Teach Yourself One Day Portuguese (TY One Day)

I've just returned from a holiday in the Algarve, having navigated my way through shops, restaurants and bars without having to resort to the usual pointing and shouting loudly in English.

It also gives you the confidence to go off and learn a bit more and even my 4 and 8 year old kids picked up a bit listening in the car during the school run.


Not as good as it appears to be   May 13, 2005
 16 out of 18 found this review helpful

After using the Michel Thomas guide to learning Italian which is based on the same 'no writing just listening' method of learning I was dissapointed with this.

The sense of humour and storyline of being on a plane could be removed to get straight down to the core language and pronunciation, I skipped through most of the first track to begin learning the language.

Some of the words stick in the mind but more empahsis on the pronounciation is needed. Would be better value for money if accompanied by a phrase book rather than the simple pamphlet.


Effective and Entertaining Way of Learning Languages   November 3, 2004
 11 out of 21 found this review helpful

Due to my passion for learning languages, I often purchase Teach Yourself language materials. Recently, I came across the Teach Yourself One-Day series (French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese) by Elizabeth Smith. I decided to buy the packages and try them. I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to them. I have put aside all the other titles and now only use the One-Day Series when I want to learn or practice any of the above languages in a relaxing manner. The materials for these series are presented, mainly, in the medium of audio on CD. There is also a brief (8 page) booklet included in the package. The approach is extremely effective as the new learner is not overwhelmed by excessive amounts of vocabulary and grammatical rules. The words provided are just enough to have a basic conversation when necessary. Encouraging the learners to use body language is also a very practical and useful feature. For instance, doing an impression of doors opening and closing with hands after what time? ('a quelle heure', 'a que hora' or a 'che ora') is a good example of encouraging learners to be creative and innovative. This way of creativity can of course be extended to various other situations which will encourage the learner to start communicating in the new language.

The materials in One-Day Series contain many features of effective and innovative teaching. Learning by association is encouraged by linking words with other words, images or sounds that one can easily remember. For instance, thinking of the principal coming down the main road would be a good example of learning 'la rue principale'. The learner is also guided to build new meanings based on what they already know throughout the course. Avoiding long sentences and large amounts of vocabulary to learn and remember is also effective and appropriate for beginners. Learning the basics of a language this way is entertaining, educational and very effective. Although the Portuguese pronunciations can be challenging (compared with other Romance languages), you would be talking 'holiday' Portuguese in no time after listening to the CD a few times. After my successful experience with these series, I am now planning on teaching myself some basic Greek using TY One-Day Greek.