Say It in Portuguese (Brazilian)

Rating:
Summary: PRICELESS!
Review: A must have for any visit to Brazil. I travelled to southern Brazil in April. It was my first trip to a portuguese speaking nation. I thought my many years of spanish would get me through(Big mistake!!). This phrase book was with me all the time. It became as essential as my toothbrush. It really saved the day for me. It's also very compact in size and easy to carry on your person..

Rating:
Summary: Say it in Portuguese Brazilian edition
Review: I am not quite sure how often Dover Say it ... series are updated, but obviously they aren't. Since this book is old fashion and does show its age between vocabulary, lack of technical and modern terms, and a pronunciation guide that makes it sound Spanish or Italian. I recommend the Lonely Planet Brazilian Portuguese book. At least it more slangy and more current. It is a lot more informative too.

Rating:
Summary: Save Your Money
Review: Sadly, everyone using this book as a pronunciation guide will show themselves a "tourist" within about two syllables. The authors' pronunciations are closer to Spanish than they are to Portuguese. I lived in the Sao Paulo area for a year, and my wife and daughter are both native Brasilians (no spelling error; they spell it with an "s", not a "z"). The pronunciations used by these authors are akin to a deaf-mute person judging American Idol competition! For example, most of the time, the letters "r' and "rr"are pronounced like "h"! They are very seldom "trilled", as the authors claim. The words Rebecca and Marriot, are pronounced "Hey-BEK-kuh" and "MAH-he-yo". The word "desculpe" (I'm sorry) is a word they mispronounce AND misuse! The "d" is almost always "dj" blend. Thus, "desculpe" is pronounced "djes-COOL-puh". The correct phrase for "excuse me" (such as getting past someone blocking a door) is "Com licença", pron: "KONE leh-SEN-suh", NOT "desculpe" You will also hear this shortened to just "licença" Then there are the "t"s, which are almost always pronounced like "tch", as in "itch" Even "th" gets pronounced "tch". For example, Beth is pronounced "Betch". Portuguese and Spanish have many similarities, but they ARE DIFFERENT! If you want to practice PORTUGUESE, get a good English-Portuguese / Portuguese-English dictionary. The Collins-Gem dictionary is a good one; it served me well while I lived and worked there. It still serves me whenever I go back because my in-laws speak no English at all. Don't waste your money on this book. One important thing more: the word "obrigado" is spoken ONLY by males. Females will say "obrigada", with an "a" on the end, not an "o".

Rating:
Summary: Save Your Money
Review: Sadly, everyone using this book as a pronunciation guide will show themselves a "tourist" within about two syllables. The authors' pronunciations are closer to Spanish than they are to Portuguese. I lived in the Sao Paulo area for a year, and my wife and daughter are both native Brasilians (no spelling error; they spell it with an "s", not a "z"). The pronunciations used by these authors are akin to a deaf-mute person judging American Idol competition! For example, most of the time, the letters "r' and "rr"are pronounced like "h"! They are very seldom "trilled", as the authors claim. The words Rebecca and Marriot, are pronounced "Hey-BEK-kuh" and "MAH-he-yo". The word "desculpe" (I'm sorry) is a word they mispronounce AND misuse! The "d" is almost always "dj" blend. Thus, "desculpe" is pronounced "djes-COOL-puh". The correct phrase for "excuse me" (such as getting past someone blocking a door) is "Com licença", pron: "KONE leh-SEN-suh", NOT "desculpe" You will also hear this shortened to just "licença" Then there are the "t"s, which are almost always pronounced like "tch", as in "itch" Even "th" gets pronounced "tch". For example, Beth is pronounced "Betch". Portuguese and Spanish have many similarities, but they ARE DIFFERENT! If you want to practice PORTUGUESE, get a good English-Portuguese / Portuguese-English dictionary. The Collins-Gem dictionary is a good one; it served me well while I lived and worked there. It still serves me whenever I go back because my in-laws speak no English at all. Don't waste your money on this book. One important thing more: the word "obrigado" is spoken ONLY by males. Females will say "obrigada", with an "a" on the end, not an "o".

Rating:
Summary: Save Your Money
Review: Sadly, everyone using this book as a pronunciation guide will show themselves a "tourist" within about two syllables. The authors' pronunciations are closer to Spanish than they are to Portuguese. I lived in the Sao Paulo area for a year, and my wife and daughter are both native Brasilians (no spelling error; they spell it with an "s", not a "z"). The pronunciations used by these authors are akin to a deaf-mute person judging American Idol competition! For example, most of the time, the letters "r' and "rr"are pronounced like "h"! They are very seldom "trilled", as the authors claim. The words Rebecca and Marriot, are pronounced "Hey-BEK-kuh" and "MAH-he-yo". The word "desculpe" (I'm sorry) is a word they mispronounce AND misuse! The "d" is almost always "dj" blend. Thus, "desculpe" is pronounced "djes-COOL-puh". The correct phrase for "excuse me" (such as getting past someone blocking a door) is "Com licença", pron: "KONE leh-SEN-suh", NOT "desculpe" You will also hear this shortened to just "licença" Then there are the "t"s, which are almost always pronounced like "tch", as in "itch" Even "th" gets pronounced "tch". For example, Beth is pronounced "Betch". Portuguese and Spanish have many similarities, but they ARE DIFFERENT! If you want to practice PORTUGUESE, get a good English-Portuguese / Portuguese-English dictionary. The Collins-Gem dictionary is a good one; it served me well while I lived and worked there. It still serves me whenever I go back because my in-laws speak no English at all. Don't waste your money on this book. One important thing more: the word "obrigado" is spoken ONLY by males. Females will say "obrigada", with an "a" on the end, not an "o".

Rating:
Summary: Anything You Would Ever Need to Say
Review: This Portuguese phrasebook is a little gem! It is filled with over 1100 phrases translated into Portuguese with their pronunciations included. Anything you could possibly ever need to say during your stay in Brazil can be found here, and you'll know exactly how to say it. Phrases are easy to find with their clear classifications, and the book is so compact you can take it anywhere. Recommended for people of all language abilities since it is so easy to use.

Rating:
Summary: Limited, but good for tourists
Review: Very small, both size and number of pages, so it fits in your pocket. It offers a very limited set of phrases, geared to the tourist seeking help with finding their way around. If you are looking to actually learn Portuguese, you may want to pass on this book. At $1.95 it would be a nice pocket phrase book for tourists to Brasil.