· 7 min read
How to Learn Portuguese Fast: A Clear Plan
By Language Lab editorial team
How to learn Portuguese fast: choose European or Brazilian, train the sounds, learn the six verb endings, test yourself and speak daily. With official sources.
Portuguese is one of the quickest languages for an English speaker, and five habits make the most of that. Choose your variety first, European or Brazilian, and stick to material in it. Train the sounds early, especially the nasal ones. Learn the six verb endings of each tense as a set. Use the vocabulary you already share with Portuguese. And study by testing yourself and spacing your reviews, the two techniques research rates highest. The US State Department lists Portuguese at 24 weeks of classes, at the short end of its easiest category of 552 to 690 class hours. A free official course exists for European Portuguese, and official exams in May, July and November give you a date to aim for.
How quick is Portuguese?
| Language | State Department category | Class time |
|---|---|---|
| Portuguese, Italian, Dutch | Category I | 24 weeks |
| Spanish, French | Category I | 30 weeks |
| German | Category II | About 36 weeks |
| Russian, Greek, Hindi | Category III | About 44 weeks |
| Arabic, Chinese, Japanese | Category IV | 88 weeks |
The State Department gives these as the times usually expected for English-speaking students to reach a speaking and listening score of 3 on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale and notes that they vary with ability, prior language-learning experience and time in the classroom. If you already know Spanish, Italian or French, the BBC's guide says you will notice similarities with Portuguese. The Department previously published this list under the name Foreign Service Institute (FSI); an archived version of the page gives identical class-hour totals to the current one.
1. Choose European or Brazilian
Portuguese is the language of Portugal and Brazil, and of Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and East Timor. Courses and exams come in two families. Portugal's free Plataforma de Português Online teaches European Portuguese, and Portugal's CAPLE runs the European exams. Brazil's official exam is Celpe-Bras. The BBC's guide gives one early difference: the word você, for you, is more widely used in Brazil. To keep things simple at the start, pick one and use material in that variety.
2. Train the sounds early
The BBC's guide says some Portuguese sounds can be harder to pronounce, and its alphabet page covers accents and nasal sounds. The good news from the same guide: pronunciation mistakes generally will not change what you actually meant. So speak from the start, with audio as your model, and let accuracy improve with practice.
3. Learn verb endings as a set
Each tense has six different endings. Learn them together, aloud, for one common verb at a time, then test yourself the next day.
4. Use what you already know
- Familiar words: televisão, estudante, universidade, mapa, problema, bicicleta.
- Words English took from Portuguese: cobra, flamingo, piranha.
- A whole headline you can nearly read: Brasil vai negociar subsídios à agricultura com União Europeia, Brazil will negotiate agricultural subsidies with the European Union.
- Watch the false friends: preservativo means condom, not preservative, and pretender means to intend, not to pretend.
5. Test yourself and space it out
A 2013 review of ten learning techniques, led by John Dunlosky, rated two as high utility: practice testing and distributed practice. Rereading and highlighting were rated low. A 2006 meta-analysis of 317 experiments on distributed practice found that the best gap between study sessions grows with how long you need to remember the material.
- Recall yesterday's phrases before opening today's lesson.
- Cover the Portuguese and produce it from the English.
- Revisit each module after a day, a week and a month.
- Keep sessions short and daily.
6. Follow one course and book a date
| Step | Resource | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Free course | Plataforma de Português Online (AIMA, Portugal) | 24 thematic modules at levels A and B; European Portuguese; free; no certificate |
| Tutored course | Camões institute e-learning | 12-week online courses, with tutoring in the basic and premium formats |
| First exam goal | CIPLE (A2), from CAPLE | Held in May, July and November; the minimum level for Portuguese nationality |
| Brazilian exam goal | Celpe-Bras | Held every semester in Brazil and abroad |
First phrases to say today
- Olá: hello.
- Obrigado, if you are a man, or Obrigada, if you are a woman: thank you.
- Queria ...: I'd like ...
- Quanto custa?: how much is it?
- Mais devagar, por favor: more slowly, please.
- Fala inglês?: do you speak English?
Language Lab's Portuguese course is built around voiced real-life scenarios with an AI tutor, which gives your daily speaking a partner.
Frequently asked
What is the fastest way to learn Portuguese?
Pick one variety, train the sounds early, learn verb endings as sets, use shared vocabulary, test yourself, space your reviews and speak daily.
How long does it take to learn Portuguese?
The US State Department lists Portuguese at 24 weeks of classes, in Category I, which spans 552 to 690 class hours.
Should I learn Brazilian or European Portuguese?
The one used where you will live, work or travel. Portugal's free platform and CAPLE exams are European; Celpe-Bras is Brazil's official exam.
Is Portuguese easy if I speak Spanish?
Easier. The BBC's guide says that if you know Spanish, Italian or French you will notice similarities, such as six endings for each tense.
What is hard about Portuguese?
Some sounds, including nasal sounds, and the verb endings. The BBC's guide adds that pronunciation mistakes generally do not change your meaning.
Is there a free official Portuguese course?
Yes, for European Portuguese: AIMA's Plataforma de Português Online, with 24 modules at levels A and B.
Sources: US Department of State, National Foreign Affairs Training Center, Foreign Language Training; BBC Languages, A Guide to Portuguese and Portuguese Quick Fix (archived pages); AIMA, Plataforma de Português Online; CAPLE, University of Lisbon, Perguntas Frequentes; Camões, I.P., Learning Portuguese; Inep, Celpe-Bras; Biblioteca Municipal de Coimbra, note on obrigado and obrigada; Dunlosky et al., Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2013; Cepeda et al., Psychological Bulletin, 2006. Checked on 13 October 2026. Photo: Pena Palace, Sintra, Diego Delso / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons).
