Learning Portuguese is a very interesting activity just by itself, not to talk about all the benefits it’ll bring to your life. But we also know that sometimes you need something besides school lessons to make your language journey extra fun. Something that doesn’t necessarily feel like studying.
Well, good news! YouTube is perfect for that!
Think about it: For many people, watching YouTube channels is one of the coolest ways to learn. Not only is YouTube one of the most important platforms for entertainment today, but you can also find channels that teach you something new. Yes, including languages.
This is a great advantage for your Portuguese language learning journey. By watching YouTube you’ll have fun, while learning or improving your Portuguese skills.
Here at TruFluency we know the importance of these outside school tools to give your Portuguese a boost. That’s why we’ve gathered the best YouTube channels to learn Portuguese. Check them out!
YouTube Channels to Learn European Portuguese
Portuguese Lab
This is the perfect channel for European Portuguese beginners. The videos have pictures with a voice over that narrates the lesson and what you’re seeing on the screen. So, for example, if the class topic is numbers, you’ll see the numbers on the screen and hear a voice pronouncing them. There’s not a person teaching you on the screen.
The voice pronounces very clearly, so you can truly hear the details of the words. It also speaks slowly, so you can understand everything. This slow speed of the voice makes it perfect for you to pronounce the words and phrases after the voice. So you can start practicing your speaking, intonation and pronunciation.
The examples and words they’re trying to teach are, of course, in Portuguese. But the rest, like instructions, are in English. So you can truly understand what they’re trying to tell and explain to you. That’s also why we think it’s perfect for beginners. Oh, and don’t worry, examples have their English translations below.
They have grammar lessons, “Portuguese by ear” (listening) classes, and “Speak in Portugal” (speaking) videos. As well as other interesting videos to help you improve your Portuguese skills, especially vocabulary, for a normal, daily life. Such as learning with mini stories, how to pronounce Portuguese family names, and how to order at a coffee shop.
There are also some videos for intermediate level. So, it’s the perfect channel for the beginning of your language journey and your transition to a new level.
We recommend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g9wXzGv624
Portuguese with Carla
Carla is a Portuguese teacher from Portugal. She teaches to students of all levels. And whether your Portuguese learning goal is to learn just a few words for fun or to be an advanced speaker, she states she can help you.
Her videos are very interesting, varied, and not boring at all. Her video topics go from how to pronounce a letter, to how to thank in Portuguese, and even vocabulary about food.
Probably the coolest part about this channel is the format of the videos. In some, especially the grammar ones, she’s just in front of the camera teaching you the topic. Sometimes she writes on a whiteboard. But some other videos are filmed as vlogs.
For example, she goes out to buy food and teaches you about food vocabulary in Portuguese. All while showing you her day, who she talks to, where she eats, and what she eats or buys.
So you learn in a very natural and immersive way, as if you were there with her. Seeing her vlogs means that you’ll not only learn the language, but you’ll get to know about the country and culture too.
In the videos where she’s in front of the camera teaching, she speaks in English. And the Portuguese words and phrases she’s teaching appear in Portuguese in big letters. And sometimes their English translations appear in smaller letters right below.
In other videos, she speaks Portuguese but puts subtitles in Portuguese and below them subtitles in English. So if you’re a beginner you don’t have to worry about not understanding anything. You just have to follow the English subtitles while watching and listening to the video.
After you’ve watched some of her videos, if you still want to learn more, you can go to her website. There she gives Portuguese lessons.
Whether on YouTube or through her more personalized classes, Carla is committed to teaching through fun. She thinks that there are better ways to teach the language, even grammar, like through context. That way the knowledge really sticks.
We recommend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9urXChT-w7U
Portuguese with Leo
Leo teaches through very interesting videos. Of course he has some videos explaining grammar topics, but then he has other videos that are not easy to find on other channels. Videos like recommending Portuguese books and authors, or every now and then some vlogs.
Some of the coolest videos are those where he interviews people on the streets about Portuguese language topics. And some of the most interesting videos are those where he compares the Portuguese language to other languages.
He doesn’t do this to say that one language is better than the other, but rather to emphasize the differences and similarities between both. For these videos he invites youtubers that make videos teaching the language he’s comparing Portuguese to. These are great if you’re learning two languages.
He always speaks in Portuguese, which means your listening skills will be super benefited by that. If you think about it, it’s like an immersion method, which consists of creating an environment fully in your target language. So you’ll absolutely acquire the language.
But if you’re a complete beginner you might feel lost. Don’t worry, you can turn on the YouTube subtitles. At least until you feel like you’ve advanced to another level and are more ready to watch them without the subtitles.
He also has a website, where he gives some more free resources to learn this language. There, he also presents his podcasts and the different Portuguese learning courses he offers.
We recommend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcKrfNuZdeQ
YouTube Channels to Learn Brazilian Portuguese
Speaking Brazilian Language School
Virginia Langhammer is the creator of this channel made to teach you Brazilian Portuguese.
It’s a great channel to learn grammar topics; she has videos talking about things like sentence structures and verb conjugations. Despite the importance of grammar, she also has many videos about other equally important language topics, like pronunciation and vocabulary.
In general, she makes sure you learn many essential topics about the Portuguese language, like grammar. But also about other necessary things but in Portuguese, like ordinal numbers in Portuguese.
But it doesn’t stop there! She also has a couple videos discussing Brazil’s language history. As if that weren’t enough, she’s also talked about Brazil as a country and its culture in various videos. This is great, because as you probably already know, language and culture go hand in hand.
So it’s also important we get to know the cultures of our target language. Some of these videos consist of her explaining the cultural facts in front of the screen. Others are in the form of vlogs, which is way cooler.
Virginia Langhammer speaks in Portuguese, which is a great practice for those on an intermediate or advanced level. Though it can be complicated for beginners. But don’t worry, we have good news! She has both Portuguese and English subtitles on the videos. So if you’re not great at listening yet, guide yourself with the subtitles.
She also has a website, where you can check the courses or the private classes she offers.
We recommend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4F4PWTl6B8
Plain Portuguese
This YouTube channel has a lot of videos, including many to help you improve those grammar skills. The teacher explains really well topics such as the, feared by many, subjunctive mood. But that’s not it. The teacher also tries to explain you in detail but in an interesting and useful way, like using some context.
Like the video where she teaches seven ways of using the verb “ligar”. See? She doesn’t just teach one of the meanings and stops there; she goes into detail. She also has other videos teaching you how to use a certain verb. Context means that she uses examples; this happens in every video.
That’s the best way to truly understand the class topic and, therefore, retain it. Because you’ll see how to apply the knowledge in a real-life situation. So you’ll know it’s actually useful information and not just a vague, unimportant topic.
And the fun it’s just getting started! She has other videos way cooler, because she uses games as the learning method. So you’ll learn while having tons of fun!
Believe it or not, it gets better! The channel has a whole series of learning Portuguese with Brazilian TV series. Come one! What’s better than learning while chilling watching TV? That way, it doesn’t even feel like we’re studying.
Plus, learning through TV means you won’t just learn rigid topics that’ll make you sound like a robot. No, no. You’ll learn vocabulary and expressions natives actually use in real life, as well as accent and pronunciation. Oh, and of course, you can also learn about Brazilians’ ways of living.
If you’re just trying to learn a bit of Portuguese for your next trip, she has a whole playlist with vocabulary videos for tourists!
She speaks in Portuguese. So you’ll get to practice your listening skills a lot and it’ll be an immersive experience from the beginning. If you’re not an expert in listening yet or are just starting your Brazilian Portuguese learning journey, it’s okay.
She doesn’t speak very fast; it’s actually slow and clear, so you can process everything better. And she has a long playlist with many videos for beginners.
By the way, if you want to track your improvement, she has some lessons with quizzes. Good luck!
We recommend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0itAuhtGgfE
Learn Portuguese with PortuguesePod101
This YouTube channel has a couple different Portuguese instructors. That means that on one video you’ll see one teacher and on the next video there’s going to be a completely different teacher.
This is great to improve your listening and accent, because you’ll be hearing different people speak. That’s exactly like how it happens in real-life: there are different voices and accents, even if they all speak Portuguese.
Their videos touch a variety of topics, like vocabulary, learning strategies, Portuguese for business, free resources to learn the language… Hey, there are even some videos to help you learn while you sleep! Talk about creativity, huh.
But perhaps what they aim to do the most with their videos is helping you improve in all areas of the language. Of course there are videos to help your grammar abilities. But there are also some to enhance your pronunciation and speaking, your writing, your listening and even your reading skills.
They really go for a complete language learning process. And they have videos for all levels, just check their playlists.
As if that weren’t enough there are also some videos about Brazil and its culture. So you get to know more about this fascinating country besides its language.
The duration of the videos is very diverse. There are some that last over an hour, so you really need a good time to sit and pay close attention. But there are others that last around 13 to 20 minutes. And if you really are in a rush or not in a study mood, you can just watch some of their shorter videos that last around 2 or 3 minutes.
We recommend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbX1GXOJa4E
Is YouTube All You Need for Portuguese Fluency?
YouTube is an amazing tool for language learning. Like we just saw above, there are many teachers with different teaching methods and different videos, from the most serious ones to some creative ones. But is that all you need to master the Portuguese language?
We’re sorry to break this for you, but no. If you truly want to be the next expert in Portuguese and learn more than a few words for your trip, you need classes. Which you later can complement with your favorite YouTube channels.
So now what? Which language classes are going to be as interesting as watching YouTube? TruFluency online Portuguese lessons! We have native teachers that will make sure you learn how native Portuguese speakers actually talk and express themselves.
They’ll teach you idioms, everyday expressions, and will encourage you to speak. We even base our lessons in our Bellieu Method, created to make you speak using what you’ve learned. So you’ll strengthen the knowledge and achieve Portuguese fluency.
What’s even better is that we customize lessons to your language goals and needs. So if, for example, you need to learn vocabulary for your next trip to Brazil, we’re here to help!
Check our testimonials to see how well we work. Even better, take two one-hour trial classes for only $59! We have a flexible schedule to fit your agenda. In the first class we’ll assess your needs and goals to create the best plan for you. See you in class!
