Iāve used most of the resources above, and I like them. I did like Practice Portuguese.
I use the Mia Esmeriz Academy the most. The videos plus text methodology works well for my learning style. There is a free lesson to see if you like it. I prefer her pricing model over Practice Portuguese, but that is a personal thing. They are both great resources.
Iāve added Drops to my daily routine. My wife really loves the minimalist 5 minutes per day.
The fact that youāre limited to 5 minutes/day has this psychological benefit that I donāt want to skip it any day because it doesnāt rollover, which I like. Iām guaranteed to learn a few words per day.
Share your advice the best option for achieving A1 and A2 certification for GV - citizenship ? Is Cursos de PortuguĆŖs LĆngua de Acolhimento (PLA) is acceptable or any institute in portugal to be advice? For the people dont want to go for exam CIPLE -A2
I hear one can do a three month three hours a day 4 days a week Portuguese language course in Portugal
Apparently free and if you complete the course you get the certificate to obtain your Portuguese passport
Is this so ?
Where in Porto can I do this course?
Just to share my experience around the language test, here is how I think;
Hope this helps
@garrett @hanna @Calpoidog @elorimerlogin Great idea to do an intensive course in Portugal. Iād prefer our whole family did something along these lines together, rather than drag it out with weekly online classes in the UK for weeks and weeks. Not sure my 19 and 21 year old uni kids will stick with the weekly online thing. Better to hold them hostage during a trip to PT where it can pass as an all expenses paid holiday!
But anyone know of any intensive summer courses in PT where you can actually sit the CAPLE A1 and CAPLE A2 exams right there and then at the end of the course, and where this is all organised for you? I mean taking the actual CAPLE exam rather than simply receiving certification of level from the school. I believe the two are different.
We can only manage 2 week trips to PT each summer, so my idea is to do 2 weeks in summer 2024 for the A1 course plus exam, then another 2 weeks in summer 2025 for the A2 course and exam.
Is 2 weeks enough for completing the whole A1, because I see there is A1.1 and A1.2?
Likewise, is a further 2 weeks enough for completing A2, meaning A2.1 and A2.2 (having already completed A1)?
You do A1 in two weeks, and Iām not sure about A2. At least with lusa
Plan on 8 weeks, 4 hours a day in class and 2 more a day for homework, 5 days a week. We did it in six, and I know now where I should have invested more time.
You do the COMPLETE A1 in 2 weeks, i.e. both A1.1 AND A1.2?
And can you take the CAPLE A1 exam at Lusa at the end of the 2 weeks, i.e. straight after the course ends?
Thanks. Same question as above - can you take the CAPLE exam at Lusa straight after the course ends, say on the final day of the course?
Yes the whole A1. I know how to read
I didnāt answer about the test because I donāt know
Just wasnāt clear from your previous answer. Itās why I asked again. Thanks.
I just had the following response from Lusa -
If your goal is to pass the CIPLE A2 exam in the fastest way possible, I would recommend our full Immersion course at the school.
The group classes start every week and run from Monday to Friday, from 9am to 1pm with a total of 20 hours per week in a group of up to 10 students with very mixed ages from 18-60 years old.
Besides the group classes, you will also have the private lessons, with a total of 1 hour per day in a schedule to be confirmed to focus exactly on the points you struggle the most and practice exam-type exams so you can have an idea of what to expect in the exam.
Starting as absolute beginners, we estimate you will indeed need a total of 4 weeks in this course to cover the full A1 and A2 level to be prepared and pass the CIPLE exam successfully. This means you could do 2 weeks of this course to complete the full A1 level and 2 more weeks to complete the A2 level later on.
The CIPLE test is given by CAPLE at various times and places, five times a year. Go here: Ćpocas de Exames - Centro de AvaliaĆ§Ć£o de PortuguĆŖs LĆngua Estrangeira
We took ours the first day they resumed testing post covid, a Saturday, and backed up from that to when we started our courses. At that time a lot of the testing spots had filled up immediately, so if you want to go directly from the course to the exam (yes, please), do it in the reverse order.
In retrospect, we should have done the private lessons, rather than just the group classes. Our group classes maxed out at about 8, but at that time, a lot of fthe students were being slotted in without full continuity, so on a Monday we would have one or more new students who didnāt know what we had studied the week before, but did know what we would be studing the week after. One week we had a klatch of kids who could speak a lot of what turned out to be ungrammatical Portuguese. They really held us back in our last week. And in the group around us those six weeks we were the only ones completely focused on the CIPLE exam.
No one suggested it could be done in 4 weeks; 8 weeks with private lessons, yes.
Speaking is hard, but the hardest part to get is understanding someone elseās Portuguese, and the last thing you want to be doing is listening to 9 other people mispronouncing ungrammatical Portuguese. Thatās why the private lessons are so important.
In fact, if you want to do it in 4 weeks and can afford it, Iād skip the group lessons and pony up for 20 hours a week of private lessons.
Thanks @elorimerlogin ā¦ really helpful and good to get the heads up on the group classes. As we probably will have only 2 weeks in PT in any one go we donāt have much time to waste, so Iāve enquired about private lessons for the four of us. (Weāve thrown enough money at the PT-GV/citizenship process already, so why not a bit more!) For my husband and I and our older kid Iām not too worried about getting through the A2 - famous last words - but I agree the speaking and oral comprehension are often the more difficult aspects. More worried for my younger kid as I can say they will probably not be too inclined to make much effort.
On the other hand, whilst group lessons might be less āefficientā they could be a better experience for our kids aged 19 and 21 to be part of a wider group, though I guess the age range of the group is not guaranteed. You mentioned some ākidsā joining your group. Overall did there seem to be a good proportion of university aged students studying at Lusa?
As you said about booking the exam then booking the course dates to finish in time for the exam, Lusa confirmed as follows-
As for the exam, CAPLE is the only Portuguese entity that evaluates and certifies written and oral skills of Portuguese as a foreign language, so unfortunately itās not possible to take the exam at Lusa Language School.
We can schedule your course around the exam so you can take it at the end of classes. If you are considering taking it in Lisbon, you can take it at Universidade Nova de Lisboa or Universidade de Lisboa ā¦
Remember we were in pandemic territory, so the makeup at LUSA might be utterly different now. University aged, no; post uni, yes.
We had in and around us: us, in our 70s; a couple in their fifties moving to Portugal and also really serious, who had abandoned the government classes; several really serious language mavens in their twenties (when your native tongue is a dialect and you live in Germany but are fluent in Chinese, how hard can PT be?) who got yanked upward into C; some folks dropping in for a week to polish; some vacationers; a group in their twenties and thirties who lived in PT but hadnāt really studied the grammar; and one young sprite about 20 who wrote an in-class essay about being out all night at a disco and going home with a guy she picked up and then coming to class (she left out the armed bodyguard). Being the oldest, I was admiring and jealous of the energy and opportunity all around me.
But you see, in that cohort, no one else was going for the test. When we took the test, we took it with a pile of folks who needed it to keep their day jobs and stay in the country. Now they were serious about the test.
Does your youngster have to take the test? I would think twice about including him in your foursome; there is the old joke about not being the one to teach your kid how to drive. Maybe the three of you become a group and the youngster is part of another group.
I really enjoyed my language classes with lusa, Marcelo is fantastic and Jose is a very nice private tutor
Ha ha ā¦ yes ā¦ I know what you mean. Iām still figuring it out. It would certainly be better if they were amongst some other cool youngsters instead of us.
Do we not all have to pass the test if we want citizenship at the end? Apparently thereās the option of just having certification from an approved language school/course instead, but Iām not certain if this will be sufficient for getting citizenship. I was erring on the side of caution re taking the actual exam. It would sure be nice if passing the exam were not needed, at least for my youngest.
Anyone knows if passing the exam is indeed needed for citizenship? Or only certification of A2 course completion from an approved school?
Glad to see some good reviews of Lusa on here. It makes one more confident booking courses with them.
In fact I am now thinking of just doing their online classes from the UK. Would be nice to get started and not have to pack it all in during our 2 week holiday in PT. Could do the online classes here first then have some Portuguese ready to go for when on holiday, and more relaxation time. My husband would probably prefer that too. And the kids? Still figuring it out (lol).
Some useful info here from the PT government - https://www.acm.gov.pt/-/como-posso-frequentar-um-curso-de-lingua-portuguesa-para-estrangeiros-
I havenāt digested it all yet. There are links to resources for learning Portuguese and more ā¦