The A1 (Self-study) Portuguese for Foreigners Course is designed for adults (aged 18 or over) looking to learn Portuguese as a foreign language for the first time, without any previous knowledge of the language.
As a distance-learning course, it gives all foreign learners the chance to study Portuguese and learn about Portugal and its culture, particularly those who until now wouldn’t otherwise get such an opportunity.
The course adopts an intercultural approach based on teaching and learning as a way of examining students’ knowledge of themselves and others. Teaching and learning is a way of promoting the Portuguese language and culture and a means to gradually increasing multilingual awareness across different cultures.
Aims of the course
Ultimately, when the course is finished, students will be able to understand the main questions when interacting with someone speaking about familiar subjets in standard and clear Portuguese (work related matters, school or leisure). Students will be able to deal with most everyday situations found in a Portuguese speaking region.
Concerning language skills, the student will specifically be able to:
Oral comprehension
- Understand the main topics in someone's speech about work related matters, school, leisure, etc.;
- Understand most of the radio and television shows about everyday topics and specific personal or professional matters that students would be familiar with, if the Portuguese is spoken in a clear and relatively slow way.
Reading
- Understand standard texts about various everyday matters or work related subjects;
- Understand descriptions of events, feelings and wishes, as in personal messages.
Course structure and teaching methods
The course is divided into twelve weekly modules covering the following three skills:
- Reading;
- Oral comprehension;
- Grammar.
Students are expected to spend four hours per week working on the various course activities:
- Self-study: Reading and listening to materials relating to the course modules; doing tasks and a variety of exercises, including grammar;
Course duration
The course lasts for twelve weeks.
Tuition fee
180 €
Assessment
Assessment is continuous and based on the following criteria:
- Regular access to the website/course segments;
- Completing the online exercises of the course;
- Taking part in reading, speaking and grammar-based activities.
Course certificates
All students successfully completing the course will receive an official certificate.
Any student wishing to officially register their level proficiency in the Portuguese language may sit an exam for obtaining the Portuguese as a Foreign Language Elementary Diploma (DEPLE) at a Portuguese as a Foreign Language Assessment Center (CAPLE).
For more information, please visit http://caple.letras.ulisboa.pt