Portuguese Language Course Curriculum
This curriculum is structured across three main stages—Beginner, Intermediário, and
Avançado—with each stage divided into three specific modules (A, B, and C).
I. Beginner Portuguese
This stage is for absolute beginners, focusing on foundational grammar and vocabulary for simple, immediate communication in predictable contexts.
Course level
Beginners A
Course focus
Introduces fundamental grammar, basic vocabulary, and essential phrases for immediate, simple communication. Focuses on present tense and formal/informal greetings.
Key grammar
the alphabet, pronunciation, gender of nouns, definite/indefinite articles, personal subject pronouns, present Indicative of common regular verbs and ser/estar (to be).
Outcomes (By the end of this course, students will be able to...)
Understand and use familiar everyday expressions, introduce themselves and others, and interact in a simple way, provided the other person speaks slowly and clearly.
Beginners B
Builds on foundational knowledge, introducing more descriptive vocabulary and structures for simple daily life and transactions. Focuses on past actions and expressing possession.
Adjectives, possessive pronouns, prepositions of place, Simple Past (Pretérito Perfeito Simples) of common verbs, expressing 'to have' (ter), and numbers/time/dates.
Describe people, places, and objects simply. Communicate in routine tasks (shopping, ordering food). Narrate recent past events using simple past tense.
Beginners B
Solidifies communication skills for routine exchanges and familiar matters. Expands vocabulary for wider everyday use and introduces more nuanced past tense usage.
Imperfect Past (Pretérito Imperfeito), direct and indirect object pronouns, expressing likes/dislikes/preferences, and the near future (ir + infinitive)
Understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of immediate relevance, maintain a basic conversation and discuss routines/hobbies, and handle simple exchanges during travel.
II. Intermediate Portuguese
This level allows students to move toward independent language use, enabling them to manage travel situations, express and defend opinions, and engage in extended conversations.
Course level
Course focus
Key grammar
Outcomes (By the end of this course, students will be able to...)
Intermediário A
Focuses on managing most situations encountered while traveling and discussing familiar or personally relevant topics with more detail.
Future Tense, Conditional Tense, relative pronouns, comparative and superlative forms, and introducing the Subjunctive Mood for expressing wishes or necessity.
Understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters, deal with most travel situations, and describe experiences, dreams, hopes and ambitions.
Intermediário B
Develops fluency and accuracy on a broader range of topics, enabling students to express and defend opinions and engage in more extended, detailed conversations.
Further development of the Subjunctive Mood (present and past) for uncertainty, emotion, and purpose. Introduction to passive voice and reported speech.
Participate in discussions, giving reasons and explanations for opinions and plans, and understand the main ideas of news broadcasts.
Intermediário C
A transition to advanced proficiency, focusing on more complex language use, including understanding technical or abstract topics and interacting with greater fluency and spontaneity.
Review and advanced application of tenses and moods. Focus on complex sentence structures, compound tenses (Perfect Tenses), and a wide array of cohesive devices.
Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity with native speakers, and produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects.
III. Advanced Portuguese
This stage focuses on achieving a high degree of proficiency, enabling students to use Portuguese effectively in academic, professional, and highly complex social contexts.
Course level
Course focus
Key grammar
Outcomes (By the end of this course, students will be able to...)
Avançado A
Focuses on mastery of complex linguistic structures, understanding subtle implications, and expressing ideas fluently on a wide range of sophisticated topics.
In-depth study of the Impersonal and Personal Infinitive, complex agreement rules, and extensive use of nominalization and advanced linking words/connectors.
Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts and recognize implicit meaning, and use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic, and professional purposes.
Avançado B
Refines stylistic choices, addresses dialectal variation, and focuses on understanding and producing complex, highly detailed, and nuanced communication, including idiomatic expressions.
Advanced usage of various moods and voices to convey subtle emotional or attitudinal shifts. Focus on refining syntax for more sophisticated sentence construction.
Understand virtually all sophisticated or complex native speech with ease, maintain a high level of accuracy, adapting language for specific audiences and registers, and critically analyze complex cultural texts.
Avançado C
The capstone level, aiming for near-native or native-like command of the language. Focuses on understanding and using the subtleties of Portuguese, handling specialized discourse, and mastering idiomatic expression.
Full mastery of grammar, focusing on stylistic variation and rhetorical devices. The emphasis shifts to pragmatics and socio-linguistic variation.
Understand with ease virtually everything heard or read, distinguishing fine shades of meaning, summarize information from different sources, reconstructing arguments coherently, and demonstrate a deep understanding of Portuguese-speaking cultures and linguistic variety.