Customer Reviews:
 Very Clear Introduction to European Portuguese October 3, 2008
This is a very good introduction to European Portuguese. Anyone who has completed the Michel Thomas Spanish course will find that the recording faithfully follows what Michel Thomas himself did in his Spanish foundation. The instructor is a crystal clear in her instructions to the two students and she is aided by a native speaker, so that the last impression that one is left with is that of the native pronunciation. It could be argued that this was a failing of the original MT recordings.
I was aware that Portuguese and Spanish were closely related but I was surprised by the extent of this relationship which became apparent as the course progressed. As the previous reviewer states, European Portuguese is very difficult for a native English speaker to pronounce well (especially the nasal sounds) but I found my pronunciation improving as I progressed through the course. There is a short introduction to Brazilian pronunciation at the end of the final CD.
I recently went to Lisbon and managed to practice what I had learnt on the foundation course. The locals were very pleased to hear an Englishman attempt their language. I even managed to have a conversation with a Brazilian (who spoke no English) in a nightclub. I was perfectly understood, which to me was proof of the practical application of this course.
I am a great fan of the MT method and have completed many of the programmes as they make the early stages of language acquisition so easy in comparison to any other method I have come across. I can highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to acquire a working knowledge of the nuts and bolts of this very interesting and beautiful language.
 Useful; but not as good as Michel Tomas' originals September 28, 2008
Michel Thomas, the language genius who pioneered this learning style, sadly died a few years ago, and this is a course in his style, rather than by him. Sadly, this isn't as good as his Spanish course Michel Thomas Foundation Course: Spanish (Michel Thomas Series), for example, but it's an innovative way to grasp a new language.
Learning from your knowledge of English you construct phrases in Portuguese rather than learn words. For example, all 'cion' words like 'information' in English all end 'çao' in Portuguese - so 'informaçao'. You're encouraged to see the patterns and think it through yourself rather than parrot back.
The course fails slightly on a few things - mainly that pronouncing Portuguese is very hard, and more attention is needed especially with the vowel sounds. It's not too helpful. Also, the section on Brazilian Portuguese is literally 5mins at the very end - disappointing and odd, especially as Brazilian is much easier to pronounce than European (in my opinion at least). Finally, the voice and attitude of the main speaker is grating, especially after eight hours - she's a bit too patronising and nasal to listen too comfortably.
All in all, good, but not a patch on Michel's original courses.
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