Learn Portuguese in Lisbon
Lisbon and our school are the perfect place to learn Portuguese. You are always our main focus and our Portuguese courses are designed to put you first in every occasion.
Learn Portuguese Online
If travel is difficult or unappealing why not benefit from our online courses? These allow you to study at the time of your choosing from the comfort of your own home. All you need is an internet connection.
Your European Portuguese language school in the heart of Lisbon
Lusa Language School is located in Cais do Sodré, in the heart of downtown Lisbon. The area is close to the river and easy to reach from all parts of the city. It is a neighbourhood filled with life both during the day and the night. A well-connected underground and train station can be reached by foot in 5 minutes and close to most of the main tourist attractions in the city.
A language school in Lisbon
Lisbon is the biggest city in Portugal and if you are looking to learn a language in Portugal, this is definitely the place to do so. If you look online, you’ll find that there are plenty of language schools in Lisbon. So how do you choose the right one?Student approach
You want to learn the language and you want your case to be treated closely by everyone. For that, you need to find a school where everyone, from admin staff to the teachers, follows your progress and advises you according to that progress.
Environment
When you are looking for a language school you look for one thing: professionalism. That counts a lot in your decision, but it isn’t everything as you also certainly want to have fun while learning a language in a relaxed environment.
Flexibility
Balancing between work and personal life isn’t easy. When you join a language course to it, it gets even harder. That is why you need to choose the best option for you when it comes to a course, because attendance is the key to learning faster.
Reviews
Knowing what kind of experience the previous students have had is important when choosing a language school in Lisbon. Did they like the school? Do they recommend it? Check the school’s social media to read what they have to say.
Why choose Lusa Language School?
At our school we approach language learning differently. You are our main focus and we aim to provide you with the best experience you can have. We are a modern but homely school and we promote a friendly and relaxed atmosphere to make you feel at home and have the best possible experience while studying Portuguese in Lisbon.
Intercultural exchange
You will get to know people from all over the world and get the chance to practise your Portuguese with them in your free time.
Teachers
All our teachers are native speakers and have a degree in teaching Portuguese to foreigners alongside years of experience.
Facilities
Two floors and 10 classrooms. Our school is functional but comfortable with a familiar environment so you can feel at home.
Location
We are located in one of the most vivid and central neighbourhoods of Lisbon both during the day and night: Cais do Sodré.
Social activities
We promote group visits to the best places in Lisbon and its surroundings because we want you to get to know our culture.
Friendly environment
Our main goal is for you to enjoy your time with us so we will do everything to make you feel as comfortable as you are at home.
Our Accreditations
Our Portuguese language courses at Lusa Language School have officially been recognised and accredited by official training institutions both in Portugal and abroad.- DGERT is a Portuguese service which manages the System of Certification of Training Organisations in Portugal. Having a course in an institution certified by DGERT may be extremely relevant when you apply for a job that requires the Portuguese language.
- Bildungsurlaub is a German programme that allows employees to take 5 days off work for training purposes, which includes our Portuguese language courses.
FAQs
According to some studies, Latin languages, the group from which the Portuguese language comes, consist of some of the easiest languages to learn, even if your native language doesn’t come from the same branch of languages. However, you will find some obstacles when you start your learning journey. Portuguese is spoken by native speakers in other countries than Portugal too, so the range of different accents, vocabulary, and even grammar is very wide. Not to mention that the same thing happens at a smaller scale just in Portugal. This means that you will have to train your listening skills because you never know which Portuguese native speakers you will meet and talk to.
Studies have shown that you can achieve a decent level of the Portuguese language in just 24 weeks, however, you will need at least a year to be truly fluent in it. But the important thing to mention is that consistency is key if you want to achieve this goal. You will have to study Portuguese at least eight hours per week if you want to be able to speak it naturally in six months. This can be very overwhelming at first because you are putting too much pressure on yourself due to high expectations, so it is advisable to focus on daily progress and set a goal for every day you study rather than focusing on the fact that you need to know a new language in half a year.
Many Portuguese learners say that they find it difficult to understand European Portuguese, either because their first contact with the language was from another Portuguese variation, from Brazil or Angola, for example, or because they can’t quite discern the words when hearing them from a native speaker of European Portuguese. While it’s true that to the ears of non-native speakers, the Portuguese seem to be speaking with their mouths closed and very fast, you can still learn to talk like that. Having a Portuguese teacher can really help you with that, since you are more likely to try to mimic the accent of your teacher, but you can also try to interact with content spoken in European Portuguese.
Fortunately, there are plenty of good schools in Lisbon with greatly qualified teachers who specialise in teaching Portuguese to foreigners. Not only that but if your goal is to learn European Portuguese, enrolling in some of the following schools will prove to be a good choice. You can learn Portuguese as a foreigner at Lusa Language School, Iberlínguas, and CIAL Centro de Línguas just to name some of the best-ranked schools in Lisbon to learn Portuguese as a foreigner. These schools are also a good choice because they offer different courses depending on how you plan to use your Portuguese skills in the future.
If you decide that you will start learning Portuguese but aren’t quite sure if you should learn European or Brazilian Portuguese, you will have to consider why you are learning Portuguese, where you will apply your skills and the benefits of knowing how to speak European Portuguese. Even though foreigners find it easier to understand Brazilian Portuguese, the truth is that most Portuguese-speaking countries are more open to European Portuguese because they share vocabulary and grammar similarities. Also, if you plan to be in Europe and interact with Portuguese people and Portuguese Organisations you will fit in better and faster if you speak European Portuguese.
If you want to include a romance language in your skills, Portuguese may be a better option than Spanish to start with. One of the reasons is that it is slightly easier and more straightforward grammatically speaking, which means you could reach a fluency level faster than if you were learning Spanish. Besides, since Spanish is more commonly chosen as a first foreign language to learn for English speakers and as a second foreign language for non-native English speakers, learning to speak Portuguese would be considered more valuable and could help you specialize in your field.
If your first language is English or you are learning Portuguese from materials in English the good news is that people who have learned Portuguese from English did not find it one of the most difficult languages to learn. So, it’s easy to estimate that it won’t take you long to learn Portuguese, but this will depend on your dedication, motivation, and how easily you naturally learn a new language. There are some advantages for people who are learning Portuguese from English as they will find words that are very similar in terms of how they sound and how they are written. Even though the structures of these two languages have their differences, Portuguese learners don’t find it too difficult to adapt to them.
The most effective way a child can learn a language is if you make it a fun experience for them. Fortunately, there is much software that offers an interactive learning experience, but there are more resources available for children to learn Portuguese. You can easily find children’s books and DVDs available to buy via online marketplaces that will provide a fun learning experience and give great results. You can also pay attention to what the child likes to watch and read and find those same things in Portuguese. Showing them a cartoon they are used to watching dubbed in Portuguese will give them a reference because they already know what is going to happen but they will subconsciously get used to listening to Portuguese.
The variation of Portuguese you decide to learn will depend on many factors and you will have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages in order to evaluate which would suit you best. For example, Brazilian Portuguese would be a good choice if you want to learn the language fast since Brazilian pronunciation is easier to understand for foreigners. It could also be useful to learn Brazilian Portuguese if you plan on going to Brazil or just consume Portuguese content online as this variation is more widespread on videos and websites. However, European Portuguese would be more useful if you’re planning on living in Portugal or your job entails dealing with the Portuguese branch of European institutions and organisations.
Yes, it’s possible to learn Portuguese in 3 months, but you need to have in mind that you will have to create a habit of studying every single day of those three months. To learn a new language in such a short time you have to make sure that you memorise and have a good understanding of the structure of the language. After that, you can start branching out to different learning materials to enrich your vocabulary and strengthen your knowledge of the language’s structure. This requires passive learning and active learning. For passive learning, you can listen to podcasts or watch videos in Portuguese, as well as read in Portuguese. For active learning, you can either take a course or practise with a friend or with a learning app
Of course, if you never had contact with the Portuguese language, the first thing you need to do is to find a course with a certified teacher who will at least give you the basics of the language. But another great way to learn Portuguese and reach fluency is to train your brain to think in Portuguese and your mouth to speak it. You will need constant and consistent interaction with the language so it could be useful to download a good language learning app and find visual and audio content in Portuguese so you can train your ears to the sound of the language.
As mentioned above, Portuguese is not one of the hardest languages to learn, which means that there’s a good chance of becoming fluent in it after a year of consistent practice. Of course, this can vary depending on many factors. Many agree that your eagerness to learn and a positive mindset will definitely make your learning journey easier, guaranteeing more successful results but your natural predisposition to learning new languages can also greatly impact your progress. If you’ve noticed that you find it easier than others to pick up on new languages then you are likely to become fluent in Portuguese after a year of dedicating yourself to learning the language.
The best way to learn any language fast is by immersing yourself in it the most you can. But with European Portuguese, you will have to take into account the specific accent you will be learning so it’s important to interact with sources that speak the accent you are trying to master. A good way to do this is by familiarising yourself with the differences between European Portuguese and non-European Portuguese variations. Each day, try to memorise the pronunciation of three to five words in European Portuguese and this will gradually make you understand how the pronunciation of words in European Portuguese works. It’s also important to listen to European Portuguese audio, besides just seeing the written word.
If you don’t want to or aren’t able to spend money on a course to learn Portuguese, don’t worry as there are other ways to learn a language for free. The most popular way to learn a language these days is through an app. Most apps for learning languages are free and have extensive courses in the language you want to learn, so make sure you finish them with a good level of the language. Aside from learning apps, there are also websites from where you can have access to videos that feature native speakers regarding several topics so you just have to pick those that appeal most to you. Finally, you can also look for podcasts in Portuguese. There are many Portuguese podcasts out there so you just have to choose the ones you like the most.
If you already speak Spanish, whether you are a native speaker or not, the good news is that it won’t take you long to learn Portuguese. Not only are Spanish and Portuguese from the same language branch, but they are also the closest in that group. This is proven by the fact that Portuguese and Spanish share an 89% similarity in vocabulary. However, one of the step-backs of learning Portuguese after Spanish is that you will have to pay attention to false friends, but you will have the advantage of hearing many familiar words and even sentence construction. This means that you will be speaking Portuguese much sooner than you expected.
There isn’t a simple answer to this question as it will depend on what your priorities are and what advantages of learning each language first will suit you best. For example, if you decide to learn Portuguese first you will likely understand Spanish easier than if you had learned Spanish first and tried to understand Portuguese after. Portuguese speakers can understand Spanish speakers easier than the other way around. However, the reason for this comes from the advantage of learning Spanish first. You will find very few differences between the written and spoken language when it comes to Spanish, which means that you can master it quickly.
Portuguese is not a difficult language to learn, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t need to put in the effort when trying to learn it. Of course, it will depend on your language learning history. It will be easier to learn Portuguese if you already know how to speak another language besides your native one because your brain is already trained to switch languages when needed. It will also help if you have had at least some kind of contact with a language from the same family as Portuguese (like Spanish or French). And remember, the more consistent you are, the easier it will be.
The most effective way to learn Portuguese grammar is by memorising sentences’ structure, and how to conjugate verbs and repeat them until it comes out naturally. Grammar is probably the area of language learning that is most similar to Maths. Essentially, you will need to memorise how the language structures itself and repeat as many exercises as possible until you don’t actively think about it and it comes naturally when you speak and write. It might be useful to compare Portuguese Grammar to your language’s Grammar. By identifying the differences between the two you will be able to better understand how Portuguese works.
The guaranteed way of learning Portuguese in 30 days is by completely immersing yourself in the language. If you are already living in a Portuguese-speaking country this will be much easier to do, if that’s not the case you will have to do a more conscious effort. Seek out people who are fluent in Portuguese and make new friends in the process. Every time you feel like watching or reading something, do it from Portuguese material. Try to learn from as many different sources as possible to make sure that you don’t end up with any language gaps.
It’s a great way to learn a language by reading books written in it, but you also need to understand the grammar and there are great grammar books that will help you master the Portuguese language as well. Some of the books that will help you learn Portuguese are “Basic Portuguese: A Grammar and Workbook” by Cristina Sousa, “Portuguese: An Essential Grammar” by Amélia P. Hutchinson, Janet Lloyd and Cristina Sousa, and “Gramática Aplicada: Português Para Estrangeiros”. All of these books were made by experts in the Portuguese language and they are specially targeted to foreign learners who are starting their learning journey.
