UCL CENTRE FOR LANGUAGES
& INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
Course Units 2016-2017
Portuguese Syllabus A
Prerequisite for entry
For complete beginners or those who have had only very little contact with the language.
Course duration
20 x 2-hour classes.
Self-Study
80 hours in total.
Course codes
LCPO6001, LCPOG001, LCPOM001, LCPO6012, LCPOG012, LCPOM012 (together with Portuguese syllabus B).
Aims and Objectives
The aim of the course is to enable students to function at a basic everyday survival level (basic vocabulary, grammar,
morphology, syntax and phonetics).
Students should be able to communicate in and understand Portuguese on a number of practical everyday matters.
Cultural awareness will be developed. Language learning skills, including autonomous learning and how to approach
authentic material, will be enhanced. Some transferable skills will also be covered.
Functions
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Greeting others and introducing oneself, spelling people’s names, formal and informal greetings;
Meeting people and introducing others, making invitations, suggestions and appointments, telling the time;
Asking and answering questions about travelling and means of transport;
Ordering a meal in a restaurant, naming tableware on the table;
Expressing desires, wishes, preferences, doubts, asking for information (location/direction);
Describing hotel services expressing satisfaction and dissatisfaction;
Comparing and describing houses and flats, locating objects in the house;
Talking about the daily routine and leisure activities;
Learning about the Brazilian annual calendar.
Course Content
Main topics/themes to be covered
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First contacts, names, nationalities, addresses, professions, numbers up to 100;
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Meeting people, leisure activities and plans for the weekend;
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The time;
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Means of transport;
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Restaurant, bar, invitations, food;
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Hotel reservations, problems with the service at the hotel, orientation in the city, numbers up to one billion;
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Houses and apartments, at the estate agency, decorating, social housing;
Daily activities and routines, leisure activities, Brazilian calendar, poetry and art.
Linguistic Structures
Phonetics
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The sounds of Portuguese (vowels, diphthongs, consonants);
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Stress;
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Basic intonation patterns;
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Basic spelling.
Grammar
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Definite articles: o, a, os, as; masculine and feminine nouns, irregular verbs: ser, regular verbs ending in –ar;
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Contracting preposition de + definite articles, contracting prepositions em + definite articles, personal and
possessive pronouns: seu, sua;
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Irregular verbs: ir, poder, ter, immediate future tense, demonstrative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, Verb ir +
preposition de/a;
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Verbs ending in –er, verb: gostar de, verbs: estar, querer, preposition de + articles;
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Verbs: ir, fazer, preferir, ficar, gerund, imperative, possessive pronouns: dele, dela, deles, delas, comparative with
mais;
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Simple past tense of regular verbs ending in –ar, -er, and ir, comparing with: mais do que/ menos do que/ tão
quanto, prepostitions of places;
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Past simple tense of irregular verbs: ser, ir, fazer, querer, poder, dar, estar, direct object pronouns: o, a, lo, os,
as/-lo, -la, -los, -las, adverbial phrases of time.
Learning Resources
Syllabus A Course Books
Compulsory
Novo Avenida Brasil 1 - Curso Básico de Português para Estrangeiros - Emma Eberlein O.F.Lima/ Lutz Rohrmann.
ISBN: 9788512545202
Recommended:
Gramatica Ativa 1, Brazilian Version. Isabel Coimbra, Olga Mata Coimbra
Portuguese verb Tenses, Irineu de Oliveira Jr. ISBN: 9781477541463
Modern Brazilian Portuguese Grammar A Pratical Guide. John Whitlam
Syllabus A/B Course Books
Compulsory:
Novo Avenida Brasil 2 - Emma Eberlein O. F. Lima. ISBN: 9788512545707
Recommended:
Gramatica Ativa 1/2. Brazilian Version. Isabel Coimbra, Olga Mata Coimbra
Portuguese verb Tenses, Irineu de Oliveira Jr. ISBN: 9781477541463
Modern Brazilian Portuguese Grammar. A Practical Guide. John Whitlam
Additional material
Authentic material from various sources (press, internet, TV, etc.).
In addition there is a wide range of language learning materials available for self-study in the Self-Access Centre.
of language learning materials available for self-study in the Self-Access Centre.
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