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 (European) Beginner 1
• Portuguese (European) Beginner 2
• Portuguese (European) Beginner 3
• Portuguese (European) Elementary 1
• Portuguese (European) Elementary 2
• Portuguese (European) Elementary 3

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Introductions and greetings: “Olá, como estás?”, “Chamo-me Manuela.”
• Professions, colleagues, relatives...
• Likes & dislikes: “Gosto de feijoada mas gosto muito mais de caipirinha.”
• Eating & drinking:” Vamos comer uma feijoada no domingo?”
• Numbers
• Alphabet
• Directions
• Hotels
• Travel
• Time – hours, days, months Time phrases: today, tomorrow…
• Home – rooms, house accessories
• Places – shops, important buildings and celebrations: ” O Carnaval do Rio de Janeiro e muito bonito e famoso. “
• Daily life – routines, free time
• The weather
• Making phone calls (ex: to book a hotel)

Grammar:

• To be (ser and estar)
• Pronouns – subject, possessive + the form "a gente"
• Present – simple (1st, 2nd and 3rd conjugations) /continuous
• Future (informal) going to + infinitive (“ir” + infinitive)
• Singular vs. Plural
• Articles + junction with prepositions "de" (da, do…) and "em" (no, na…)
• Question words - who, what, how, how much
• Verb "Gostar (de)" - affirmative, negative and interrogative
• Masculine and feminine
• Demonstrative pronouns
• Verbos “gostar de”. “morar”, “ficar”, “ter”...

Cultural content:

• Interesting sites in Portugal

Skills Work:

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

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Holidays & Festivals
• Time
• Clothing and accessories
• Family
• Health & illness
• Talking about self & others:”O Roberto viajou para os Estados Unidos e comprou muitos presentes para toda a familia.”
• Giving instructions/ directions
• Work and free time: leisure activities and cultural habits
• Everyday life
• Describing people
• Giving opinions & advice
• Making phones calls & meetings

Grammar:

• Review & practice previous level grammar (eg. through mixed tense work – present/past/future "going to")
• More irregular verbs (eg: ver, pôr, vir, vestir, trazer…)
• Junctions: prepositions de, em + articles
• Demonstratives (na, da, naquela…)
• Imperatives
• Prepositions
• Comparatives & superlatives
• 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 de" (have to)

Cultural content:

• Traditional Portuguese festivals, food and drinks

Skills Work:

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

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Review & practice previous level vocab
• Informal advice
• Talking about self & others
• Inviting
• Planning a party
• Talk about the past and experiences
• Jobs, working, professional qualities
• Every day activities

Grammar:

• Review & practice previous level grammar
• Simple Past (passado perfeito):more verbs
• Past (Preterito perfeito): explore through exercises and dialogue creation
• More irregular verbs (suggestion: trazer, saber, dizer…)
• Past (perfeito)
• More irregular verbs “trazer,” “saber,” “dizer…”)
• Passive particle “se”
• Indefinite pronouns (alguém, ninguém, algo, todo…)
• Augmentative & diminutive

Cultural content:

• Most common and traditional festivities in Portugal

Skills Work:

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

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Review & practice previous level vocab
• Leisure activities
• Give advice & opinions
• Entertainment: TV, cinema, music
• The weather
• Future predictions
• Natural disasters
• Superstitions

Grammar:

• Review & practice previous level grammar (eg. through mixed tense/aspect work – present/past/future - simple/continuous)
• Past Perfect (Preterito Imperfeito)
• Irregular verbs (review from previous levels + new ones)
• Verb haver (impersonal form)
• Personal & impersonal infinitive
• Indefinite pronouns
• Past participle

Cultural content:

• History of Portuguese language and countries where it is spoken
• Music & Film (some hints of Portuguese music and cinema)

Skills Work:

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

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Restaurants, eating out
• Healthy & unhealthy lifestyles
• Food & drink
• Expressing opinions about stress
• Identifying different types of written text
• Learning and understanding press articles
• Giving advice: “Porque e que não vais fazer exercicio fisico num ginasio?”
• Expressing basic information about health problems
• Making appointments to be checked by a doctor
• Sport
• National traditions/ customs & culture, consumerism, globalization
• Portuguese Literature (inc. reading a short tale)
• Common similes (Feio como o diabo…)

Grammar:

• Review & practice previous level grammar (eg. through mixed tense/ aspect work – present/past/future simple/ continuous/ compound)
• Compound Past (perfeito composto do indicative)
• Passive (with "verb ser" and with "-se")
• Double negative (review)
• Double past participles
• Conditional sentences
• Main relative pronouns
• Reduced clauses - from infinitive, gerund and participle
• Reported speech - and main verbs that introduce it

Cultural content:

• Portuguese food and drink
• Portuguese society and social classes

Skills Work:

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

Topics & Vocabulary:

• Consumer rights
• Shopping & consuming
• Service
• Popular fesrivals
• Professions
• Rio de Janeiro, Cabo Verde, comparisons
• The use of Brazilian “voce” contrasted with formal and informal use in Portugal
• Structural differences between Portuguese Brasilian and Portuguese European
• Countries where Portuguese European is spoken
• Cultural differences and similarities

Grammar:

• Complex sentence structures
• Passive voice and active voice
• Word-building (prefix and suffix patterns): more composed words – “italiano”, “ilegivel”...
• Gerund versus Past participle: “Ele estava a trabalhar.” vs “Ele estava trabalhando.”
• Complex relative pronouns
• Collective nouns: “ a manada”, “o exercito”...
• “Ir” + gerund

Cultural content:

• Basic notions of Portuguese literature
• Christmas season and consumerism
• Open air traditional markets and tropical fruits
• Brazilian natural resources and richness: “pau-brasil”, “cafe” and “acucar”

Skills Work:

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