NEWCOMERS TO PORTUGUESE 1

 

Students suitable for this level may not have any background in Brazilian Portuguese or know very little of the language, such as basic greetings and limited vocabulary. This course focuses on the present tense and touches on the future. Vocabulary includes words and expressions describing oneself, family, work, preferences and basic questions including time, place, etc.

 

NEWCOMERS TO POTUGUESE 2:

 

Students suitable for this level know the basics of Portuguese (see description of Newcomers 1) but may need some reinforcement with tricky irregular verbs in the present. In this course, besides reinforcing these verbs, students are introduced to the past tense, both perfect and imperfect. This will enable students to talk about past events, tell stories with a fair amount of detail and comment on news and other events. It will also strengten the fluency of students who need more practice on past tenses. Vocabulary continues to be expanded in this level and the future tense is practiced at greater length. 

 

POTUGUESE FOR SPANISH SPEAKERS 1:

 

Students in this course may be native Spanish speakers or have a good understanding of the language as class materials touch on the main similarities and differences between Portuguese and Spanish. Despite starting at a basic level, this course has an accelerated rhythm, given the similarities between the two languages. As a result, it covers a great deal of verbs, vocabulary and grammar, enabling students to better identify the differences between the two languages and speak with more confidence.

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POTUGUESE FOR SPANISH SPEAKERS 2:

 

This course is geared towards students who have either taken Portuguese for Spanish Speakers 1 or are confident enough to speak Portuguese using the present and future tenses. In this course, focus is on the past tenses, both simple and compound. The inclusion of past tenses, along with more vocabulary, will enable students to speak more expansively and gain increased confidence in Portuguese.

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INTERMEDIATE PORTUGUESE:

 

Students suitable for this level know how to use present, future and past tenses and want to apply that knowledge to practical, more engaging conversations. In this level, students will strengthen their oral skills in these tenses through a variety of video and audio activities as well as in-class discussions. A variety of compound tenses will be introduced so students are fully capable of reporting information in the past. Also in this level, students will start learning the Present Subjunctive.

 

ADVANCED PORTUGUESE:

 

Students suitable for this level have a good control of present, past and future tenses and a basic understanding of the present subjunctive. In this course, past and future subjunctives will be covered at length, enabling students to form more complex sentences and talk about hypothetical situations. The widely used personal infinitive tense, unique to the Portuguese language, will also be covered and students will be thought how to use it. Students interested in this level should expect a fair amount of oral dynamics and conversation using all tenses.

 

WORKSHOPS:

 

Students interested in all thematic workshops should be, minimally, at the intermediate level to take full advantage of the classes. Although most workshops include brief grammar reviews, the main goal is to engage students in real conversations while teaching them new vocabulary and cultural content.