How to Learn Portuguese Completely Online

Using laptop

So you want to learn Portuguese, but want to learn it online rather than in a class? Maybe you aren’t living in Portugal yet, or maybe you just live too far from the nearest Portuguese class. Perhaps you prefer to self-study or maybe you like the idea of learning from home or your favourite coffee shop?

Whatever your reasons, it’s possible to learn Portuguese entirely online – from just about anywhere in the world. That doesn’t just apply to vocabulary and grammar; it’s also possible to take classes online and find native speakers to practice with over Skype.

In this article, you’ll…

  • See a list of online Portuguese courses.
  • Find a teacher who will give lessons over Skype (some people prefer taught classes rather than taking an online course and self-studying).
  • Find a teacher who offers conversational Portuguese lessons (this is essential both for practice and making sure that you’re getting the pronunciation correct).
  • Get a list of written and audio resources that you can learn from in your spare time.

Online courses in European Portuguese

The following courses are all completely online-based, and the list doesn’t include textbooks. If you’d like to see a list of them, be sure to read the complete list of courses that cover European Portuguese.

Resources for beginners

These materials don’t correspond to an exam level, but as a guide they’re they’re A1 to A2 level (beginner).

  • Pimsleur Portuguese (European) – A useful audio course that’ll get you speaking the basics in no time. It’s ideal for listening to in the car, at the gym, or whenever you normally listen to music. 
  • European Portuguese courses on Memrise – A Duolingo-style app that contains a number of community-submitted courses for learning European Portuguese.
  • Talk Portuguese from the BBC – A very basic online video-based course from the BBC, which covers basic travel phrases.
  • Portuguese Lab – Has a podcast and videos aimed at beginner and intermediate Portuguese learners.
  • Drops – A Duolingo-style app that covers European Portuguese and is great for learning vocab (iOS and Android). 

Want more resources? Be sure to read the big list of free resources for learning European Portuguese.

A1

A2

B1

B2

C1

Instituto Camões Portuguese for Foreigners C1 – A paid self-study course covering A1 Portuguese, with basic (includes group Skype tutoring) and premium (includes individual Skype tutoring) options.

C2

Once you reach this stage, your best bet is to contact one of the schools or teachers that offer private lessons over Skype at C2-level (see schools below).

Schools & teachers that offer private lessons

Some people want to study online (especially if they’re not in Portugal) but would prefer lessons rather than self-study. If that sounds like you, the following schools offer 1-to-1 classes over Skype which can tailored to your needs.

You can also take structured classes through sites like Italki or Verbling. Both also have teachers that give conversational classes where you just practice speaking and they correct any mistakes that you make.

Practice speaking

A big part, if not the most important part, of learning a language is actually speaking with someone. Traditionally most people would do this face-to-face in a café or in someone’s home but, increasingly, more and more people are doing this online through apps like Skype – even people who live in Lisbon or Porto.

There are two ways to practice speaking Portuguese: either with a teacher or as part of a tandem exchange (where you swap tuition in your native language for the other person’s).

Teachers that offer conversational Portuguese classes

It’s much, much more effective to work with a teacher than with a language exchange partner, and there are several sites where you can find teachers who offer conversational Portuguese classes like:

Italki is the largest of the three, and tends to be the most popular and also the cheapest. Most of the teachers that are on Italki are also on Verbling and other similar sites as well. 

(Note: If you just select Portuguese, you’ll get a lot of teachers from Brazil. Be sure to select that you want a teacher who comes from Portugal as well).

Where to find a tandem exchange partner

There are several sites which connect native language speakers with people that are learning that language. You chat over Skype or over the phone, spending some time on each language and correcting each other’s mistakes. Sites to look at include:

Practice listening & Reading

  • Portuguese Podcasts – A list of podcasts dedicated to learning European and Brazilian Portuguese.
  • Bliu Bliu – A site with short pieces of audio and accompanying transcriptions. Access is free for the first 5 minutes per day, or you can upgrade if you want more time than that.

Spot a mistake? If you notice a mistake, or would like to suggest improvements to the article, please get in touch. This article was last updated in January 2019.

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