4 proven ways to inexpensively learn Brazilian Portuguese

“So glad I didn’t learn any Brazilian Portuguese before my trip to Brazil.”

Said no one — ever.

You will get so much more out of your trip — and find so much more ease in your day-to-day life there — you know some basic Brazilian Portuguese words and phrases before you get there.

Plus, the Brazilians will be grateful for your effort.

To help you jumpstart your Portuguese learning, here is a round-up of my road-tested low and no-cost resources.

4 great Brazilian Portuguese resources

1. The Duolingo gamified app is great for beginners that are looking to learn some basic vocabulary and have fun doing it. A mixture of reading, writing, and listening, combined with basic gamification makes it easy and entertaining to use. This free app is available on both iOS and Android.
2. The Pimsleur audio CD program is a Rosetta Stone competitor with an excellent Brazilian Portuguese audio course. I was able to check the entire course out of my local library for free and copy it onto my phone — saving hundreds of dollars in the process. Another similar audio alternative is Foreign Service Institute.
3. The Carioca Connection podcast is best if you already speak some Portuguese. This meticulously-produced podcast is an excellent way to improve your grammar, get used to listening to Brazilian Portuguese, and learn about the culture. The hosts are Foster from the US and his Brazilian girlfriend, Alexis. They create the podcast for free and sell annotated transcripts to go with it.
4. I only have amazing things to say about my Portuguese professor Murillo Costa. I found him on iTalki and never looked back. He is a certified Brazilian Portuguese language professor and self-proclaimed language junkie (I think he is up to six languages). I’m not exaggerating when I say that if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be married and living in Brazil right now.

I hope you find these language resources helpful as you prepare for your trip. There is no substitute for learning a bit of the language to make the most of a foreign travel experience.

To continue your learning once you arrive, check out these Salvador-based Portuguese language schools.

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