Portuguese for Foreigners


Personalized for speakers of all nationalities¹

Module I
Module II
Module III
Module IV – maintenance


Schola divides the Portuguese (for Foreigners) Course into 4 Modules. Modules I, II and III suggest a 70-hour workload each. Since Module IV is a maintenance unit, also offering the student the opportunity to deepen his/her knowledge of the language, the workload will be defined by the student and/or company.
Our courses are entirely personalized, always respecting our students’ needs and learning abilities, which accounts for the variation in their proficiency acquisition time. That is why we do not predetermine a workload for each of the modules.
Although we suggest 70 hours for modules I, II and III, there are students who reach proficiency level much earlier, considering individual talent, effort, commitment, attendance, exposure and daily use of the language.
The way each student relates to the language directly affects his/her learning progress. It makes a huge/ big difference if the student is in touch with Brazilians (or makes an effort to). A student that uses Portuguese on a daily basis, either at work or in their leisure time, will develop proficiency much faster than those who use their mother tongue or English for their business dealings or those who are chiefly in touch with other expatriates in their spare time, rather than with Brazilians.
A Schola teacher’s role is that of a facilitator, by being attentive to his/her students’ needs, by helping them overcome their difficulties so they will eventually become independent (learners).
[1] There are cases in which the workload may be cut down by 50%.
[2] Constant cancellations will impair the students’ development.
[3] http://www.uc.pt/fluc/cl/ficheiros/qecrl


Module I (Basic 1 and Basic 2)

Grammar Content:


• Regular Verbs ending in AR, ER and IR plus some irregular verbs essential for communication.
• Modo Indicativo simples (Indicative Mood):
Presente (present simple)
Pretérito Perfeito (equivalent to the past simple and some uses of the present perfect)
Pretérito Imperfeito (past simple for actions that took place a long time ago or habits in the past. Equivalent to the “used to” form)
Pretérito mais-que-perfeito (formal equivalent to past perfect)
Futuro do Presente (future simple)
• Gerúndio – presente e passado (present and past continuous)
• Verbos Modalizadores (modal verbs)
• Definite articles, indefinite articles and their contracted/short forms .
• Personal pronouns, possessive adjectives and pronouns plus interrogative pronouns.
• Comparative forms.
• Use of prepositions.
• Usage of the verb “haver”


Basic Vocabulary

• Texts adapted to the student’s level.
• Activities with vocabulary for levels A1 and A2.


Listening Practice

• Listening to dialogues from course books adapted to the student’s level.


Module II (Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2)

Grammar Content:


• Indicative Mood (simple):
Pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples (equivalent to past perfect, basically used in literary texts)
Futuro do Pretérito (equivalent to “would do” forms)
• Modo indicativo composto: (indicative Mood—perfect forms)
Pretérito Perfeito (past simple, present perfec)
Futuro do Presente Composto (future perfect)
Futuro do Pretérito Composto (equivalent to “would have done”)
• Imperative Mood (negative and affirmative)
• Imperative Mood (negative and affirmative)
• Relative Pronouns
• Pronomes oblíquos átonos e tônicos (object Pronouns – stressed and unstressed)
• Indefinite pronouns.
• Augmentative and diminutive forms.
• The superlative form
• Regência Verbal e Nominal (verb and noun collocations)


Intermediate Vocabulary

• Activities and texts using vocabulary (specially adapted) for levels B1 and B2 plus authentic texts.


Listening Practice

• Listening to passages adapted to the intermediate level
• Introduction of authentic news videos


Writing Practice

• Writing small texts and e-mail messages


Module III ( Advanced 1 and Advanced 2)

Grammar Content:


• Subjunctive Mood (simple)
Presente (equivalent to verbs in if-clauses type 1)
Pretérito Imperfeito (equivalent to verbs in if-clauses type 2)
Future
• Futuro Composto do Subjuntivo (subjunctive Mood –equivalent to future perfect in if-sentences)
• Passive voice with all verb tenses
• Infinitivo Pessoal (conjugation of the infinitive)
• Orações Reduzidas (infinitive, gerund and participial phrases)
• Revision and in-depth study of verb and noun collocations) Advanced Vocabulary
• Revisão e aprofundamento em Regência Verbal e Nominal


Advanced Vocabulary

• Authentic texts taken from magazines, newspapers and the internet.
• Introduction to literary texts.


Listening Practice

Listening to authentic news shows (reports).
Listening to Brazilian soap operas and films.


Writing Practice

• Essays
• Translations


Module IV


• Grammar general revision.
• Authentic texts for reading practice.
• Authentic video material for listening practice.
• Consolidation and maintenance.
In this module the Knowledge of the language will be deepened. And the texts and videos will present greater complexity.




Suggested number of lesson hours:


Module I: 70 hours
Module II: 70 hours
Module III: 70 hours
Module IV: At the student’s discretion
We recommend at least two 90-min sessions per week; however, Schola will (always be flexible and) adapt to the student’s needs.


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