Customer Reviews

Using Portuguese: A Guide to Contemporary Usage

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

 

 

The chapters on contemporary Portuguese are a bit weak. Some examples are good, by register, but Africa, Brazil and Portugal are covered in less than two pages. One would have expected a fuller text.

Other chapters are more comprehensive. Some are good. I find that on "misleading vocabulary" quite helpful.

The Grammar chapters do not offer anything new. In fact, I prefer Manuela Cook's Portuguese course (Hodder), where grammar is explained very clearly and inserted into situational context, with practical vocabulary.

Another aspect of the the Ganho and McGovern book I can not appreciate is the few pages at the end on Portuguese for Spanish speakers. It is just too basic. I am a Spanish speaker and this short chapter has not helped me. All it contains I learned as a beginner. This is not for the more advanced learner as the book claims.

I am glad I have come across this book. I am also glad I have been able to use a library copy and did not have to spend money on it. Some sections of the book are useful but others are not.

Eu gosto muito este livro. Tem muito informação valiosa. Se você quer ter uma boa compreensão de português, compre-o agora!

I love this book. It's full of valuable information. As a Spanish speaker, I'm glad that the book has a section on Spanish and Portuguese comparisons and contrasts. If you're a student of the language, and wish to improve your Portuguese language skills, this is the book to buy.

I've always had a fascination with learning to speak portuguese. Last year I bought all the 3 levels available from Rosetta Stone. Though that program was a great start, it is definitely NOT an end-all be-all solution. I then recently found a website, [...] and I kept learning there while connecting with native speakers from Brazil. This, in the long run was better than Rosetta Stone in my opinion, not to mention the fact that it was free too! Anyways, It still was not an end-all be-all solution either, however I don't think anything really is. You have to keep working at it. I found this book online as a limited "e-book", where it let me read a few pages. It has been very helpful, in describing rules, forms, and differences between the nations where portuguese is spoken. I'd recommened this book to anyone who is learning Portuguese.

I've read a few Portuguese grammar books. I picked this one up in the bookstore the other day. I found it to be full of interesting things. It shows some differences between Brazilian, Continental, and African Portuguese. There is also a small section that show some diffences between Spanish and Portuguese.