Portuguese: Lower Intermediate - Part 2



Overview

This 10-week course is pitched at level A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and completion of the course will help you meet most, or all, of the level requirements. To help develop your fluency in the language, the course will focus primarily on speaking and listening skills, but will also include practice in reading and writing. You will have plenty of opportunities to practise the target language through hands-on class activities such as discussions and role-plays.

Programme details

Course starts: 21 Jan 2025

The weekly course schedule below is intended to give an indication of the main topics likely to be covered in each session. Please note that these may sometimes change according to the tutor’s discretion to reflect the interests of course participants.

Week 1: Onde passaste as férias de Natal?

Describing Christmas and/or other festivities and events in the past.

  •   Pretérito Perfeito Simples (PPS) [Preterite Indicative] of some (more) irregular verbs
  •   Expressions of time related to the PPS

Week 2: Há quanto tempo saíste de Portugal?

Some more expressions of time.

  •    ‘Há quanto tempo...?’ ;  ‘Desde quando...?’
  •    PPS of verbs with spelling irregularities

Week 3: Está? Boa tarde. Podia falar com a Leonor, por favor? (Preparei uma surpresa.)

Making social contacts and arrangements over the telephone, by card, email or notes.

  •   Formal and informal ways of addressing someone during social interactions and events
  •   Some more irregular verbs in the PPS

Week 4: Queria reservar um quarto, por favor!

Making a reservation in a hotel, asking for its location, and checking in. 

  •   Prepositions and prepositional phrases of place
  •   Asking for and following directions
  •   Vocabulary relating to hotels and their services

Week 5: Desculpe, queria fazer uma retificação.

At the restaurant: choosing the menu, ordering, and making some polite complaints about the service.

  •   Vocabulary and expressions relating to food and restaurants
  •   Revising adjectives
  •   Polite expressions of complaint

Week 6: Tinha seis anos e era o meu primeiro dia de aulas. 

Talking about memories in the past.

  •   Pretérito Imperfeito do Indicativo (PII) [Imperfect Indicative] to express age and time   

  (o’clock) in the past

  •   PII of regular verbs ending in ‘-ar’, -‘er’ and ‘-ir’
  •   PII of some irregular verbs: ‘ser’, ‘ter’, ‘vir’, ‘pôr’

Week 7: Era uma da manhã, estávamos sós, e a chuva não parava. De repente, alguém parou para nos levar ao hotel. Foi uma chegada inesquecível.

Narrating past experiences.  

  •   Pretérito Perfeito Simples (PPS) vs. Pretérito Imperfeito do Indicativo (PII) 
  •   Variable and Invariable Indefinite Pronouns

Week 8: Revisões. 

Consolidation.

Week 9: Antigamente, costumávamos beber água da fonte; agora bebemos água da torneira. Constrasting usual actions in the past with usual actions in the present.

  •   Pretérito Imperfeito do Indicativo (PII) vs. Presente do Indicativo (PI) [Simple Present]
  •   Expressions of time related to PII
  •   ‘Costumar’ (in PII) + Infinitivo

Week 10: Aonde vais nas férias?

Talking about holidays.

  •    Language and culture games

Key grammar points:

* Past tense (‘one-off’, concluded actions): Pretérito Perfeito Simples (PPS)

* Past tense (repeated, continuing actions): Pretérito Imperfeito do Indicativo (PII)

* Expressions of time: ‘Há quanto tempo…?’ ; ‘Desde quando…?’

* Adverbs of time: ‘Ontem’, ‘Anteontem’, etc. (with PPS) ; ‘Antigamente’, ‘Dantes’, etc. (with PII); ‘Agora’, ‘Hoje’ (with PI)  

* Personal Pronouns – Object; Indefinite Pronouns

Key functions:

* Expressing ‘one-off’, concluded actions in the past

* Narrating continuous actions in the past

* Making social invitations and other similar events

* Complaining politely

Certification

Students who attend a minimum of 70% of classes will receive a Certificate of Attendance.

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £275.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Miss Ângela Sarmento-Dingsdale

Ângela Sarmento-D. is an experienced teacher of Portuguese language and culture. She holds a degree in Modern Languages and Literatures (Portuguese and English Studies) and a Masters in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies from the University of Porto. During the curricular stage of her PhD, she attended courses at the University of Porto and at Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris), where she developed work in the field of Comparative Literature and Inter-artistic Studies. Ângela is a research member of the ILC-ML [Margarida Losa’s Institute for Comparative Literature].

Course aims

To help students to practise and consolidate their interactive skills in the target language in a wider range of simple and routine everyday situations requiring straightforward descriptions and direct exchange of information on family and other people, living conditions, educational background and work.  

Course objectives:

  • To further develop the language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing at level A2 of the CEFR.
  • to consolidate listening and speaking skills to enable students to communicate in a wider range of simple everyday work and leisure settings and matters in areas of most immediate relevance.
  • To equip students with the vocabulary items and grammatical structures required to read and write short, simple texts on familiar topics.
  • To develop an insight into the cultural practices relating to simple everyday work, study and leisure settings.

Teaching methods

You will learn through a communicative teaching approach with the emphasis on actively engaging in classroom activities in the target language. These are likely to include role-plays, pair- and small group-work, and conversational practice conducted in a supportive, friendly and informal learning environment.

The course has been structured to help you primarily to improve speaking and listening skills and to further develop your insight into the culture and daily life of the target language. You will also learn and practise new grammatical structures in a communicative context and will be encouraged to develop your reading and writing skills in your own time.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • communicate in simple everyday situations requiring direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters;
  • understand and respond appropriately to simple spoken language in everyday situations provided speech is slowly and clearly articulated;
  • read and demonstrate comprehension of a wider range of short simple texts on familiar matters of concrete type and consisting of everyday language;
  • write short, simple notes, messages, descriptions and/or personal letters;
  • demonstrate intercultural awareness in everyday social situations and language use generally.

Assessment methods

You will be set optional assignments to consolidate your learning and to allow you to progress at your own pace.

Application

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form (Word) or enrolment form (Pdf).

Level and demands

Find your language level

Selection criteria

Our public programme is open access, and most adult language classes are mixed ability. To benefit from this course, participants will have completed our Lower Intermediate - Part 1 course or acquired an enquivalent level of proficiency. New students are welcome!

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support