the talking alphabet shows you the different sounds for a given letter, nowhere are explained the rules behind it. Grammar doesn't include full verb conjugations !

Do yourself a favor and save your money. I found this to be the worst learning tool I have ever seen. The CD basically comes with 2 or 3 stories that you can listen to and practice repeating.

The only thing I found useful was going through the correct pronunciation of the alphabet.

All the important items in learning a language are in text only format, so you'd be better off buying a book

I'm a beginer. I was overwhelmed by the vast amount of sentences in Portuguese. It was hard to get in the program. I could not have fun. I was frustrated. But as I progress in grammar and vocabulary using other book, everything began to make sense.
This is a good program because you'll know right pronounciation from every sentenses in this program. The only problem is you can't learn grammer effectively because it provides little information on grammer.

This tool is useless unless you have a basic understanding for the grammer of portuguese, which I do not. There are no lessons. Like the other review said, there are basically four little stories and you can sit and watch your computer read through them.

I was expecting a more tradtional approach of going through various items and learning how to say simple things. Don't waste your time buying this...