I am so happy to tell you about these five new books to learn Portuguese.
The really cool thing about the books I will talk about here is that they are not textbooks. These are short stories and dialogues in Brazilian Portuguese.
Before we get to talk about the books, here are a few points to consider:
- Disclaimer: The links provided below are affiliate links. When you make a purchase using one of these links, I make a small (tiny, actually) commission from Amazon.com. This does not affect how much you pay for the book.
- This blog post is not sponsored by any of the book writers of publishers. I personally purchased the books that I talk about here.
- The stories in these books are simple. The writing is simple. The goal, after all, is not to present you with a sophisticated literary work, but to offer you a simple way to learn Portuguese. These books are based on short stories and dialogues that talk about different daily life situations and use everyday vocabulary.
1. Short Stories in Brazilian Portuguese for Beginners by Olly Richards
This book has 8 short stories in Portuguese. The stories include short dialogues. Each story has 3 chapters, except the first one, which has 4 chapters. Each chapter has between 4 and 6 pages in general.
The paperback edition is 8” x 5”.
In addition to the text in Portuguese, each chapter inside a story contains:
- A one-paragraph summary of the chapter in Portuguese.
- A list of vocabulary from the text with English translation.
- 5 multiple choice reading comprehension questions in Portuguese, with answers provided.
There is no translation of the stories, no vocabulary or grammar practice exercise, and no grammar explanation.
You can see the table of contents and read the first two chapters of the first story using the Look Inside feature on Amazon here.
2. Portuguese Short Stories for Beginners and Intermediate Learners by Language Guru
This book has 8 chapters, each one organized as follows:
- A short text in Portuguese (about 1.5 pages; the paperback edition is 9” x 6”).
- A list of vocabulary from the text with English translation.
- 5 multiple choice reading comprehension questions in Portuguese, with answers provided.
- English translation of the text.
There is no vocabulary or grammar practice exercise, and no grammar explanation.
You can see the table of contents and read the first story using the Look Inside feature on Amazon here.
3. Intermediate Portuguese Short Stories by Lingo Mastery
These books are all similar in how they are organized. This one has 10 short stories. The stories include short dialogues. Each story is 5 or 6 pages long.
The paperback edition is 9” x 6”.
Each short story in Portuguese is followed by:
- A list of vocabulary from the text with English translation.
- 5 multiple choice reading comprehension questions in Portuguese, with answers provided.
There is no translation of the stories, no vocabulary or grammar practice exercise, and no grammar explanation.
A grammar point is listed at the beginning of each story, on top of the story title. However, there is no indication in the text that allows you to know that a certain word or sentence uses the grammar point in question. Some words in the text are in bold font, but those are the words in that story’s vocabulary list. The bold font is not related to the grammar topic.
This book has a very cool feature: It is also available as an audiobook, so you can practice your listening skills too.
You can see the table of contents, chapter 1, a few additional pages of other chapters, and you can listen to a sample of the audiobook using the Look Inside feature on Amazon here.
4. Portuguese Short Stories for Beginners by Lingo Mastery
This book has 20 short stories in Portuguese. The stories include short dialogues. Each story is 4 or 5 pages long.
The paperback edition is 9” x 6”.
Each short story in Portuguese is followed by:
- A one paragraph summary of the story in Portuguese and in English.
- A list of vocabulary from the text with English translation.
- 5 multiple choice reading comprehension questions in Portuguese, with answers provided.
There is no translation of the stories, no vocabulary or grammar practice exercise, and no grammar explanation.
A grammar point is listed at the beginning of each story, on top of the story title. However, there is no indication in the text that allows you to know that a certain word or sentence uses the grammar point in question. Some words in the text are in bold font, but those are the words in that story’s vocabulary list. The bold font is not related to the grammar topic.
This book is also available as an audiobook, which is helpful to practice your listening skills.
You can see the table of contents and most of chapter 1, and you can listen to a sample of the audiobook using the Look Inside feature on Amazon here.
5. Conversational Portuguese Dialogues by Lingo Mastery
This book has 115 short dialogues in Portuguese. Each dialogue is between half a page and 1,5 pages long, and is followed by its English translation. That’s it.
The paperback edition is 9” x 6”.
The audiobook format is helpful to practice your listening skills.
How about textbooks and general literature in Portuguese?
I have written before about textbooks to learn Portuguese.
I have also shared with you a great Portuguese learning book for movie lovers and links to general literature in Portuguese (see here and also here).
I would really love to hear from you! How did you like these new books to learn Portuguese? If you have any of these books, please share your thoughts with me. You can comment on this post or email me at luciana(at)streetsmartbrazil.com.
A great way to maximize the learning that these books can offer you is to use them with your Portuguese tutor. Your teacher will help you practice your new vocabulary in context so you feel confident using the words correctly in real life.
Your teacher will also help you learn grammar having the texts as a starting point. This is a great way to learn grammar in context.
Street Smart Brazil offers 1-on-1 Brazilian Portuguese lessons via webcam. Our tutors are native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese and fluent in English.
I enjoyed Olly Richards book and it encouraged me to read more short stories in Brazilian Portuguese. Language Guru, Channel Reader were very good. Quando Passado Bate a Porta was excellent.
The books by Lingo Mastery and Babel I found extremely boring. I am now beginning some stories by Joaquim Duarte.
I am a beginner-intermediate level
Thank you for sharing your experience with the books. I like the short chronicles by Moacyr Scliar in the book, Viajando através do Alfabeto: https://amzn.to/3sEt8kT The book is for learners of Portuguese, so there are questions and exercises after each story.