Learning Portuguese to B1 (Lower-intermediate) Level

Written by / Last updated on June 4, 2024
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While a lot of people aim for an A2 level of Portuguese, as this is the level needed to obtain Portuguese citizenship, aiming for a B1 or lower-intermediate is a lot more practical if you’re going to be spending a lot of time in Portugal. Ideally, you should use this as a stepping stone to work towards a B2 level of Portuguese.

With a B1 level, you’ll be able to have slightly more complex conversations and understand a lot more of what you read in books and newspapers, on the news, and in conversation. When people speak to you in shops and restaurants, you’ll be able to do a lot more than regurgitate the basics, if the situation arises.

Courses

There are a number of online courses that teach European Portuguese at an intermediate level.

  • Mia Esmeriz Academy – The B1 and B2 levels of Portuguese Master Class follow the same format as the A1 and A2 levels. Each video lesson is roughly 40-60 minutes long, and includes a mixture of grammar, vocab, and expressions.
  • Practice Portuguese – Practice Portuguese offers a lot of content, including audio, for B1 level language learners.
  • Portuguese Lab Academy – As with the A1 and A2 levels, the B1 and B2 levels of Portuguese Lab use a mixture of multimedia types (including audio, reading, and quizzes) to create a varied interactive learning platform.

Textbooks

If you prefer to learn from a textbook, there are several that cover the B1 and above.

Other Resources

  • The Journey – Although the content isn’t separated into CEFR categories (e.g. A1 or B2), a lot of the material on here is suited to intermediate (B1 and B2) level language learners.