Download Portuguese Complete Course: Basic-Intermediate, Compact Disc Edition (LL(R) Complete Basic Courses) ePub

SEE UPDATE IN 3RD PARAGRAPH. :)
I speak fairly good Spanish as a second language, and am preparing to spend a few weeks in Brazil this summer. With my Spanish background, I'm getting through this audio course fairly quickly. For each lesson, I first use the book and tape together to make sure I understand what they're saying. Then I listen to the tapes on the way to and from work, and sometimes before going to bed. I tend to focus on about 3 lessons at a time. Right now, I'm on 9, 10, and 11, and I'm starting to preview Lesson 12. I still go back and listen to earlier lessons, though. And I make flashcards for words I'm having trouble with.
It's hard for me to adjust to Portuguese pronunciation. (My mouth keeps wanting to pronounce it in Spanish.) I especially appreciate the fact that they model different Brazilian pronunciations (probably regional or simply differing from person to person). The progression of material is very logical. The content is quite practical, also. I have other Brazilian Portuguese audio & computer programs, but this program is the most helpful.
UPDATE July 2004: Okay, I'm back from Brazil now.
After working with this audio program for about 2 months, I got frustrated that I wasn't able to speak. (My Spanish kept interfering.) So I decided to change my attitude -- My new goal was just to UNDERSTAND what was being said to me in Brazil. So as I worked with this program, I focused mainly on auditory comprehension. Of course, I practiced my pronunciation while working with the program also.
Amazingly enough, this attitude shift not only decreased my frustration, but it proved to be effective. When I got to Brazil, I understood enough to be able to deal with taxis, restaurants, hotels, etc. But I also was able to make the shift from Spanish speaking to Portuguese within a few days. I was only there a little over 2 weeks, but few Brazilians could believe I knew so much "just using a book and tapes". (That amused me, but I was also happy to keep hearing that my Portuguese was decent.) I could carry on casual conversations fairly well, not just "tourist talk."
It helped a LOT that I spoke fairly good Spanish before working on Portuguese. The grammar and the vocabulary have a lot of similarities.
In Brazil, I used two speaking strategies: (1) using Portuguese I actually knew, and (2) using Spanish that might be similar to Portuguese (altering it at times according to some common patterns that I picked up from this audio program). In understanding what people were saying to me, these three strategies helped: (1) recognizing Portuguese I actually knew (which took some practice learning to actually recognize it in real life conversation),(2) guessing that words that sounded similar to Spanish words meant the same (or at least similar) in Portuguese, and (3) working my brain really hard to guess the meaning of everything else to fill in the gaps where I didn't know what a word or phrase meant. It was HARD WORK! My brain got tired. But it was also FUN to be able to move about fairly freely on my own.
And Brazilians were very patient with my Portuguese.
After returning from Brazil, I can still strongly recommend this audio program/book.

I'm just terrible at learning foreign languages. This CD set lets you go at your own pace, but you must be the type who learns well from rote memorization. I'm much better in a classroom, so while this system is helpful, it does not do as much for me as face-to-face schooling/tutoring does.

The four stars is for the quality of the product - don't let my admission of how bad I am at learning dissuade you.

If you can learn from a book, this is a great one. I personally loved it. I used the Italian version for a while and loved it. The portugues version is exact same thing (format wise) and it's also great.

items is perfect just as described .

I was looking for a system that I could use in the car while I am commuting everyday. This is great for repetition and accent, however, without looking at the book, I can only guess at what they are talking about. I do speak Spanish, so the words that are similar to Spanish I can understand, but if I didn't, it would not be usefull at all.

CDs are pretty convenient while driving to work. Nothing's the same as taking formal classes tho. So far so good.

Arrived as promised. I was looking for Portugal Portugese and this one was Brazillian which I was trying to avoid, but it looks fine.

The order I made should have a book and a CD, but only book was delivered. Even though I sent them an e-mail, but its response is extremely poor.