If you’ve spent any time hunting for Portuguese-learning resources, you’ve probably run into the big frustration right away: most of what’s out there teaches Brazilian Portuguese, not European Portuguese.
That’s the gap Mia Esmeriz has been filling since 2017. Through her website, her YouTube channel, and a full set of online courses running from A1 to C1, she’s helped thousands of people learn real, everyday European Portuguese — pronunciation, listening, grammar, and natural conversation.
I’ve since gone through her courses in detail and written a full review of them here. Mia has also very kindly offered Portugalist readers a 15% discount code on her courses: 15PORTUGALIST. You can use this at her website: learn-portuguese.org.
But I also wanted to hear how she built the academy, and what actually works when you’re learning European Portuguese. Here’s our conversation.
In this interview, Mia shares:
- How she went from teaching 1:1 lessons to building a full online academy
- What really matters when you’re learning European Portuguese (and what most people get wrong)
- The resources she recommends beyond her own courses
- How long it might realistically take you to reach levels like A2 and B2
- How speaking Portuguese changes the way you experience life in Portugal
Getting Started
James: For anyone who doesn’t know you yet, what is the Mia Esmeriz Academy, and how did it all begin?
Mia: Olá 🙂 Thank you for this interview and for your interest in my work.
So, when I came back to Portugal after living in the Netherlands for three years, I did not have a job. Since I had graduated with a Master’s degree in Teaching Portuguese as a Second Language from the University of Porto, and I really liked teaching, I thought I would start teaching Portuguese online.
I heard about a platform called italki and I started there. I worked there for around three years and I gained many happy reviews from lots of different students. I saw that people liked my work and the way I taught, and I was happy about it. However, I started realizing two things.
First, my students all complained about the same thing — that they were trying to find materials online about European Portuguese, but there were almost none around, and the ones they could find were all about Brazilian Portuguese.
Then I also started noticing that I had too many students and too little time to really tend to all their needs.
So I had the feeling that I had to do something about these two problems. The idea of making an online course that would reach more people and tackle the lack of online materials in European Portuguese started to form in my head.
I started researching the topic — how to make a course, a website, where to host the course, and all those technical things you have to go through. It took time, but I finally published my first online lecture back in 2017. It was a success!
After that, I continued publishing more lectures until I had the A1 course completed. Students seemed to really like it, and I kept receiving good feedback.
So I kept going. I then launched level A2, then B1, and finally B2. And this is how the European Portuguese Master Course was born!
I then developed new courses — the European Portuguese Speech Course, which tackles pronunciation and the real sounds of Portuguese and analyzes how native speakers really speak, and Story Time – Interactive Stories in Portuguese, which helps students learn the language naturally, through stories, all in Portuguese.
I now have a bundle of all the courses, plus some really exciting bonuses, called the “All-In-One Portuguese Course,” which aims to help students become fluent within six months.
So, to sum up: my school grew gradually, and this is how the Mia Esmeriz Academy came to be. A small idea became a big project with a thriving community of students, and I am super proud of it and glad I did it. It has helped so many people around the world, and I can honestly say it has even exceeded my expectations 🙂
How to Approach Learning European Portuguese
James: When someone starts learning European Portuguese, what should they focus on first?
Mia: One of the most important things you can do to learn a language is to LISTEN to it. I know many people think speaking is the most important thing they can do. Speaking is very important (don’t get me wrong), but I think — and linguistic studies back me up — that listening is just as important, if not more so, when it comes to learning a language. So if students can, they should try to start listening, listening, and listening again.
It works a bit like when we were babies learning our first language. We first started listening to our caregivers, and only much later did we try to mimic what we heard, then say our first words, and then our first sentences. So when learning a second language, we should try this too. Of course, we don’t need to do it exactly as we did as babies, because the context is different, but we do need to start listening to the language if we ever want to learn it. The best approach is the Comprehensible Input method, and I talk about this a lot in my courses!
Other than that, students should be really patient with themselves and keep an open mind. If you think you can’t learn the language, that’s not true! You can — you just have to find the best resources and methods for you. You have the ability to learn a language. Everyone does (with a few exceptions).
Recommended Tools and Resources
James: Outside of your own courses, what kinds of resources do you usually recommend to your students?
Mia: I recommend that my students use whatever resources work for them. There’s no right or wrong, and mixing and matching is fine 🙂
They should, for example, try to watch Portuguese TV, listen to Portuguese radio, and immerse themselves in the language as much as possible. Podcasts are a really good tool too. There are a lot of Portuguese podcasts out there, and I would definitely try to listen to some of those.
A good Portuguese dictionary also helps — I recommend linguee.pt or dict.leo.org, but there are many others out there too.
If students have difficulties with verbs, they can take a look at conjuga-me.net, where they’ll get any verb conjugated for them.
If they like learning through apps, I recommend steering away from the famous Duolingo — since it only has Brazilian Portuguese — and going for Memrise or Drops instead, as they both have European Portuguese.
If students want to practice speaking, I would either join a local language club or join italki — the platform where I used to work — where they can find tutors or people to do language tandems with.
That said, my All-In-One Portuguese Course is designed to help students learn without having to search for materials themselves, so if students want the work done for them, I would go for this course.
Common Difficulties: Why Pronunciation Matters
James: From your experience, what do learners of European Portuguese tend to struggle with the most?
Mia: The main struggle I see is pronunciation. Portuguese pronunciation is really difficult, I’m not going to lie. We have a rich set of sounds that often don’t even exist in the student’s first language. I think it’s very important that students get these sounds right from the beginning, because it will help them learn and understand the language much better down the road.
So one of the mistakes my students make is not caring about pronunciation from the beginning and leaving it until the end. This is wrong, but I do see that a lot of teachers still take this approach and lead students in the wrong direction. I think it’s time to change this view and really let students know that they should start by listening to these sounds and learning them from the beginning — it will really help them along the way!
Language Level and Everyday Life in Portugal
James: For someone moving to Portugal, what level of Portuguese do you think they need to start feeling genuinely integrated?
Mia: I think you can integrate in Portugal easily, as I’ve been told we’re a welcoming bunch (I hope this is really true!). But I do think you’ll feel more “at home” if you’re at a good A2 level. As long as you can talk with the lady at the grocery shop or the guy at the supermarket, I think you’ll slowly start to integrate. Making friends should also be easy at this level, as Portuguese people in general (especially the younger generations) speak fairly good English.
Sometimes they can even be annoying, because you want to speak Portuguese to practice and they keep switching to English to help you out! Haha! My advice is to tell people you really want to keep it in Portuguese so that you can learn. I have the feeling that Portuguese people are happy when they see someone trying to speak their language, and even if they smile when you make a mistake, it’s not because they’re mocking you — it’s because they think it’s cute. At least, that’s my experience. I hope other people feel the same…
How Long Does It Take? From Zero to B2
James: Your academy takes students all the way up to B2. Starting from zero, how long do you think it could realistically take someone to reach that level?
Mia: In my All-In-One Portuguese Course, I have a plan that takes the student from zero to B2 in six months. I know it’s possible to achieve that. But I’d like to answer this with caution, because it’s a really hard question. While it’s possible — and I even give my students the tools and resources to get there — it depends a lot on the student and the amount of work they’re willing to put in. Depending on that, it can take three months, six months, a year, or ten years…
Reaching A2 for Citizenship
James: A lot of people are interested in reaching A2 level, for example for the Portuguese citizenship exam. From absolute beginner, how quickly could someone get to A2?
Mia: Again, you could get there quickly if you put the work into learning the language. If you really dive in and don’t look back. If you keep going, even when things get harder (because they will get harder). But I think the most important thing is to have someone to guide you and tell you which way to go and what you need to learn. If you have a proper plan and goal, everything falls into place much more easily.
What You Gain by Speaking Portuguese
James: Beyond the practical benefits, what do learners gain from being able to actually speak Portuguese and understand the culture from the inside?
Mia: First of all, they’ll be able to connect with Portuguese people much better. Again, we’re said to be a welcoming bunch and warm people who like to hug and make friends easily. In my opinion, if you know the language, it’s also easier to understand the way people interact, and you’ll be able to share a good conversation over a good meal (we love long meals)!
You’ll also start to figure out small things that say so much about us — why we use -inho and -inha after every second word, for example. Or why we say queria um cafezinho instead of simply queria um café.
I think so much can be lost in translation… so knowing the language is a passport to really integrating into the Portuguese community! We’re waiting to give you a tour 🙂
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