Portuguese: Beginners - Part 2



Overview

This 10-week course is pitched at level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and completion of the course will help you meet the level requirements. To help develop your fluency in the language, the course will focus primarily on speaking and listening skills, but will also include practice in reading and writing. You will have plenty of opportunities to practise the target language through hands-on class activities such as conversations and role-plays.

Programme details

Course starts: 23 Jan 2024

The weekly course schedule below is intended to give an overview of the main topic(s) likely to be covered in each session. Please note that these may sometimes change according to the tutor’s discretion to reflect the interests of course participants.

Week 1: Costumo passar o Natal em Portugal. Ways of expressing habits.

  •   ‘Costumar' + Infinitive 
  •   Some irregular verbs

Week 2: E tu, Mariana, o que fazes habitualmente? Expressing routines.

  •   Main meals
  •   Some other irregular verbs
  •   Some prepositions and prepositional phrases of movement

Week 3: E, agora, o que estás a fazer? Contrasting routine actions with continuing ones, in the Present.

  •   Progressive (or continuous) verbs in the Present 
  •   Simple Present vs. ‘Estar a’ + Infinitive

Week 4: Como é a tua família, Filipe? Describing families.

  •   Vocabulary and expressions related to families and relationships 
  •   Possessives

Week 5: A casa da Mariana é grande! Describing houses.

  •   Vocabulary and expressions related to houses 
  •   Ordinal numbers
  •   Comparative degrees of adjectives/adverbs

Week 6: Queria ver camisolas de lã, por favor! Shops and services I.

  •   Placing orders
  •   Expressing likes and dislikes
  •   Expressing and requesting preferences and opinions

Week 7: Desculpe, tem estas sandálias em 37, ou são as maiores? Shops and services II.

  •   Variable and invariable demonstratives
  •   Adjective superlatives

Week 8: Revisões. Consolidation.

Week 9: Desculpe, onde fica o café Piolho? Asking for and giving directions.

  •   Prepositions and prepositional phrases of place
  •   Some prepositions contracted with articles

Week 10: Vamos ao café? At the café.

  •   Language and culture games

Key grammar points:

* Periphrastic ‘Costumar + Infinitive' to express routine

* Periphrastic ‘Estar a + Infinitive' for Present Continuous 

* Some irregular verbs

* Comparatives and Superlatives

* Possessives and Demonstratives

Key functions:

* Expressing habits and routines

* Describing continuing actions in the present

* Expressing preferences

* Placing orders in shops and services

Certification

Students who attend a minimum of 70% of classes will receive a Certificate of Attendance.

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £251.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Ângela Sarmento-Dingsdale

Ângela Sarmento-Dingsdale. is an experienced teacher of Portuguese language and culture. She holds a degree in Modern Languages and Literatures (Portuguese and English Studies) and a Masters in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies from the University of Porto. During the curricular stage of her PhD,  she attended courses at Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris), where she developed work in the field of Comparative Literature and Inter-artistic Studies.  Ângela is a research member of ILC-ML [Margarida Losa’s Institute for Comparative Literature].

Course aims

To enable you to communicate at a basic level with speakers of the target language in a limited range of practical, real-life settings.

Course objectives:

  • To help learners' to develop the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing for basic everyday communication in the target language.
  • To help learners' to consolidate their listening comprehension skills to understand the gist of very short, basic written texts and audio excerpts.
  • To enable learners' to use high frequency vocabulary and grammar structures for basic routine communication.
  • To equip learners' with an appreciation of the culture and civilisation of the country (or countries) in which the target language is spoken.

Teaching methods

You will learn through a communicative teaching approach with the emphasis on actively engaging in classroom activities in the target language. These are likely to include role-plays, pair- and small group-work, and conversational practice conducted in a supportive, friendly and informal learning environment.

The course has been structured to help you primarily to improve your speaking and listening skills and to develop a basic level of intercultural awareness in the context of social communication. You will also learn and practise new grammatical structures and will be encouraged to develop your reading and writing skills in your own time.

Learning outcomes

By the end of your course, learners will be able to:

  • interact in a simple way using a basic range of language in routine everyday contexts;
  • understand and respond to basic spoken or recorded language relating to very familiar everyday situations;
  • demonstrate comprehension of very short, simple texts containing high frequency vocabulary and basic grammar structures;  
  • write very short texts to provide basic personal information or simple descriptions.    

Assessment methods

You will be set short, optional assignments to consolidate your learning and to allow you to progress at your own pace.

Application

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form (Word) or enrolment form (Pdf).

Level and demands

Find your language level

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support