Portuguese for groups: gendered thanks and prepositions joined to articles
Portuguese lessons span A1 to C2 in reading, listening and writing. Learners distinguish the door command for pulling from the English word it resembles, read prices in reais and use conditional instructions to confirm a workshop place.
Beginners start with the paper and signage of daily life in Brazil: registration forms, prices in reais, door labels, invoices and texts from friends. By B1 the material shifts to emails that confirm, request and close politely, and to short factual summaries. At C1, both a formal director letter and a first-name message put a colon after the greeting. The director is asked to recheck an attached report by Friday; a friend is asked to move tomorrow’s appointment by half an hour because a train will arrive late.
It fits a group preparing for study, work or travel in Brazil, since the lessons are built around Brazilian forms, invoices and notices, and adults who want to move through written Portuguese one level at a time.
Lessons
48
Questions
460
writing questions
168
reading questions
196
listening questions
96
Levels
A1–C2
Script
Latin
What Portuguese asks of an English speaker
Thanks and apologies that agree with the writer
Some everyday words in Portuguese change ending to match the person writing. A man writes Obrigado and a woman writes Obrigada; an apology for running late ends in atrasado or atrasada in the same way. The B1 correspondence lesson then offers Agradeço desde já, a thank-you built on a verb, which carries no gender marking and suits any writer.
Obrigado
thank you (said by a man)
Obrigada
thank you (said by a woman)
atrasado
late (masculine)
atrasada
late (feminine)
Agradeço desde já
thanks in advance
Prepositions fused with the article
Where English keeps "in the" or "of the" as two words, Portuguese joins the preposition and the article into one short form. The lessons point this out each time it appears: na biblioteca means "at the library," nos fins de semana means "on the weekends," and do resultado means "of the result." Learners have to choose the fused form that matches the gender and number of the noun that follows.
na biblioteca
at the library
nos fins de semana
on the weekends
do resultado
of the result
Signs that look familiar but are not
The A1 instruction lesson warns that PUXE on a door handle means pull, even though it resembles the English word push. Other notices learners decode include SAÍDA for the exit, LIQUIDAÇÃO for a clearance sale in a shop window, and opening times such as HORÁRIO: 9h–18h, written on the twenty-four-hour clock.
PUXE
pull
SAÍDA
exit
LIQUIDAÇÃO
clearance sale
HORÁRIO: 9h–18h
hours: nine a.m. to six p.m.
Receipts, change and requests to a business
Written transactions at A2 revolve around documents a Brazilian shop actually issues. A customer asks for the nota fiscal, the official purchase invoice, or complains that the troco, the change handed back, is short. At B1 the model email to an office asks Poderiam confirmar o recebimento?, using a plural verb that addresses the staff as a group rather than one person.
nota fiscal
official purchase invoice
troco
change (money returned)
Poderiam confirmar o recebimento?
Could you confirm receipt?
Try two questions from the course
Both are taken unchanged from the Portuguese lessons, with the explanation learners see after answering.
A1 · Understand simple written instructions supported by context
A door handle is labelled "PUXE". What should you do?
B1 · Manage routine written correspondence
Read the arrangement: “A reunião online será na quarta-feira às quatro. Leia antes o relatório anexo. Se esse horário for impossível, proponha uma alternativa antes de terça-feira à tarde.” What should someone do if four o’clock is unsuitable?
What each level covers
A1 Decode the Portuguese door instruction that resembles the English word push but means pull, and choose gendered endings in a thank-you or apology.
8 skills at A1
Recognize familiar words and basic phrases in short written texts
Understand basic spoken phrases when delivered slowly and clearly
Complete simple forms with personal information
Write very short simple personal messages
Understand simple written instructions supported by context
Recognize basic information in signs, notices, and schedules
Follow very simple spoken announcements
Exchange basic information in simple written interactions
A2 Describe a Brazilian Portuguese routine with a reflexive getting-up form and a verb for usual habits, request an official shop invoice, and read a shortfall in change in reais.
8 skills at A2
Understand short simple personal messages
Follow basic spoken information about everyday matters
Read simple public information and service texts
Write short everyday messages for practical purposes
Describe routine matters in simple connected writing
Handle simple written transactions
Understand simple directions and instructions
Extract key details from short factual texts
B1 Read Marta’s Portuguese workshop invitation as conditional on confirmation before Thursday, separating the reply deadline from Saturday’s event, and compose a courteous meeting acceptance with its next step.
8 skills at B1
Understand the main points of clear texts on familiar matters
Understand the main points of clear standard speech on familiar matters
Write connected texts on familiar topics
Express opinions, plans, and experiences in writing
Manage routine written correspondence
Understand straightforward narratives and descriptions
Follow straightforward presentations and media on familiar topics
Summarize factual information from straightforward texts
B2 Read Carlos’s Portuguese discussion reply limiting results from theoretical online courses before proposing recorded explanations alongside in-person laboratory calibration and safety work in pairs.
8 skills at B2
Read articles and reports that present arguments and viewpoints
Understand extended speech and presentations with clear structure
Write clear detailed texts on a range of subjects
Write reasoned arguments supporting a point of view
Participate effectively in written discussions
Understand specialized texts in familiar fields
Identify stance, tone, and implication in spoken discourse
Synthesize information from multiple written sources
C1 Take notes that correct a talk's blamed cause, such as a delay pinned on supplies that really came from approvals no one owned, read an essay that backs a program's goal while demanding its plan be rewritten, and move between a request to a committee, a friendly offer to meet at the same café, and an engineer's status note.
8 skills at C1
Understand long complex texts across a range of domains
Understand extended speech with implicit meaning and complex structure
Write well-structured detailed texts on complex subjects
Adapt style, register, and conventions to purpose and audience
Manage complex written interactions fluently and appropriately
Understand implicit meaning, nuance, and rhetorical effect in written texts
Take effective notes from complex spoken input
Evaluate and synthesize information from complex written sources
C2 Hear the years of exchanged favors behind an everyday promise to find a way, answer a regulator about unauthorized access to accounts by separating confirmed exposure from data theft that is not yet confirmed, and condense a text without losing the quoted mock praise that carries its irony.
8 skills at C2
Understand virtually all forms of written language
Understand virtually all forms of spoken language
Produce polished, effective texts for demanding purposes
Compose nuanced persuasive arguments
Handle demanding written exchanges with precision and flexibility
Interpret subtle pragmatic and cultural references
Critically synthesize diverse written and spoken sources
Edit and transform texts while preserving nuance and effect
Portuguese with a group
A Portuguese session opens with one prompt for the whole room, perhaps a shop invoice, a clinic reminder or a sign on a door, and every participant responds to it at the same time after entering the room code. The host sees which items the group keeps missing, such as the gendered form of a thank-you or a fused preposition, without anyone's score being put on display. Yolango then chooses the following prompt to target that gap, and participants can keep practicing alone before the group meets again.
