- Paperback: 116 pages
- Publisher: Teach Yourself; New edition edition (30 May 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340868392
- ISBN-13: 978-0340868393
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 1.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 198,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
‘Teach Yourself Instant Portuguese’ is the book for you if you want to speak basic Portuguese immediately or if you have tried other courses without success.
The carefully structured method targets only the most important vocabulary and grammar and gets you speaking straight away. The special learning programme takes only 35 minutes a day for six weeks and has fewer than 400 words for you to learn.
The grammar has been pared down to the ‘bare bones’ and is explained in a no-nonsense way in simple English so you will not get bogged down by unnecessarily complicated structures that you will not need.
There is lots of practice for you as you work through the course, and by using the flashcards provided at the end of the book and memorizing the sentences in the ‘learn by heart’ sections, you will find that you are speaking in whole sentences and with confidence right from the start.
The rules of pronunciation are simplified and are available separately on an accompanying CD or cassette, so you will have a model to follow rather than trying to follow written instructions, or you can buy the book in a pack with the CD/cassette.
The carefully structured method targets only the most important vocabulary and grammar and gets you speaking straight away. The special learning programme takes only 35 minutes a day for six weeks and has fewer than 400 words for you to learn.
The grammar has been pared down to the ‘bare bones’ and is explained in a no-nonsense way in simple English so you will not get bogged down by unnecessarily complicated structures that you will not need.
There is lots of practice for you as you work through the course, and by using the flashcards provided at the end of the book and memorizing the sentences in the ‘learn by heart’ sections, you will find that you are speaking in whole sentences and with confidence right from the start.
The rules of pronunciation are simplified and are available separately on an accompanying CD or cassette, so you will have a model to follow rather than trying to follow written instructions, or you can buy the book in a pack with the CD/cassette.
About the Author
Elisabeth Smith is German and has taught French, German and Spanish at different levels all over the world for the past 30 years. She was the Chief Executive of a South African publishing house before moving to Spain, where she now lives for most of the year.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For such a small book with only 95 pages, this course gives you a good start. I liked the way it involves the learner, with a progress chart. The flash cards help too. It is fun and stimulating, with a certificate at the end. It is all very communicative but it gives you quite a bit of grammar that helps you understand and make your own sentences. This is on the good side, but there are some typos and this is annoying. The Portuguese word for tennis is spelt sometimes with an acute accent, others with a circumflex accent. I am told that one is the European spelling, the other the Brazilian spelling. Perhaps it does not matter, it is only an accent.
6 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Recently I have read through "Instant Portuguese" with great care. I haven't listened to the accompanying tape. There are some very good pedagogical ideas in this little book which is directed at people from the UK visiting Portugal. The lay out is very good indeed, with well designed exercises, and the flash cards are an excellent idea. However the biggest flaw is the Portuguese itself which is wobbly and inaccurate mostly due to the incorrect and sometimes inconsistent use of accents. For instance: cash point is 'uma caixa automática', not 'uma caixa automâtica'. Tennis starts as 'tênis' (page 27) and then when you turn the page is 'ténis'. There are some grammatically wrong sentences mainly to do with incorrect use of verbs. Let's start with the verb 'ser' (page 21) where we find '... O empregado e muito lindo'; it should have been '... O empregado é muito lindo'. A terrible mistake to make as 'e' is a conjunction not a verb. By the way in Portugal 'lindo/linda' is reserved for babies or flowers and the like, never for a handsome waiter. I think that most people there would say 'giro' instead of 'lindo'. Other examples are: 'consertar-lo' when it should have been 'consertá-lo' or 'o consertar' (page 19); 'podia-me ajudar' when it should have been 'podia ajudar-me' (page 37), etc. The INSTANT verbs list (page 56) is mostly correct except for the first person of the past tense of verb 'crer' which is 'cri' and not 'creí'. "Instant Portuguese" has an excellent format but left me with the feeling that the language was done in a hurry. In my view it could do with a serious revision for a further edition because as it is I would not recommend it for my students.
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