Intensive Portuguese learning

Dear Community of Portuguese Speakers,

I would love to ask you for advice.
I am planning to apply to work in Portugal that demands contact with a client and my Portuguese on level C1/C2. My current level is B1/B2 while I speak and understand much more than I write. I am committed to focusing my time and effort in the coming 1,5 month only to Portuguese and in the following 2 months in Portuguese already working in Portugal on another temporary position.

  1. What do you think would be the best way to achieve my goal of jumping from B1/B2 to C1/C2 in the next 3 months?
    I am living with a Portuguese native speaker so I can have daily speaking practice. I need materials to study and probably a mentor who will correct my mistakes and explain gramma.
    What do you suggest?

  2. Which level of vocabulary can I get going through the whole course here?

Thank you in advance.
Anna

Hi, @anna.pierz :slight_smile:

I would say that this is veery ambitious. Practice Portuguese materials can help reinforce your grammar skills (namely, via our open library of Learning Notes, plus the grammar-focused Units and the Verbs section) and give you a boost in vocabulary, sentence structures and idioms (at your level, mostly via the medium/advanced shorties and podcasts). However, apart from the sequential units (which range from beginner to intermediate level, +/-), the website is currently not formally structured like a course, but rather, it promotes a flexible approach where each user can adjust their experience to their needs, so it’s very hard to say how far it can take you. I think your best bet would be to use it in combination with intensive immersion and one-on-one tuition to reach your goal in such a short amount of time. I’m not sure that any one tool can get you there by itself.

Thank you very much Joseph! I think there is no tool that will get me there besides studying, speaking, listening and putting time and effort to get there :wink: But I am looking for good solutions - like the one you gave me! I am using this course also, but I agree that probably 1-two-1 will be the way. I would like to get someone online. There is a lot of teachers out there, but there are also “teachers” which I would really not need :wink: I will see but I am convinced I can get there - even if it will take longer because of any reason :wink: Thank you for all your support and all the best!

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You’re clearly motivated, and that’s key! Good luck, not only for stepping up your Portuguese skills, but also getting that dream job :sunglasses: I can’t give you any teacher recommendations myself, but here’s another thread where a couple of iTalki teachers came recommended: Conversation practice

Yeay! Thanks Joseph :wink: All the best!

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Hi Anna!

Your enthusiasm is amazing and I wish you all the best. I’m sure that with this mindset you can do anything :slight_smile:

However, reaching a C1/C2 level of a language usually takes years, even with intensive learning. While it’s relatively easy to jump, let’s say, from A2 to B1, the further you go, the more difficult/complex it gets.

To get the best results, my advice would be to just immerse yourself in the language - the more exposure, the better; the more diversity in learning, the better. So e.g. listening to authentic materials (TV etc.), reading authentic materials (news, etc.), creating learning notes with words/expressions you come across (in a traditional way or with some app, e.g. Quizlet).

Another question here is - what does it really mean to be at a C1/C2 level of Portuguese? Maybe you don’t need to know “the whole” language, but just specialise in some area for now? I don’t know what exact job you are talking about - but if it’s for example customer service for an automotive company, focus the most on this specific area - read about the automotive industry, practice so called “functional language” for dealing with clients). I’ve met many people who seem to be proficient in English when they talk about their area of expertise, but stumble on the easiest words having to do with food, weather or any other day-to-day topic. So it’s definitely possible to master a language “selectively” :slight_smile:

Good luck!

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@natalia.koscielska, great post, thanks!