Portuguese Course

Journey Language Centre offers courses in the following levels

• Four Beginning Level Classes

• Four Intermediate Level Classes

• Two Advanced Level Classes
   

We use a conversational approach in all of our programs, with a maximum of eight students. All instructors are certified with years of teaching experience.

JLC classes provide a harmonic balance between conversation and interactive exercises. This means less chalkboard memorization and more listening, interacting, and speaking in a new language.

Course Level Overview

The following course overviews will help you determine your current level. 

Beggining 1

Students will be introduced to vowels and consonant pronunciation exercises, as well as useful phrases and ten vocabulary sets will be covered. With this vocabulary and the guidance of your instructor, you will be able to learn the basic grammatical structure of the language.

This includes the proper use of articles, nouns and adjectives in accordance with their gender and number, as well as the use of the verb “to be” in present tense. Songs, videos, fun games, and basic conversational exercises will be performed during the class.

Beggining 2

Students will review the use of the verb “to be”, adjectives, and articles learned in the previous level. You will learn the present tense conjugation of 52 regular verbs, and some important irregular verbs such as: to like, to dress, to have, etc.

Six different vocabulary sets related to clothes, physical descriptions and personalities will be introduced, along with the numbers 1-100. Family and grocery shopping will be covered along with conversational dialogues and useful phrases related to this vocabulary. More songs, videos, fun games, and basic conversational exercises will be performed during the class.

Beggining 3

Students will review the conjugation of regular verbs. You will also study possessive adjectives, telling time, picture descriptions, and vocabulary related to fruits, vegetables, clothes and restaurants, with dialogues and role play situations.

You will learn the conjugation forms of 30 irregular verbs in the present tense, which will include important verbs such as “to like”, “to have”and “to go”.  In addition, we will play new videos and songs, discuss cultural topics and use more complex dialogues of various subjects. Writing and pronunciation exercises will be introduced.

Beggining 4

Students will have a general review of the previous three levels. You will learn  reflexive verb conjugation, the present progressive tense, the personal “a”, and vocabulary related to parts of the body, stores, hotels, night-life, animals and the numbers 100-1000.

These vocabulary sets will be complemented with interactive exercises and dialogues, for instance making hotel reservations and what to expect when you are in a restaurant.

Upon completion of the Beginning Program you will be able to speak in your new language using a basic language fluency. You will be able to describe a place, a situation, a book, a movie, your friends, your daily life, and order in a restaurant, grocery store, or make a hotel reservation on your own. This class will include writing and pronunciation exercises.  

Intermediate 1

Students will review the verbs “to be”, regular and irregular verbs, as well as reflexive and present progressive tense. The past simple tense will be introduced using regular verbs.

You will learn the use of the verbs “to return” and their different uses, prepositions, and the numbers from 1000 to 1,000,000. Idioms and common expressions will be also be introduced along with conversational exercises and songs. You will also start writing essays and basic compositions.

Intermediate 2

Students will review the most important grammar topics of the previous levels.  Through conversational and writing exercises you will learn direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns, and the past simple tense of the irregular verbs.

Six conversational topics are included in this level, as well as cultural topics and listening exercises with dialogues. You will start reading newspaper articles to increase their vocabulary, practice their pronunciation, and enhance their comprehension in a second language.  

Intermediate 3

Students will review the most relevant topics from Intermediate level 1 and 2 during the first two sessions. You will learn the imperfect past tense, using regular and irregular verbs, in contrast to the simple past tense, along with conversational and writing exercises.

Conjunctions and comparative adverbs will also be introduced. Six new conversational discussion topics will be used, as well as commercials, videos, songs and dialogues. You will be asked to start reading short stories and tales to increase your vocabulary, practice your pronunciation and enhance your comprehension in a second language.

Intermediate 4

Students will review the preterit tense, imperfect tense, and direct and indirect object pronouns. You will learn the Present Perfect Tense and Past Participle, and how to give directions using formal and informal commands.

This class will include writing, pronunciation and conversational topics related to sports, health and hospital, occupations, and media. You will start reading novels to increase your vocabulary, practice your pronunciation and enhance your comprehension in a second language.  

Advanced 1

Students will review the most relevant grammar topics from the Intermediate level such as preterit, imperfect and perfect tense, as well as direct and indirect object pronouns.

Through the reading of books and novels, you will increase your vocabulary, practice your pronunciation and enhance your comprehension. Students will practice both writing and advanced conversation through the use of interactive debates, and skits. You will also learn idioms and slangs. Grammar topics will include the future tense, the conditional tense, and the imperative mode.

Advanced 2

Students will learn the use of the present and past Subjunctive. You will be also be introduced to the Pluperfect mode. This class will include presentations of cultural topics, writing exercises, essays and the reading of books and novels to increase your vocabulary, practice your pronunciation and enhance your comprehension.

This class will use fun board games, role playing and movies. You will learn art, business and/or legal terminology, and use them in dialogues for different situations and scenarios.