Centre for Co-Curricular Studies

Evening Class Programme

Brazilian Portuguese
Students are advised NOT to buy the course book before the start of the course.

1. Beginners
This Beginners Brazilian Portuguese course aims to take complete beginners in the
language to a level where they are able to understand basic written and oral communication
as well as feel confident to express themselves in written and oral forms using familiar
everyday expressions and basic phrases (level A1 of the Common European Framework).
Students will be able to introduce themselves and others, ask and answer questions about
personal details such as where they live, people they know and things they do and have. The
course will provide students with the skills needed for basic everyday situations in a
Portuguese-speaking environment. It covers all four basic skills listening, speaking, writing
and reading.
The method is essentially communicative with pair and group work, role plays, interactive
language games, information sharing and task based activities, social interaction and
functional communication practice always encouraging students participation. Classes
include a large variety of real-life situations. Grammar acquisition is done by contextualised
oral and written exercises.
The use of authentic texts showing the culture and life-style of Brazil and other Portuguese-
speaking countries, plus songs, videos and even food will give a taste of the cultural aspects
of the lessons. The course will give students basic knowledge of the language as well as
insight in the real and fascinating life of the Portuguese-speaking world.

General topics covered:

Introductions, meeting people, eating & drinking, hotel & directions, housing, daily life
activities, gender and number endings, regular and irregular verbs in the present, immediate
future, imperative form, introduction to the past tense and other important structures.
Phonetics will play an important role in the lessons as aspects of the different accents found
in Brazil and other Portuguese-speaking countries will be discussed.
A detailed, weekly course programme can be found below.
The course book used will be Novo Avenida Brasil 1 Curso Bsico de Portugus para
Estrangeiros, Livro texto + Livro de Exerccios (by Emma Lima, Lutz Rohrmann, Tokiko
Ishihara, Samira Iunes, Cristin Bergweiler, Editora Pedaggica e Universitria Ltda, ISBN 978-
85-12-54520-2). The book is accompanied by an audio CD which students are encouraged to
listen to outside of lesson time. Work sheets will also be provided by the teacher.
Weekly revision is essential to take full advantage of the course. To complement the topics
introduced in class, we recommend the use of other resources such as:

http://www.digitaldialects.com/Brazilian%20Portuguese.htm
http://www.easyportuguese.com/
http://www.busuu.com/learn-portuguese-online
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/learn-portuguese-brazilianpodclass/id515270398
http://www.learn-portuguese-now.com/free-audiobooks1.html
http://www.radios.com.br/cnt/brasileiras
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Week 1 The phonetics of Brazilian Portuguese and some of the Tema 0 / Tema 1
main accents. Basic rules of spelling. Graphic accents.
Greetings. Introductions.

Week 2 Meeting people. Giving and asking personal information. Tema 1

Spelling. Nationalities. Jobs. Irregular verb SER. Regular
verbs in AR.

Week 3 Question word: Onde? Prepositions of place: em, no, na, Tema 1
nos, nas. Revision of verbs in AR. Countries and cities.
Numbers from 0 to 199.

Week 4 Introducing people. Making suggestions. Inviting people. Tema 2

Asking the time. Days of the week. Periods of the day.
Activities (going to the theatre, football, concert, etc).

Week 5 Possessive and demonstrative pronouns. Irregular verbs Tema 2

IR, PODER, TER and the immediate future. Inviting for
lunch and weekend activities.

Week 6 Vocabulary review: weekend activities. Adverts. Leaving Tema 2 / Tema 3

a voice message. Eating and Drinking.

Week 7 Asking for a table. Ordering food and drinks. Tema 3

Understanding the menu. Inviting friends for dinner.
Possessives: seu, sua, seus, suas. Verb GOSTAR DE.

Week 8 Irregular verb ESTAR. Regular verbs in ER. Irregular Tema 3

verb QUERER. Difference between verbs SER and
ESTAR. Traditional dish: feijoada.

Week 9 Revision exercises to be taken home and handed in after

Christmas break.

Week 10 Setting the table. Dining utensils. Expressing wishes and Tema 3 / Tema 4
preferences. Making a hotel reservation. Types of rooms.

Week 11 Walking around the city. Means of transportation. To be Tema 4

far or near. Giving directions. Verb FICAR. Possessives:
dele, dela, deles, delas. Comparative with more.

Week 12 Regular verbs in IR. Irregular verbs: FAZER and Tema 4

PREFERIR. Continuous form. Imperative. Making a
complaint.

Week 13 Taking holidays. Traffic signs. Numbers from 200 to 1 Tema 4 / Tema 5
billion. Housing. Types of houses.

Week 14 Looking for a house to rent. Describing what you want. Tema 5
Problems in the flat. Prepositions of place. Past tense:
verbs in AR.

Week 15 Review of the past tense. Past of regular verbs in ER Tema 5

and IR. Comparative of superiority, equality and
inferiority. Describing your dream house.

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Week 16 Putting an advert in a newspaper. Building a house. Tema 5 / Tema 6
Word association. How was your day?

Week 17 Daily activities. Frequency adverbs. Past of irregular Tema 6

verbs: SER and IR.

Week 18 Past of irregular verbs: TER, ESTAR, FAZER, QUERER Tema 6

and PODER. Object Pronouns.

Week 19 Brazilian Festivals and Holidays. Famous Brazilian poets, Tema 6

painters, singers and song writers.

Week 20 General review.

2. Pre-Intermediate
This course aims to take basic users of the language to a level where they are able to
understand written and oral communication as well as feel confident to express themselves
in written and oral form and be able to communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a
simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters (level A2 of the
Common European Framework). The course will provide students with the skills needed for
basic everyday situations in a Portuguese-speaking environment. It covers all four basic
skills listening, speaking, writing and reading.
The method is essentially communicative with pair and group work, role plays, interactive
language games, information sharing and task based activities, social interaction and
functional communication practice always encouraging students participation. Classes
include a large variety of real-life situations. Grammar acquisition is accomplished by
contextualised oral and written exercises.
The use of authentic texts from varied sources showing the culture and life-style of Brazil and
other Portuguese-speaking countries, plus songs, videos and even food will provide a taste
of the cultural aspects of the lessons. The course will give students basic knowledge of the
language as well as insight in the real and fascinating life of the Portuguese-speaking world.

General topics covered:

Describing people and talking about their main physical and psychological traits. Talking
about health and sports, work, clothes, agreement and disagreement. Give and receive
advice. Tourism and geography of Brazil. Learn how to use the superlative, other forms of
past tense and future. Adverbs ending in mente, indefinite pronouns and passive voice.
Phonetics will play an important role in the lessons as aspects of the different accents found
in Brazil and other Portuguese-speaking countries will be discussed.
A detailed, weekly course programme can be found below.
The course book used will be Novo Avenida Brasil 2 Curso Bsico de Portugus para
Estrangeiros, Livro texto + Livro de Exerccios (by Emma Lima, Lutz Rohrmann, Tokiko
Ishihara, Samira Iunes, Cristin Bergweiler, Editora Pedaggica e Universitria Ltda, ISBN 978-
85-12-54570-7). The book is accompanied by an audio CD which students are encouraged to
listen to outside of lesson time. Work sheets will also be provided by the teacher when needed.
Weekly revision is essential to take full advantage of the course. To complement the topics
introduced in class, we recommend the use of other resources such as:

http://www.digitaldialects.com/Brazilian%20Portuguese.htm

v. 7/14
http://www.easyportuguese.com/
http://www.busuu.com/learn-portuguese-online
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/learn-portuguese-brazilianpodclass/id515270398
http://www.learn-portuguese-now.com/free-audiobooks1.html
http://www.radios.com.br/cnt/brasileiras

Week 1 The body. Describing people and things. Expressing likes Tema 0 / Tema 1
and dislikes. Body parts.

Week 2 Health. Illnesses. Giving and receiving advice. Verb VER. Tema 1
Pronouns LHE, LHES. Superlative.

Week 3 Regular and Irregular plural. Describing your house. The Tema 1
expression TER QUE. Physical traits.

Week 4 Work. Giving opinion. Agreeing and disagreeing. Tema 2

Workers rights.

Week 5 Womens lives in the past and now. The Past Imperfect. Tema 2
Routines in the past. Descriptions in the past.

Week 6 Talking about you last holidays. Ordinal numbers. Being Tema 2
hired. Strikes.

Week 7 Clothes. Describing something. Male and female clothes. Tema 3

What to wear?

Week 8 Irregular verbs POR, PODER, VIR in the present, past Tema 3
and past imperfect. A, ali, l. Future.

Week 9 Adverts. The Futuro do Pretrito. Brazilian behaviour. Tema 3

Laundry list. Expressions with colours.

Week 10 Family life. Family tree. Relatives. Tema 4

Week 11 Irregular verbs TRAZER, DIZER. Mais-que-perfeito Tema 4

simples and composto.

Week 12 Parties and celebrations in Brazil. Japanese immigration Tema 4

in Brazil.

Week 13 Tourism and Ecology. Holiday activities. Trips. Types of Tema 5

travellers. Planning a trip.

Week 14 Perfeito composto do Indicativo. Adverbs. Indefinite Tema 5

pronouns. Double negation. Ecological problems.

Week 15 Aa. Song Barquinho. Augmentatives and diminutives. Tema 5

Professions.

Week 16 From North to South. Regions of Brazil. Stereotypes. Tema 6

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Week 17 Passive voice. Indefinite Pronouns. Cultural influences in Tema 6
Brazil.

Week 18 Food. Folklore. Packaging. Measurement. Tema 6

Week 19 General Review

Week 20 Food.

Questions regarding the content and teaching of the above courses should be addressed
either to the tutor, Ms Gisele Breder, giselebreder@gmail.com, or the Evening Classes
Coordinator, Dr Anna Nyburg, a.nyburg@imperial.ac.uk
Enrolment infos: www3.imperial.ac.uk/humanities/eveningclasses/enrolmentinformation

Imperial College undergraduates may, if they wish, acquire 2 ECTS credits after successfully
completing their Evening Class. To qualify, a student must attend the classes regularly and
pass a test at the end of the second term. Students will be invited to apply in the second term
to take the test.

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