This 10-week course is pitched at level A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and completion of the course will help you meet most, or all, of 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 discussions and role-plays.
Portuguese: Lower Intermediate - Part 2
This is an In-person course which requires your attendance to the weekly meetings which take place in Oxford.
Overview
Programme details
Course starts: 25 Jan 2024
The weekly course schedule below is intended to give an indication of the main topics 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: Onde passaste as férias de Natal?
Describing Christmas and/or other festivities and events in the past.
- Pretérito Perfeito Simples (PPS) [Preterite Indicative] of some (more) irregular verbs
- Expressions of time related to the PPS
Week 2: Há quanto tempo saíste de Portugal?
Some more expressions of time.
- ‘Há quanto tempo...?’ ; ‘Desde quando...?’
- PPS of verbs with spelling irregularities
Week 3: Está? Boa tarde. Queria falar com a Leonor, por favor? (Preparei uma surpresa.)
Making social contacts and arrangements over the telephone, by card, email or notes.
- Formal and informal ways of addressing someone during social interactions and events
- Some more irregular verbs in the PPS
Week 4: Queria reservar um quarto, por favor!
Making a reservation in a hotel, asking for its location, and checking in.
- Prepositions and prepositional phrases of place
- Asking for and following directions
- Vocabulary relating to hotels and their services
Week 5: Desculpe, queria fazer uma retificação.
At the restaurant: choosing the menu, ordering, and making some polite complaints about the service.
- Vocabulary and expressions relating to food and restaurants
- Revising adjectives
- Polite expressions of complaint
Week 6: Tinha seis anos e era o meu primeiro dia de aulas.
Talking about memories in the past.
- Pretérito Imperfeito do Indicativo (PII) [Imperfect Indicative] to express age and time
(o’clock) in the past
- PII of regular verbs ending in ‘-ar’, -‘er’ and ‘-ir’
- PII of some irregular verbs: ‘ser’, ‘ter’, ‘vir’, ‘pôr’
Week 7: Era uma da manhã, estávamos sós, e a chuva não parava. De repente, alguém parou para nos levar ao hotel. Foi uma chegada inesquecível.
Narrating past experiences.
- Pretérito Perfeito Simples (PPS) vs. Pretérito Imperfeito do Indicativo (PII)
- Variable and Invariable Indefinite Pronouns
Week 8: Revisões.
Consolidation.
Week 9: Antigamente, costumávamos beber água da fonte; agora bebemos água da torneira. Constrasting usual actions in the past with usual actions in the present.
- Pretérito Imperfeito do Indicativo (PII) vs. Presente do Indicativo (PI) [Simple Present]
- Expressions of time related to PII
- ‘Costumar’ (in PII) + Infinitivo
Week 10: Aonde vais nas férias?
Talking about holidays.
- Language and culture games
Key grammar points:
* Past tense (‘one-off’, concluded actions): Pretérito Perfeito Simples (PPS)
* Past tense (repeated, continuing actions): Pretérito Imperfeito do Indicativo (PII)
* Expressions of time: ‘Há quanto tempo…?’ ; ‘Desde quando…?’
* Adverbs of time: ‘Ontem’, ‘Anteontem’, etc. (with PPS) ; ‘Antigamente’, ‘Dantes’, etc. (with PII); ‘Agora’, ‘Hoje’ (with PI)
* Personal Pronouns – Object; Indefinite Pronouns
Key functions:
* Expressing ‘one-off’, concluded actions in the past
* Expressing continuous actions in the past
* Making social invitations and other similar events
* Making polite complaints
Recommended reading
All weekly class students may become borrowing members of the Rewley House Continuing Education Library for the duration of their course. Prospective students whose courses have not yet started are welcome to use the Library for reference. More information can be found on the Library website.
There is a Guide for Weekly Class students which will give you further information.
Availability of titles on the reading list (below) can be checked on SOLO, the library catalogue.
Preparatory reading
- Aprender Português 1 - Português Para Estrangeiros: Níveis A1, A2. / Oliveira, Carla, et al.
- Gramática Aplicada - Português Língua Estrangeira: Níveis A1, A2, B1. / Oliveira, Carla, et al.
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:
Tutor
Ângela Sarmento-Dingsdale
Ângela Sarmento-D. 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 help students to practise and consolidate their interactive skills in the target language in a wider range of simple and routine everyday situations requiring straightforward descriptions and direct exchange of information on family and other people, living conditions, educational background and work.
Course objectives:
- To further develop the language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing at level A2 of the CEFR.
- to consolidate listening and speaking skills to enable students to communicate in a wider range of simple everyday work and leisure settings and matters in areas of most immediate relevance.
- To equip students with the vocabulary items and grammatical structures required to read and write short, simple texts on familiar topics.
- To develop an insight into the cultural practices relating to simple everyday work, study and leisure settings.
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 speaking and listening skills and to further develop your insight into the culture and daily life of the target language. You will also learn and practise new grammatical structures in a communicative context and will be encouraged to develop your reading and writing skills in your own time.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- communicate in simple everyday situations requiring direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters;
- understand and respond appropriately to simple spoken language in everyday situations provided speech is slowly and clearly articulated;
- read and demonstrate comprehension of a wider range of short simple texts on familiar matters of concrete type and consisting of everyday language;
- write short, simple notes, messages, descriptions and/or personal letters;
- demonstrate intercultural awareness in everyday social situations and language use generally.
Assessment methods
You will be set 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
Selection criteria
Our public programme is open access, and most adult language classes are mixed ability. To benefit from this course, participants will have completed our Lower Intermediate - Part 1 course or acquired an enquivalent level of proficiency. New students are welcome!