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European Portuguese

Portuguese Lab Academy

The Academy is an online subscription platform where you can learn European Portuguese from beginner to upper-intermediate. It offers a step-by-step roadmap with pre-recorded video lessons, audio and interactive exercises. 

 

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Do you identify with this?

  • You live or want to live in Portugal, be independent and feel integrated in your community;
  • You frequently spend time in Portugal and you want to take your experience to the next level;
  • You want to finally connect with friends and family members who speak Portuguese.

But… 

  • You don’t know how to get started;
  • You can’t find European Portuguese resources;
  • You need a program that is flexible and suits your availability;
  • You need a step-by-step system to keep you motivated.

Then, you’re in the right place!

What is the Portuguese Lab Academy?

The Academy is an online platform that has all you need to learn European Portuguese from true beginner to upper intermediate. It offers:

Flexibility
so you can learn by yourself at your own pace, wherever you are.

Structure and sequence
so you always know what step to take next.

Variety
so you can learn with different materials and never get bored.

My support
so you always have answers to your questions.

The materials

Ways to learn in the Portuguese Lab Academy

All you need to learn is a computer, an internet connection, and motivation. We provide the rest: multimedia lessons with video, audio, and interactive exercises, and resources to improve the different skills of the language: reading, listening, speaking and writing.

Receive immediate access to the complete roadmap. Plan your study. Go!

Roadmap

The Academy includes an in-depth, step-by-step roadmap that takes you from beginner to the upper-intermediate level.

Browse by topic

You can also search the lessons in the roadmap by topic (grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, dialogues, stories, etc.).

The Academy

Take a look inside

Beginner modules

Learn the fundamentals of the language.

The beginner modules include grammar, pronunciation, verb conjugations, everyday life dialogues, interactive exercises, and a mystery story that accompanies you throughout your learning.

These modules refer to levels A1-A2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

 

Included:

  • talking about permanent characteristics (ser)
  • talking about momentary characteristics (estar)
  • talking about events happening now (estar + a + infinitive)
  • talking about frequent activities (present)
  • talking about events in the future (ir + infinitive)
  • expressing desires (querer + infinitive)
  • identifying and describing objects
  • identifying objects and people in space
  • expressing possession
  • singular and plural
  • having to do something (ter + de + infinitive)
  • needing to do something (precisar + de + infinitive)
  • knowing how to do something (saber + infinitive)
  • being able to do something (conseguir + infinitive)
  • saying the time
  • saying when an event takes place
  • expressing how to do something to yourself (reflexive verbs)
  • talking about recurring events (andar + infinitive)
  • expressing how long/since when an event is going on (há, desde)
  • talking about something that you usually do (costumar + infinitive)
  • the right thing to do (dever + infinitive)
  • identifying what there is (haver / existir)
  • moving (a / para / de)
  • giving orders and directions (imperative)
  • just finished doing something (acabar + de + infinitive)
  • being able to do something (poder + infinitive)
  • placing objects in space (placement prepositions)
  • buying something (direct complement pronouns)
  • comparing (comparatives / superlatives)
  • giving something to someone (indirect complement pronouns)
  • impersonal -se
  • having all, many, a few and none (indefinites)
  • using personal pronouns with prepositions
  • identifying finished events in the past (simple past)
  • expressing your opinion
  • introducing more information (relative sentences)
  • talking about the past (imperfect)
  • making plans for the future (haver + infinitive)

To learn the new grammar structures in context, each section of the beginner’s roadmap includes a chapter of the story “A Fotógrafa Curiosa” (The Curious Photographer).

The story begins now (lesson 1) and ends with the final lesson of the beginner’s roadmap (lesson 41). The story’s complexity advances as you move through the lessons, this means that each chapter builds upon the previous one.

Sofia is a curious photographer who gets involved in the case of a valuable stolen doll. Join her adventures and discover how the story ends!

Included:

  • How the sounds are produced in your mouth
  • How to identify the sounds
  • How to produce the sounds
  • Fixed oral vowels
  • Oral diphthongs
  • Fixed nasal vowels
  • Nasal diphthongs
  • Bilabial consonants
  • Labiodental consonants
  • Dental consonants
  • Alveolar consonants
  • Postalveolar consonants
  • Velar consonants
  • Consonant clusters

The goal of these lessons is to help you learn the verb conjugations by building a reflex, allowing you to produce them fast when speaking. Besides that, you’ll also learn and practice their pronunciation. 

They focus on three verb tenses of irregular verbs, one to talk about the present and two to talk about the past: presente (present), pretérito perfeito simples (simple past) and pretérito imperfeito (imperfect).

Included:

  • ser (to be)
  • estar (to be)
  • ter (to have)
  • dar (to give)
  • dizer (to say)
  • fazer (to do, to make)
  • ir (to go)
  • pôr (to put, to place)
  • vir (to come)
  • ler (to read)
  • ver (to see)
  • pedir (to ask for, to request)
  • poder (can, may)
  • querer (to want)

Included:

  • Introducing yourself
  • Greeting
  • Saying goodbye
  • Apologizing
  • Thanking
  • When you don’t understand
  • How to address someone
  • At the market
  • At the restaurant
  • At the coffee shop
  • On the street
  • At the pharmacy
  • Talking about the weather
  • At the clothing shop
Upper-beginner review

Consolidate the basics of the language

These lessons include dialogues, listening comprehension exercises, speaking exercises with simulated dialogues, and grammar exercises.

In this section, you find model tests to practice for the CIPLE A2 exam, including listening comprehension exercises.

  • fruta (fruits)
  • ervas aromáticas (herbs)
  • legumes (vegetables)
  • roupa (clothing)
  • corpo humano (human body)
  • burocracia (bureaucracy)
  • casa (home)
  • tempo (time)
  • dinheiro (money)
  • natureza (nature)
  • expressões (expressions)

Improve your listening and reading comprehension with scripted and real dialogues, short stories, and articles focusing on different subjects.

Intermediate modules

Grow your knowledge of the language

The intermediate modules take you through the most important grammar topics of the intermediate level, dialogues, exercises to improve your listening skills, and a mystery story.

These modules refer to levels B1-B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

 

Included:

  • particípio passado
  • pretérito perfeito composto
  • pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto
  • infinitivo pessoal e impessoal
  • futuro imperfeito
  • condicional presente
  • conjugação pronominal
  • presente do conjuntivo
  • pretérito imperfeito do conjuntivo
  • futuro do conjuntivo
  • pretérito perfeito composto do conjuntivo
  • pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo
  • futuro perfeito composto do conjuntivo
  • infinitivo pessoal composto
  • futuro perfeito
  • condicional pretérito
  • gerúndio simples e composto
  • perifrásticas
  • voz passiva

The mystery story is called “Crime com arte”. Each lesson of the intermediate modules is accompanied by a chapter of the mystery story. You can practice your listening and reading skills and improve your grammar by seeing the new structures in context.

 

The goal of these lessons is to help you bridge the gap between slow Portuguese and native-like Portuguese, and enrich your vocabulary so that you can express yourself better.

If you struggle to understand native speakers speaking at normal speed, either because you don’t have the necessary vocabulary or because you’re not used to listening to native speakers speaking fast, then you are going to benefit from these drills.

This type of exercise will also help you with developing your language instinct. That’s when grammar structures come naturally to you without having to think about the rules.

The goal of these short dialogues is to introduce you to common colloquial expressions. You can learn how to use the expressions in context.

Olá!

Meet your teacher

” I’m Susana Morais, and you guessed it right, I am a Portuguese teacher! I’m an alfacinha (born in Lisboa) with a special love for languages. I have collected a few languages throughout the years including English. German, Spanish, French, and Mandarin, and dabbled in Russian and Korean. Now and then I also play around with Latin and Ancient Egyptian (you never know when that might come in handy…).

Following the true Portuguese spirit, I am curious about the world and other cultures, and I am now reaching out to teach an endangered species, European Portuguese.

I like to push my students, so you can consider me your accountability partner!

Meet the team

Tiago Rodrigues – content creation/technical support

Ruben Gomes – community support/quality control

Price in USD.

Risk-free

30-day money-back guarantee

I genuinely want you to succeed, which is why I offer a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Simply let me know within 30 days if you’d like a refund, and I’ll give you one, no questions asked.

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Should you join?

Still unsure if the Academy is for you?

IT’S FOR YOU

  • You want to learn European Portuguese.
  • You enjoy learning independently.
  • You are willing to work hard.
  • You have made the necessary time to study.
  • You are interested in learning with stories, articles, and dialogues.

IT’S NOT FOR YOU

  • You want to learn Brazilian Portuguese.
  • You prefer to learn in a classroom.
  • You are looking for a fast solution.
  • You are not willing to set aside the necessary time to study.
  • You want one-on-one online lessons.
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Don't just take it from me

What members are saying.

“As an independent language learner, I would definitely recommend it to those who want to make progress in mastering their European Portuguese saving their time and money.

With the help of the Academy you can practice reading, listening, writing, and even speaking (by uploading texts, audio and video).

And most of all I find it very useful that at the Academy you will always have the instructor ready to reply to your questions and clear your doubts.”

Volha Shapka, Belarus

I love the vocabulary lists with short phrases followed by active dialogue.
The interviews with local speakers – farm, weather, etc are also fantastic – and short stories illustrating grammar.
So many formats are great…..
We are so lucky that the best language resources available are in European Português – thanks to you!!

Chris

“I have tried a large number of methods of learning languages; books, CDs, one-on-one classes etc and none have come close to Portuguese Lab.

Why you ask? Well there is a multitude of reasons but an important one is that, I feel that Susana has realized that you can’t be spared from the real world of Portuguese speakers. They speak fast, mix up half the syllables, apparently adding extras and dropping the rest, or so it seems at first.

With Portuguese Labs systematic and parallel build up of grammar and vocabulary as well as dialogues to listen to, you can adapt theory and practice side by side. You even start to understand what is being dropped in spoken language (but I haven’t figured out why!)

What’s more this can be done at your own pace, and by concentrating on the method that best suits you.
Unlike other methods you’ll understand that Susana is behind you all the way and never far away when things get difficult.

I can highly recommend Portuguese Lab and if nothing else you owe it to yourself to give it a try. Remember, no pain no gain.”

Richard, Sweden, living in Lisboa

“If you’re interested in learning European Portuguese, then the Portuguese Lab Academy is the place to be.
The courses are well planned, efficient and effective and will give you the skills you need to speak and understand, and read and write European Portuguese.

The lessons are step by step. The words and grammar from each lesson are woven into an entertaining story that makes them easy to remember. In addition to the main course, there is a wealth of extra material to expand your understanding of the language and culture of Portugal.

Also included are weekly emails from “Professora” Susana with grammar concepts, speaking challenges, culture and music info and “What’s going on in the forum”, the language chat room for Academy students.

I’ve tried four other online courses for French and Portuguese. Portuguese Lab Academy is the most comprehensive and a great value for the money!”

Rod L., San Francisco, USA

“I haven’t found a lot of well-structured and comprehensive resources for the intermediate level, so you have hit the sweet-spot for me.

Your content keeps me engaged and is at a length where I can maintain focus. Brilliant!!!”

Harold Buehl, USA, living in Portugal

“After two years of studying Portuguese at a Beginner level, I was wondering how to inject new life into my studies and move to an Intermediate level.

The best part of the Academy is its strong focus on comprehensible and compelling materials for developing reading/listening skills beyond the Beginner level.

For the burgeoning Intermediate level student, the Academy is a rich resource for engaging listening and reading.”

Paul Dangel, USA

“I absolutely love the course. Wish I knew about it when I arrived to Portugal, about a year ago!!

The most interesting aspect of the course in my view is , that even the most complex parts of the language are explained with simple examples and short explanation.

That to me is the most important factor when it comes to rate a language teacher. Well done!”

Hamid Monsef, Portugal

“I’m very happy with the decision to join the Portuguese Lab Academy.
The system takes you from the very basic to be proficient in the Portuguese language, at your own pace.

Each theme includes not only a sound explanation but also plenty of material to practice, in a very complete platform making the online experience very rich. Aside from that Susanna answers every one of your doubts in an open way for anybody to learn about it.

I recommend the Portuguese Lab Academy without any doubt.”

Vivian

I really like your courses. I find your teaching style and presented material extremely helpful and prepared on a highly professional level. After half a year, with your guidance, I have started to understand spoken and written (magazines and newspapers) European Portuguese. I am working on pronunciation and learning to express myself.

Olga O.

“The Portuguese Lab Academy is a brilliant site if you want to learn European Portuguese. There are excellent resources ranging from structured grammer lessons for each level A1 to B2, coresponding podcasts which cover all areas to help to learn and brush up your vocabulary and pronunciation.

Most importantly, there is regular encouragement from the Portuguese Lab Academy teacher, each week with new material to keep you stimulated and motivated. There is also a community where you can ask any questions on the Portuguese language with an excellent response rate, so you can progress quickly. I highly recommend this site for learning Portuguese and have been very impressed with my progress in learning Portuguese from scratch in such a short space of time. 

Sarah, France

“I’ve been enjoying Portuguese Lab website, which is in fact one of the few European Portuguese resources on the Internet, for the past two years, and having been enrolled in the Portuguese Lab Academy for about half a year can definetely recommend it.

I think that whatever approach you prefer, Portuguese Lab is flexible enough and will help with learning this beautiful language.”

Andrey, Russian Federation

“Olá Susana! So happy to be here. Among everything else here you’ve so carefully and thoughtfully prepared, it’s also incredible to have such great tools for EP pronunciation!

After months with Duolingo and its Brazilian Portuguese default, I can now go forward with confidence on how to correctly pronounce each and every syllable.

Thank you for the perfectly times pauses between words, I am repeating with confidence and also cementing in my head, thanks to you :)”

Amy Thoner

“WOW…I could not imagine a more thorough and organized online course!

Thank you for the time and attention you have put into this to make it the best that is out there!

I have looked far and wide and tried several others! Please keep up the great work, Susana!”

Robert La Coste

“This is a comprehensive course that covers the European Portuguese language not only in a grammatical way but also with the use of themes, expressions, and landmarks. I love how I was able to practice using different points of view in the exercises.

You’ll sound like a local in no time because Susana adds handy phrases for everyday life like “pois não?” or “acho que.. ?”. She also adds expressions (like “so”, “well” and “oh”) which made the language feel more natural to me.

When I arrived in Lisbon, places were familiar to me already because Susana has integrated them in the lessons like Praça Luis de Camões.

The best part is that she was able to blend in interesting narratives while covering the technical aspects of the language.”

Karen

“If you are keen on learning proper European Portuguese, chances are you already searched the internet and found only a handful options out there. I can hereby say with confidence and clear conscious that Portuguese Lab Academy is simply the best among these (having tried all the others’ trial versions) when it comes to a structured and organized way of learning, achieving this by an aesthetically appealing and top quality web interface.

I had started out EU Portuguese on my own through various free apps like Duolingo, Memrise and Drops which equipped me with considerable vocabulary, but it was only in PLA where I obtained a solid grammar foundation, specifically tailored to EU Portuguese.

Almost no aspect is forgotten here: there is EU Portuguese Pronunciation course for learning how to speak like a native, there are A1/A2/B1/B2 level formal courses, there are many useful Podcasts of all levels to learn vocabulary and grammar which are also immensely useful for your Listening Comprehension (which I think is the most challenging aspect of the language!) and yet even Speaking exercises where your submitted sound recordings gets evaluated by Susana in terms of Oral Expression.

Last but not least, there is the Community section which is a vast resource of useful questions asked by students (you learn a great deal of stuff from other students’ questions!) and answered back in no time by Susana personally. She creates wonders in explaining complicated stuff in such easy ways that all your doubts and questions are cleared seamlessly.

I had enrolled in PLA since its inception half a year ago. I can easily say that it equipped me with everything I needed for the CIPLE A2 exam that I just had recently. Almost 1 year after starting learning EU Portuguese, I am now expecting to obtain my CIPLE certificate shortly. If you are a serious student willing to invest the necessary time daily, PLA and Susana will be your best companion along the way.”

Efe A., Turkey

Frequently asked questions

How does the Academy work?
  • The Academy is a subscription site with a recurring monthly or annual payment. This means you have access to the content for as long as you remain a member.
  • You have immediate access to beginner+intermediate courses and all the available content when you become a member.
  • You can take the courses at your own pace, wherever you want. You decide where to start and what to focus on!
  • You learn with videos, audio, text, and exercises.
  • You have access to the community forum where you can place all your questions and submit work for feedback.
What variety of Portuguese is the content in?

100% European Portuguese!

What do I have access to?

As a member you have immediate access to everything in the Portuguese Lab Academy: the complete roadmap with lessons from beginner to upper-intermediate, including exercises, videos, downloadables and forum. This includes all levels! You can access the Academy on your computer or on mobile with an internet connection.

How do I access the Academy?

You can access the Academy on your computer or on your mobile device with an internet connection. For better performance, I recommend using the browser Chrome.

How long do I need to remain a member?

You can remain a member for as long as you want or need! This will highly depend on your personal goals regarding learning Portuguese.

How often is new content released?

The Academy is a complete roadmap from beginner to upper-intermediate. So, everything you need is already here!

What level do I need to have to join the Academy?

The Academy is for you if you are just getting started (true beginner), if you already have the basics of the language (beginner), or if you want to take your Portuguese to the next level (intermediate).

Can I study at my own pace?

You certainly can! This Academy is designed to give you all the flexibility you need. So you can learn whenever, wherever you want.

Is there a minimum age for use of the site?

Yes. The site is designed for users 18 years of age and older.

Can I cancel at any time?

Yes! You can cancel your subscription at any moment by accessing your account and selecting the “cancel” option. When you do this, you will keep your access to the Academy for the remainder of the period you paid for, but you will not be charged again when that period (monthly or annual) is over.

Is there a money-back guarantee?

Of course! I genuinely want you to succeed, which is why I offer a generous 30-day money back guarantee. Simply let me know within 30 days if you’d like a refund, and I’ll give you one, no questions asked. This guarantee is valid after your first purchase, not after subscription renewals.

How can I pay?

You can pay by Credit Card or PayPal. The prices are in USD.

How does the billing work?

If you choose the monthly subscription you will automatically be charged monthly. If you choose the annual subscription you are charged a one-time payment for a 365-day access.

Your subscription fee is locked in for the lifetime of your subscription. This means the price does not change, even if there’s a price increase for new subscribers.

How do I know what my level is?

The Academy offers a roadmap so you know where to start according to your level. But you can always change that if you feel what you are learning at the time is too easy or too hard!

  • Beginner (A1-A2)

You have just started learning, or you have been learning for a while, but your Portuguese is still very basic, you understand very little, and you find it hard to have a simple conversation.

  • Intermediate (B1-B2)

You have been learning for some time, and you feel more comfortable with the language. You know the basic grammar and vocabulary, and you can hold a basic conversation, but you want to improve your level and grow your confidence, especially when listening and speaking.

  • Advanced (C1-C2)

You know Portuguese and can speak it well. You can read and hold conversations about a variety of topics, explaining yourself with confidence. You can understand native speakers with ease, even if you don’t recognize every word. You’re looking for ways to improve your vocabulary, use of idioms and complex grammar structures.

What's the difference between the free and paid content?
  • The Academy gives you the structure and sequence you need to improve consistently.
  • It’s a step-by-step system; you don’t have to guess what to do next.
  • It explores all the language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing).
  • It includes in-depth explanations about how the language works, so you build a good foundation of the language.
  • As a student, you have access to me, I answer your questions.

The free content doesn’t offer any of the above.

Price in USD.