» Portuguese (Brazilian) course outlines

The Cactus Course Outlines provide a learning framework for the Cactus Foreign Language Evening Courses. They are designed to provide you with a good idea of what you might cover during the course and include typical themes, vocabulary fields, grammar, cultural content and skills work for the language and the level. The Outlines are flexible rather than prescriptive, in that our teachers always plan their lessons with the specific abilities, aims and interests of the students in their classes in mind.

• Portuguese (Brazilian) Beginner 1
• Portuguese (Brazilian) Beginner 2
• Portuguese (Brazilian) Beginner 3
• Portuguese (Brazilian) Elementary 1
• Portuguese (Brazilian) Elementary 2
• Portuguese (Brazilian) Elementary 3
• Portuguese (Brazilian) Level Intermediate 1
• Portuguese (Brazilian) Level Intermediate 2
• Portuguese (Brazilian) Level Intermediate 3
• Portuguese (Brazilian) Level Upper-Intermediate
• Portuguese (Brazilian) Level Advanced
• Portuguese (Brazilian) Level Proficiency

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Introductions and greetings: “Bom dia, tudo bem?”
• Names, nationalities
• Jobs, friends, colleagues
• Numbers to 100
• Please & thank you
• Making phone calls (ex: to book a hotel)
• Making arrangements
• Time – hours, days, months
• Time phrases: today, tomorrow…
• Alphabet

Grammar:

• Pronouns – subject, possessive + the form "a gente"
• To be (ser versus estar)
• Masculine and feminine with nouns
• Articles + junction with prepositions "de" (da, do…) and "em" (no, na…)
• Present – simple (1st, 2nd and 3rd conjugations) /continuous
• Future (informal) going to + infinitive (as this is the most used) (ir + infinitive)
• Singular vs. Plural
• Demonstrative pronouns

Cultural content:

• Basic notions of Brazilian culture and celebrations

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Role-plays
• Lots of listening
• Pronunciation – key sounds

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Likes & dislikes: “Gosto de feijoada mas gosto muito mais de caipirinha.”
• Restaurants, bars, food & drink
• Eating & drinking
• Asking for things
• Showing appreciation
• Invitations/arrangements ”Vamos comer uma feijoada no domingo?”
• Holidays, free time
• Booking a hotel
• Expressing wishes & preferences
• Asking for information
• Problems with service
• Directions & travel
• Numbers to 1 billion

Grammar:

• Questions words - who, what, how, how much, … (main ones)
• Verb "Gostar (de)" - affirmative, negative and interrogative
• Verbos “gostar de”. “morar”, “ficar”, “ter”...
• Main link words: but, and, then…
• Prepositions
• Articles
• Main verbs, ir, fazer, preferir, ficar ….
• Possessive pronouns
• Comparisons

Cultural content:

• Eating & drinking, eating out – the feijoada
• Hotels
• Capital cities

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Role-plays
• Lots of listening
• Pronunciation – key sounds

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Home – rooms, house accessories: “Minha casa tem duas salas, dois quartos de casal, dois banheiros e, claro, uma churrasqueira no jardim!”
• Places – shops, important buildings and celebrations:” O Carnaval do Rio de Janeiro e muito bonito e famoso. “
• Daily life – routines, free time
• The weather: basic input
• Giving instructions
• Invitation, offer, suggestion, requests

Grammar:

• More irregular verbs (suggestion: ver, pôr, vir, vestir, trazer…)
• Junctions: prepositions de, em + articles
• Demonstratives (na, da, naquela…)
• Who/which/what/how/when/where/how much/many
• Possessives
• Object pronouns: o, a, lo, la, lhe, lhes
• Past (perfeito) explore in depth
• Past - perfeito (irregular verbs from beginner: ser, estar, poder, ir, querer, fazer, ter, dar…)
• Verb "ter que" (have to)

Cultural content:

• Brazilian society
• Daily life routine

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Lots of listening
• Pronunciation – key sounds

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Education (school, university, Brazilian examinations)
• Professions
• Careers
• Expressing wishes, doubts and feeling (Tomara que…; Talvez…; Que pena que…)
• Weather and Nature

Grammar:

• Present of Subjunctive
• Impersonal Expression (É melhor que; É bom que; É necessário que; Basta que…)
• Demonstrative Pronouns + aqui, aí, ali, lá

Cultural content:

• Brazilian Educational System
• Weather in different regions

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Role-plays
• Lots of listening
• Lots of writing
• Pronunciation – key sounds

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Finance
• Banking
• Administration
• Brazil and its culture
• Superstition

Grammar:

• Present of Subjunctive + Linking words (Para que, embora, até que, antes que, contanto que, a não ser que, sem que, caso, mesmo que)
• Present of Subjunctive + (alguém que, alguma coisa que)
• Imperfect of Subjunctive
• If-clauses

Cultural content:

• Brazilian Folklore

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Role-plays
• Lots of listening
• Lots of writing
• Pronunciation – key sounds

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Commercial (goods and services)
• Technical Assistance
• Repairs and services in general
• Letters (asking for a refund, warranty, complaints)
• SAC (Serviço de atendimento ao cliente)
• Procom (Proteção ao consumidor)
• Generation gap and modern technology
• Means of transportation, traffic, cars, insurance

Grammar:

• Future of Subjunctive + Linking words (quando, enquanto, logo que, assim que, depois que, se, como, à medida que)
• Future of Subjunctive + Relative clauses (Receberemos quem chegar)
• Compound Subjunctive (1. Que pena que ontem ela não tenha visto o que eu vi. 2. Se você tivesse telefonado, eu teria esperado. 3. Só vá para casa depois que tiver terminado o seu trabalho)
• Word formation
• Personal Infinitive (Ele nos convidou para nós conhecermos sua casa.)
• Verb HAVER related to time (Estive na Argentina há cinco meses.)
• Verb HAVER related to existence (Houve um acidente na esquina.)

Cultural content:

• Brazilian Traffic Law

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Role-plays
• Lots of listening
• Lots of writing
• Pronunciation – key sounds

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Education (school, university, Brazilian examinations)
• Professions
• Careers
• Expressing wishes, doubts and feeling (Tomara que…; Talvez…; Que pena que…)
• Weather and Nature

Grammar:

• Present of Subjunctive
• Impersonal Expression (É melhor que; É bom que; É necessário que; Basta que…)
• Demonstrative Pronouns + aqui, aí, ali, lá

Cultural content:

• Brazilian Educational System
• Weather in different regions

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Role-plays
• Lots of listening
• Lots of writing
• Pronunciation – key sounds

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Finance
• Banking
• Administration
• Brazil and its culture
• Superstition

Grammar:

• Present of Subjunctive + Linking words (Para que, embora, até que, antes que, contanto que, a não ser que, sem que, caso, mesmo que)
• Present of Subjunctive + (alguém que, alguma coisa que)
• Imperfect of Subjunctive
• If-clauses

Cultural content:

• Brazilian Folklore

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Role-plays
• Lots of listening
• Lots of writing
• Pronunciation – key sounds

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Commercial (goods and services)
• Technical Assistance
• Repairs and services in general
• Letters (asking for a refund, warranty, complaints)
• SAC (Serviço de atendimento ao cliente)
• Procom (Proteção ao consumidor)
• Generation gap and modern technology
• Means of transportation, traffic, cars, insurance

Grammar:

• Future of Subjunctive + Linking words (quando, enquanto, logo que, assim que, depois que, se, como, à medida que)
• Future of Subjunctive + Relative clauses (Receberemos quem chegar)
• Compound Subjunctive (1. Que pena que ontem ela não tenha visto o que eu vi. 2. Se você tivesse telefonado, eu teria esperado. 3. Só vá para casa depois que tiver terminado o seu trabalho)
• Word formation
• Personal Infinitive (Ele nos convidou para nós conhecermos sua casa.)
• Verb HAVER related to time (Estive na Argentina há cinco meses.)
• Verb HAVER related to existence (Houve um acidente na esquina.)

Cultural content:

• Brazilian Traffic Law

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Role-plays
• Lots of listening
• Lots of writing
• Pronunciation – key sounds

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Leisure activities
• Media
• SMS, facebook, etc vocabulary and abbreviations
• Brazil and globalisation
• Brazil and countries where Portuguese is spoken: similarities and differences
• Differences between slang, colloquial and formal expressions and words
• Different accents

Grammar:

• If-clauses + compound subjunctive (Ele estaria rico hoje se tivesse feito bons investimentos quando era jovem.)
• Relative pronouns (que, quem, o qual, a qual, onde, cujo(a))
• Direct and indirect Speech
• Revision of Subjunctive tenses

Cultural content:

• MPB (Música Popular Brasileira)
• Football
• Brazilian celebrities related to sport, music, literature, etc
• Brazilian Television

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Role-plays
• Lots of listening
• Lots of writing
• Pronunciation – key sounds

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Daily life
• Colloquial language and fixed expressions
• Formal speech
• How to express your opinion
• Pronunciation: words in – X (peixe, exemplo, excelente, táxi…)
• Erudite adjectives
• Racial prejudice
• How children were educated in the past X how they are nowadays)
• Synonyms and antonyms

Grammar:

• Verbs SER x ESTAR x Ficar
• Prefixes and suffixes
• Compound words and their plurals
• Accent, stress and intonation
• Verbs + prepositions
• Imperfect of subjunctive
• Linking words + subjunctive
• Reflexive verbs
• Masculine x feminine words
• Different kinds of superlatives
• Future of subjunctive + linking words
• Subjunctive + clauses
• Contraction of prepositions
• Todo x tudo
• Verbs ended in -ter and -ver
• Collective nouns
• Verb ACABAR
• Expressions with the word “conta”
• Indefinite pronouns (muitos, todos, nada, cada um, certo, algum, alguém, ninguém…)
• Verbs: TRAZER x LEVAR; IR x VIR
• Relative pronouns (que, quem, onde, o qual…)
• Verbs ended in -vir, -pôr

Cultural content:

• Nature in the state of São Paulo
• Traditional parties in the state of Pernambuco
• Brasília, the new capital
• Flora and fauna in Pantanal Mato-Grossense

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Role-plays
• Lots of listening
• Pronunciation – key sounds

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Literal X Figurative meaning
• Superstitions
• Human Evolution
• Expressions with colours
• Employment: nowadays x in the past
• Brazilian paintings and arts
• Proverbs
• How to avoid stress

Grammar:

• Fixed expressions
• Impersonal verb: FAZER
• Time expressions: Há – daqui a
• Adverbs
• Indirect Speech
• Grave accent: à
• Verbs ended in -dizer, -pedir, -ear, -uir, -iar,
• Tu x você
• Para mim x para eu…
• Para x por
• Meio x metade
• Tornar x tornar-se
• Different meaning of the words: já and mesmo

Cultural content:

• Tourism in the state of Amazonas
• A journey through historic cities in the state of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro
• How the state of Santa Catarina was formed
• New Year’s celebration on Rio de Janeiro’s beaches

Skills Work:

• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Role-plays
• Lots of listening