App

Portuguese – Learn Portuguese

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This Portuguese – Learn Portuguese app also includes:

Marcos and Paulo have just met Ana. Watch as they use Portuguese to introduce themselves and get to know each other. Language learners then complete a series of activities designed to help them master each brief conversation.

8th - Higher Ed World Languages 18 Views 4 Downloads
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App Overview

Start out your Portuguese instruction with a tutorial video for the app. Meet Ann, Mark, and Paul (or Ana, Marcos, and Paulo), animated characters who act out each conversational scene. There are 30 scenes, or lessons, total, although only one is free. You can buy the whole course for $14.99 or single lessons for $1.99 each. For each lesson, you complete eight activities, working on listening, speaking, writing, and reading.

For Each Lesson:

  • Watch an animated video that includes all of the words and phrases for that lesson
  • View the video with subtitles
  • Watch the video with subtitles and translated subtitles
  • Practice speaking by saying and recording each phrase; compare your pronunciation to audio from the video
  • Write a spoken phrase and check your spelling and grammar
  • Respond to conversational questions and comments by selecting the correct bubble; you must get five correct for the activity to count as completed
  • Listen to an excerpt and choose the correct translation; you must get 20 correct to finish
  • Learn more vocabulary by tapping on highlighted words 

Settings:

  • Change the native language
  • Set a lesson reminder at a specific time each day
  • Turn the word of the day on and off
  • Reset your progress
  • Play the introductory video again

Other Features:

  • Tap the question mark for an overlay of basic app instructions
  • Make notes during the lesson; these will save with a time and date stamp and can be e-mailed
  • Go back to any part of the lesson and repeat the activity; you do not need to reset progress in order to do this
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Instructional Ideas

Show the scenes to your class as a demonstration. Learners can repeat the conversations in small groups, add new lines to each interaction, and present their own versions to the class.

Use the app for individual practice at home or in class. Since the app tracks progress, you can keep an eye on how far your pupils are getting and make sure they are completing each section.

Classroom Considerations

The animated characters are a bit robotic in their movements; however, there is a storyline to engage the interest of your class.

While the conversations are all appropriate for the classroom, some of the backgrounds and props for the conversations have adult themes. Watch the videos beforehand to determine whether this will be distracting or not.

Pros
  • Users practice and experience new vocabulary and phrases in multiple different ways
  • The short videos are an amusing vehicle for learning conversational Portuguese
  • All narration is spoken in a clear voice by a native speaker
Cons
  • The lessons are somewhat expensive and there are other apps that offer similar content for less; however, purchasing the whole course is a decent value
  • There are no spelling, grammar, or pronunciation lessons at the beginning, so beginners might have a hard time with the activities