The Best Apps to Learn Brazilian Portuguese

If you’re looking for a good app to learn Brazilian Portuguese, here you’ll find my list of the ones that are actually worth it. There are tons of apps to learn Portuguese online, but not all of them help if what you want is to speak the way we really speak in Brazil, and not just memorize isolated words.

Most people start by searching for the best app to learn Portuguese for free, and that’s fine, there are excellent free options. But those of us from Brazil know that no app replaces talking with real people: that’s why, in this list, I give priority to apps for practicing Portuguese with real Brazilians, correcting your pronunciation and getting you talking, plus the classic ones for vocabulary and grammar.

You’ll see apps for exchanging languages with natives, tools to improve your pronunciation, and recommendations for practicing Portuguese online from wherever you are. Whichever one you pick, my advice is simple: combine them with real practice and you’ll learn Brazilian Portuguese much faster, without falling into portuñol.

Apps to learn Portuguese faster

Tandem

iOS – Android

Very similar to Hellotalk, you can find people from Brazil to practice your Portuguese, sending text, voice and video messages.

You’ll also have the option for Brazilian natives to correct what you write.

Ideal for: someone who already has a base and wants to get talking. Free, with an optional Pro version. Tip: write a mini intro in Portuguese on your profile so Brazilians message you first.

Hellotalk

iOS – Android

With this app you can find Brazilian natives and practice your Portuguese.

Grammar correction: correct your language partners’ grammar and they’ll correct yours.

You’ll also have the option for video, free calls, group calls, voice to text, text to voice, favorites, etc.

Ideal for: the most complete one for language exchange. Free, with a built-in translation feature that’s very handy for beginners. Tip: use the correction button to save the fixes natives make for you and review them later.

LingQ

iOS – Android

I highly recommend it because you can track your progress with the language, you can literally know how many words you know in Portuguese. To me it’s a super good app; the creator of the LingQ system is Steve Kaufmann, who speaks 20 languages and learned them on his own.

(A video I recorded with Steve Kaufmann talking about language learning)

Ideal for: learning with real content (texts, podcasts, videos from Brazil) instead of isolated exercises. Limited free version and a paid plan. Tip: import the lyrics of your favorite Brazilian songs and study them as a lesson.

Speaky

iOS – Android

A platform to meet people online and practice Portuguese or any other language.

It offers the option to talk by text, audio calls and video.

Ideal for: meeting new people and practicing without pressure, with a simple interface. Free. Tip: filter by shared interests so the conversation flows on its own and doesn’t get stuck on the classic “hi, how are you?”.

Forvo

iOS – Android

To me the best app for hearing the pronunciation of words and phrases in Portuguese. It’s a community that basically invites natives from Brazil and other countries to record how each word is said in Portuguese, so it’s a pronunciation dictionary.

Another pretty relevant point is that you’ll be able to hear the accent from various parts of Brazil, you’ll notice the difference and can pronounce it the way you find most interesting.

Ideal for: clearing up pronunciation doubts instantly with real, non-robotic voices. Free. Tip: when you search for a word, choose the recordings marked with the Brazilian flag to keep the Brazilian accent.

Learn Brazilian Portuguese Pronunciation

Memrise

iOS – Android

A lot of the typical game-like features found in Duolingo are also used in Memrise. The main goal of this app is to help the user memorize vocabulary, not necessarily learn Portuguese; you’ll surely improve if you already have some level to use the learned words.

The content of each course will vary depending on who shared it. Each user can create a course tailored to their needs (to review material for an exam, for example).

Ideal for: memorizing vocabulary with videos of real natives saying the phrases. Free version and a paid plan. Tip: always combine it with a conversation app, because memorizing words isn’t the same as speaking.

AnkiApp Flashcards

iOS – Android

With this app you can use digital flashcards to memorize the words you come across while consuming native Brazilian content, series, movies, etc.

It’s important to consider the difference between passive vocabulary (the words whose meaning you know but don’t use day to day)  and active vocabulary, which are actually the words you have more internalized; you’ll be able to learn them through repetition.

Ideal for: creating your own cards with the words that come up while watching Brazilian series or movies. Free. Tip: review a little but every day; the spaced repetition system works precisely because of consistency.

If you’re interested in learning the 4 stages of the natural language learning process, click here.

Duolingo

iOS – Android

Definitely the best-known app when it comes to learning languages. You can learn vocabulary in Portuguese, build sentences and hear the pronunciation. I think it’s a good option for people who are just starting to learn Portuguese and know nothing yet.

You’ll learn the fruits, greetings, numbers, foods, everyday situations (airport, restaurant, hotel), etc.

Ideal for: taking your first steps from scratch and building the daily habit with short lessons. Free, with optional Super Duolingo. Heads-up: it teaches more neutral Portuguese, so pair it with Brazilian content for the accent and slang.

Busuu

iOS – Android

An app very similar to Duolingo, covering the basics of vocabulary, idiomatic phrases and grammar units, audio dialogues, listening exercises, spelling challenges and games.

It’s important to remember that with this app you won’t speak fluent Portuguese; the goal is to help the student get familiar with the language and then keep practicing with other tools available online.

Ideal for: learning with a course structure and getting corrections from natives on your writing exercises. Free version and a Premium plan. Tip: take advantage of community correction to write short texts and have a Brazilian fix them.

Learn Portuguese with apps or with private lessons?

Apps are ideal for practicing every day, gaining vocabulary and losing the fear of listening to Portuguese, but they have a clear limit: they don’t correct your mistakes in real time or explain why something is said a certain way in Brazil. That’s where private lessons make the difference.

My recommendation, after years teaching Portuguese to foreigners, is to combine the two: use apps to expose yourself to the language every day and lessons to correct, organize and speed up your progress with a methodology designed for Spanish speakers. An app gives you quantity of practice; a good teacher gives you direction.

If you’re interested in understanding how Portuguese is taught in a structured way and why methodology matters as much as the tool, here’s some complementary reading: Teaching Portuguese to foreigners (PLE): methodology for learning.

Native teacher vs foreign teacher: pros and cons

If you decide to add lessons to your app routine, the next question is usually: is it better to have a native teacher from Brazil or a teacher who learned Portuguese like you did? Both profiles work, and the best choice depends on your level and your goal. Here’s a summary of the pros and cons of each.

My advice: if you’re starting from scratch, a teacher who speaks your language gives you a quick base without frustration; as you advance, a native teacher from Brazil becomes key to sounding natural. I go into detail here: Native or foreign teacher? Which to choose to learn Portuguese.

Choose the best Portuguese dictionary for you

A good dictionary is the perfect complement to any app: while apps give you daily practice, the dictionary solves the specific doubt the moment it comes up. To learn Brazilian Portuguese, not all of them work the same, so it’s worth choosing based on what you need at each moment.

• For definitions, synonyms and antonyms: Dicio.com is my favorite for Brazilian Portuguese. It brings the definition of each word with examples, synonyms and antonyms, and even useful lists of words with “LH”, “NH” or ending in “NHO”, ideal for locking in the spelling.
• For colloquial expressions: dictionaries based on Brazilian songs are pure gold, because that’s where everyday Portuguese lives. They show you the same expression used in various contexts, just the way we Brazilians really use it.
• To associate the word with its real use: a Spanish–Portuguese dictionary that, besides the definition and pronunciation, shows you real texts where the term appears helps you memorize it in context and not in isolation.
• To translate full sentences: DeepL, with its neural translation, is much more natural and accurate than the classic automatic translators. Useful as support, as long as you don’t rely on it 100%.

My advice: don’t look for a single “best” dictionary, but combine two or three depending on the task. I review each one in depth, with its advantages and examples, in this complete guide: Brazilian Portuguese Dictionary: the best ones online.