How to Learn Portuguese Faster in 4 steps

If you want to learn Portuguese faster, its similarity to Spanish already gives you a head start — but plenty of learners assume that means it’ll be easy, and end up stuck making the same mistakes over and over.

If you’re wondering how to learn Portuguese without falling into those common traps, this guide will help you learn Portuguese quickly, whether you want to learn Brazilian Portuguese to travel, for work, or simply because you fell in love with the language.

Here’s how to learn Portuguese fast using the four-stage method I’ve used with my students since 2013. You won’t master it in a weekend, but you’ll progress far quicker than you expect — some students even manage to learn Portuguese in a month by sticking to these fundamentals.

You’ll go from understanding the basics to learning to speak Portuguese with confidence, and eventually to learning to write in Portuguese without carrying the same mistakes forward. That’s what it means to learn Portuguese the fast way — and the same method works for any other language.

Video in Spanish – How to Learn Portuguese Faster

Why Learn Portuguese?

I ran an online survey to find out why people want to learn Portuguese, and here are the results.

• The number one answer is that it’s a beautiful language.
• The second answer is that people are in love with Brazil.
• The third reason is for academic purposes.
• Lastly, no one mentioned work — instead, people said they simply enjoy studying languages.
• In fifth place, because they like the music.

This is really interesting because we often assume the main reason to learn a language should be job opportunities, but as we can see, that reason doesn’t even make the top motivations.

And that’s great, because it means you can connect with Portuguese on a much deeper emotional and human level.

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How to Learn Languages Faster?

I’m going to share some recommendations that are more specific to Portuguese, but you can apply them to any language.

The first thing you need to understand is that, even though Portuguese and Spanish are similar, they aren’t identical (29 differences between Portuguese and Spanish).

So, knowing Spanish gives you a head start, but it won’t get you all the way to the finish line.

One of the main reasons is what are called false friends: words that look very similar but have completely different meanings.

In fact, I recorded a video about ¨11 false friends that will make you embarrassed speaking Portuguese¨.

For example: ¨talher¨ doesn’t mean “taller” (Spanish for “workshop”), ¨pelado¨ isn’t “calvo” (Spanish for “bald”), and ¨taça¨ isn’t “taza” (Spanish for “cup”).

There are thousands of these, as you’ll see in the post ¨How to Avoid Speaking Portuñol¨.

So when someone says: “Você poderia trazer os talheres?”.

Not so obvious anymore, right?

That’s why learning with a native speaker who also knows Spanish is better, because they can approach teaching in a different way.

Native, Spanish-speaking teachers like me can also anticipate your questions (and/or mistakes).

In fact, I create my YouTube videos and share content on my Instagram not just to teach Portuguese, but also to focus on the mindset you need to learn faster and better.

In fact, I have four videos that explain the four stages that will help you speed up your learning process.

Remember not to skip any of the four stages (full posts):

• Listening
• Speaking
• Reading
• Writing

Stage 1 –  Listening

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The first thing you should do is immerse yourself in videos, podcasts, music, even TikToks or Brazilian tutorials.

The most important thing is that the content in Portuguese actually interests you.

If you like music, you don’t just have to listen to songs — you can also look for interviews with your favorite artist.

I also have a Spotify playlist with the same song in Portuguese and Spanish, which will help you learn faster.

The idea is to get familiar with the language naturally.

Stage 2 –  Speaking

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There’s no way to learn Portuguese if you don’t expose yourself to speaking it.

You can use a list of icebreaker questions to get started

Talk to anyone you can, or listen and read out loud at the same time.

Stage 3 – Reading

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The third stage is reading.

You need to read a lot and, again, look for content you’d already read in Spanish — just in Portuguese this time.

If you like suspense stories, why not read a sample of short stories by an author like Clarice Lispector?

Reading a lot will also help improve your listening comprehension.

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Stage 4 – Writing

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Finally, you can start writing, but that’s already an advanced level.

Mainly because if you start writing from the very beginning, you’ll make a lot of mistakes, and they’ll be harder to correct later.

To practice writing, it’s a good idea to do transcriptions — just be sure to pay attention to the details.

Benefits of Learning Portuguese

First of all, it lets you get to know other people and other cultures.

If you get by in Portuñol, you might manage in certain situations, but you won’t be able to go deep into any topic.

You’ll also come across as friendlier, and you won’t feel as limited.

Keep in mind that the vast majority of Brazilians don’t speak Spanish or English (only 1% of Brazil’s population speaks fluent English), so if you’re traveling there, it’s better to adapt to Brazilian culture to make the most of your trip and learn at least the basics.

In fact, when I first started learning Spanish, I could communicate, but I was constantly hoping no one would ask me more questions, because I wouldn’t have been able to answer them.

Now people ask me if I’m Colombian, haha

Knowing other languages helps you build deeper relationships, make friends, and gain independence.

Another thing is that if you start speaking Portuñol with a Brazilian who speaks English, they’ll probably switch the conversation to English because they’ll think you can’t express yourself, and that’s definitely not the goal.

Now, to help you with all of this, I have several videos on my YouTube channel (Portugués con Philipe Brazuca).

How to Stay Motivated to Learn Portuguese

Some tips to help you find the motivation to learn Portuguese.

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How I Teach Portuguese to Foreigners

I have a dedicated post with all the secrets on how to teach Portuguese to foreigners, which might interest you if you give classes.

I also have a free 7-day mini course so you can see the details and training to get even more out of the content.

The idea is for you to learn as much as possible in the shortest time possible, using the tools I share that are available online.

Questions and Answers

Lastly, don’t forget you have my YouTube channel, my account on Instagram, and my WhatsApp channel, where you’ll find tons of free content to keep learning Portuguese.

I’d also like to use this space to invite you to leave a comment if you have any questions about how to learn Portuguese, or about my experience in Brazil or other countries I’ve visited.

And remember to share this article, since there are a lot of people who might find it interesting too.