Methods or tools for young kids

Portuguese Questions
#1

My wife and I have recently arrived in Portugal with our 3 kids (3, 5, and 6). My wife and I are using PracticePortuguese to help us get up and running with the language, but we would love to find something for our kids before they start school here in September. They are being home schooled during Covid-19.

Does anyone have advice for learning material suitable for young kids? They already speak English, Russian, and Dutch (the joys of a multilingual household), so we’re okay if the material requires reading in any of these languages, but our preference would be something that uses Portuguese immersion.

The BBC has some apparently good material, but it’s Brazilian Portuguese. I’m not sure how much of a problem this is practically, but I was hoping to find something specific to European Portuguese.

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#2

Hi.
With those young ages, maybe something non-tech. Some early learning books from a good book store.

Kevin

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#3

They aren’t at a point where they can learn something like that on their own, and our pronunciation is far from ideal right now, so we aren’t able to read Portuguese words to them without teaching them poor habbits.

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#4

Hi. I am using a series of workbooks for children for myself. You can buy the version with an audio CD so that they can learn the correct pronounciation.

Timi - Portuguese course for children: Livro do Aluno + CD 1 (A1)

ISBN- 10: 9897520953

Boa sorte!

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#5

Estudo em casa by RT is a great app. It is suitable for all ages and totally immersive.

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#6

Obrigada! Bem vindo!

#7

The description for Timi looks good, but I can’t see any examples of the internal pages of the book. @Maggie, do you have any experience with Timi, and if so could you elaborate on it a bit please?

#8

Sorry, I don’t as this is the first I’ve heard about the course. @dowsonmichelle Can you tell us more about what the course?

#9

Timi is a set of work books that are/were used by teachers to teach Portuguese as a second language. I picked up the first book at a second hand bookstore and have purchased a few more on Amazon. I don’t know if they are still being published. There seem to be a few still floating around.

The book has excercises such as crosswords, complete the sentences, wordsearches etc. There are short dialogues and songs to sing along too with the accompanying CD. They are aimed at children between 5 and 10 years old.

The first book starts with teaching level QECR A1 and moves up a level with each book.

You need to buy the companion teachers manual for the answers to the excercises.
There are also books in Brazilian Portuguese so make sure you get the correct one.

I would not say these books are a complete course but I find them helpful and fun to test my knowledge. They are really geared towards children.

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#10

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#11

This explanation of the books is most helpful. Muito obrigada! @dowsonmichelle

#12

Hello! I highly recommend using Portuguese children’s songs as a learning tool. They have been so extremely helpful, both for me and my two little kids. I got a library card when we moved to Lisbon in 2018, and the library branch near us (Campo de Ourique) had loads of music CDs in the juvenile section. I checked them out, uploaded the songs to my computer, and returned the CDs. Most of the CD even came with picture books and lyrics which I would copy down so we could be sure to sing along correctly. A few of my favorite albums are:
As Canções do Alfa by Joāo Portugal (so great!)
Edições Convite À Música - Canções Para 3-4 Anos and Canções Para 5-6 Anos
And two excellent books that come with CDs: Cantar Juntos 1 and 2

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#13

@dowsonmichelle, thanks for the look into the books. We’ll try them out with our kids and see how it goes.

#14

@amanda, that’s a great idea, thanks. Especially for the specific albums to try.

Coincidentally, we (3 kids, wife and I) expect to be moving to Campo de Ourique for the new school year if our kids get in at Redbridge. If you have any more tips for living in the area, I’d love to hear them.

#15

Hey! Great choice. We love that neighborhood. It is particularly great for families because it is flat and everyone hangs out at Jardim Parada in the middle of the area. Jardim da Estrela is nearby and is chock full with families on the weekends as well. Campo de Ourique has great bookstores, toy stores, baby gear stores, restaurants, etc etc. O Mercado de Campo de Ourique is a regular hangout that had live music on Fridays in the before times.

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