Learn Portuguese fast? Apply for Citizenship?

03/27/23 @ExpatUSATravels.  If you're interested in learning conversational Portuguese to make life easier, the cheapest way to learn is to start with one of the online/phone apps like Duolingo.  Get the paid version that gives you unlimited practice time, practice a couple of hours a day, and you can learn about as much as you could in a pretty good US college course in about the same time.  Once you're in Brazil, check out the language schools near where you live for private lessons to speed your learning.

Citizenship requires passing the CelpeBras exam; if you want to do that, you're going to need much more in-depth instruction that includes formal composition, listening training, and being able to converse on a wide array of subjects.  For that, check out the Federal and State universities near where you live for Portuguese for Foreigners courses.  If you're in a city that has a PUC Catholic university, check them as well.  If you're in São Paulo, Mackenzie University has a program that looks very solid.  In talking to any of them, make it clear that you're looking for a course that will prepare you for naturalization.

If you're a resident of Brazil based on family unification, you can apply for naturalization after living in Brazil for one continuous year after becoming a legal resident.  Otherwise, you have to live continuously in Brazil for four years after becoming a legal resident.

@ExpatUSATravels

thanks for the answer once again.

sounds extremely difficult to learn an expert level of Portuguese in order to achieve naturalization.

Could take years it sounds like to be good enough to pass the test.

03/27/23 @ExpatUSATravels. I estimate that it requires a level of Portuguese knowledge roughly equivalent to that of a native Brazilian high school graduate from a good high school. Someone who really applied themselves for two to three years in the Mackenzie program -- which could be taken mostly online -- could probably do it, assuming that the course is as good as the writeup makes it seem.

It's important to point out that Brazil puts zero pressure on a permanent resident to become a citizen, and besides a passport, the only tangible benefits that a naturalized citizen has are the right to vote and to compete in civil service exams. One of my dearest friends has lived as a permanent resident for almost 50 years. She has a Brazilian husband and Brazilian children, but has never seen any reason to become a citizen.

After you've lived in Brazil for fifteen years, they waive the language requirement.

@abthree

high school level. Oh man. That could take me 8-10 yrs if i apply myself consistantly. Lol.

Oh well.

As for the 15 yr language waiver can a person live in brasil as a PR 2 yrs, then out of country 1 yr.
Then back in Brasil 3 years, then out a few years and count that as 5 years only?
Or do they count the initial date you first became a PR of Brasil?
And then the clock starts at day #1 and then add 15yrs from that date? If so its very good news.

Any suggestions to learn Portuguese,
the:
Fastest
easiest
cheapest ways?
-@ExpatUSATravels

Class room learning does not work for me. Although I picked up a few notches up on my English while in College in the US. 

It took me almost two years to get to a level of confidence. 

I read a lot. Obsessively. 

I did not chime in ( totally opposite nowadays )

I asked open ended questions that I could formulate within my social and work groups.

I avoided Brazilians like a plague. 

I changed jobs a lot. 

I watched TV, if the content suited my personal taste, regardless of the level of comprehension.

Learning a new language is a process, it requires commitment, some level of improvisation, and continuous engagement. 

Where people learn language in a passive way.....

-Soap Operas.  I would stay away of the new ones. After the 80's Soaps became pure garbage.   Some Series.

Here are a few titles for you to follow, for excellent script writing, excellent cast, and some odd characters.

Series and Soaps

• O machao  ( you probablyt won't find a copy or being aired. I|f you can get a smuggle, fine. Originally in Black and White.
• Roque Santeiro
• A Rainha da Sucata
• -Ti,Ti,Ti  ( The ollder version )
• Guerra dos Sexos
• O Bem Amado ( don't imitate the corrupt mayor's speech jargons please. Odorico Paraguassu )
• Gabriela Cravo e Canela - The Old Version with Sonia Braga
• O Tempo e o Vento 
• O Salvador da Pátria
• Pecado Capital ( the old one )
• Sai de Baixo.  ( Sitcom )
• Mulheres de Areia
• Vale Tudo  ( The whole country tuned in to find out who killed Elizabeth Roitmann
• O Casarao  ( classic )
• Escrava Isaura. ( a bit melodramatic for my taste, but this one broke records on exports to foreign markets the world over in several languages )

Movies, tastes might vary.

• Chuvas de Verao ( by Caca Diegues ) You can pick up free on Youtube
• Bye-Bye Brazil
• Central do Brasil
• Cidade de Deus
• O Auto da Compadecida ( tragic comedy ) lots of TV reruns
• Dona Flor e seus Dois Maridos ( the original with Sonia Braga and Jose Wilker )
• Eles Não Usam Black-Tie
• A Hora da Estrela
• O Bandido da Luz Vermelha
• Macunaíma
• O que é isso, companheiro?
• O Som ao Redor
• Pixote, a Lei do Mais Fraco ( the main character actually went back to crime and passed away )
• Memórias do Cárcere
• Pra Frente, Brasil
• A Marvada Carne
• O Ano em que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias ( good reviews on Rotten Tomatoes )
• Luz Del Fuego ( it's racy, but anything to see Lucélia Santos naked in her glorious days. )

03/28/23 @abthree
high school level. Oh man. That could take me 8-10 yrs if i apply myself consistantly. Lol.
Oh well.
As for the 15 yr language waiver can a person live in brasil as a PR 2 yrs, then out of country 1 yr.
Then back in Brasil 3 years, then out a few years and count that as 5 years only?
Or do they count the initial date you first became a PR of Brasil?
And then the clock starts at day #1 and then add 15yrs from that date? If so its very good news.
-@ExpatUSATravels

CelpeBras is something that takes work and can't be done casually, but it can be done in a lot less than eight years. I studied Portuguese in college, and probably could have eked out a minimum passing grade -- "Intermediário" -- at the end of my second year (best undergraduate Portuguese department in the US at the time. ). By the middle of my third year, after I had some intensive Portuguese composition under my belt, I could have made "Avançado". So two to three years in a good program should do it, with application.

I took it at the May 2019 offering. At that one. between 8,000 and 10,000 people sat for the test worldwide, and about 58% got at least the lowest passing grade. So it's not impossible, but it's no walk in the park, either.

The reason that you can't manage it casually is that the oral exam and the written exam are graded separately, and the final grade is the lower of the two, not the average, so it's not possible to goose a poor writing score with a great speaking score, or vice versa. I prepped by timing myself on the old exams, using the archive kept by UFRGS. It might be possible to teach yourself enough composition to pass the written exam by doing the practice tests, but you'd need somebody very good at Portuguese composition to grade your work savagely, and then make you do it over until you got it right.

With respect to the continuous residence periods, bad news! The Polícia Federal will count backwards from your naturalization application date, and you'll have to explain every absence from Brazil over the past one, four, or fifteen years. Generally speaking, sporadic absences of 60-90 days, to visit family abroad for example, are not a problem. The longer the absences are, the more suspicious they become, especially if they make it appear that Brazil wasn't really the applicant's principal residence during some of that time.

@sprealestatebroker

thanks for the tips, and great list of soaps!!!!

Any language, learning takes you do observe an pick up on someone's voice being projected. That being said, you are to gain more exposure if you go to the right sources

to soak in on sound bites.

First of all, any of those youtubes or TV shows where the idiot pops up with "E Ahi Galera" ... avoid them like a plague. They will teach you the wrong way to express yourself on Portuguese.

Second, if you speak  with a different accent, specially from Portugual, people will respect you a whole lot more. So don't be bashful. If you carry accent, it isn't the end of the world.

There are good actors and actresses who had a superb command of the Portuguese Language...  a Few I would recommend to my recolection, so if you see them featured, it is worth watching.

All of these have decent voice intonation which will make it easier for you to pick up on the language.

-Tarcísio Meira( The ultimate leading man )

-Paulo Autran ( playright trained. Character roles, eccentric types )

-Jose Wilker

-Carlos Vereza  ( seen in a lot of roles where an introspective part is being played )

-Paulo Gracindo ( plenty character roles )

-Antonio Fagundes ( not a character actor, but a consistently good one )

-Marco Nanini ( there's a good series he is featured upon, "A grande Familia" ).

-Lima Duarte ( he is a character actor, sometimes he borrows regional accents, which is ok )

-Francisco Cuoco ( always plays some wealthy type )

-Mauro Mendonca ( always play some upper crust type )

-Raul Cortez - Very polished. He made some character roles.

-Jardel Filho

-Chico Anysio ( he is a skit commedian )

-Jo Soares ( skit comedian  )

-Jofre Soares

-Paulo Cesar Pereio  ( he has played his fair share of roles as a scumbag )

-Italo Rossi

-Flávio Migliaccio ( always plays blue colar roles )

-Mario Gomes ( for the gals who want some beefcake )

-Gianfrancesco Guarnieri

-Carlos Alberto Riccelli ( some eye candy for the gals, played some decent roles in movies and soaps )

-Milton Goncalves

-Armando Bogus

-Mauricio do Valle

Actresses

-Fernanda Montenegro

-Sonia Braga

-Lilia Cabral

-Marlia Pera ( Very charismatic, and played several different roles, very versatile )

-Irene Ravache

-Eva Wilma

-Gloria Pires

-Marieta Severo

-Aracy Balabanian

-Zeze Motta

-Julia Lemmertz

-Claudia Raia

-Susana Vieira

-Lucelia Santos

-Glória Menezes

-Bete Mendes

-Beatriz Segal

-Yona Magalhaes

-Marisa Orth

-Cleide Yaconis

These two are  a Mark Twain Style writers ( Huckleberry Finn )

Francisco Marins

Os Segredos De Taquara-Poca

O Bugre do Chapeu de Anta

Monteiro Lobato.

He has a number of social thematic books, but the ones that brough his fame were children's books.

These are not kiddie books.  They are tales, that are entertaining for any age.

Year First Print and Title

    1921 — O Saci

    1922 — Fábulas

    1927 — As Aventuras de Hans Staden  ( this has some historic undertones )

    1930 — Peter Pan

    1931 — Reinações de Narizinho   ( you should start with this title to get a better grip on the whole series )

    1932 — Viagem ao céu

    1933 — Caçadas de Pedrinho

    1933 — História do Mundo para as Crianças

    1934 — Emília no País da Gramática  ( good light reading, Emilia in one of her many adventures with Grammar being the main topic )

    1935 — Aritmética da Emília

    1935 — Geografia de Dona Benta

    1935 — História das Invenções

    1936 — Dom Quixote das crianças

    1936 — Memórias da Emília

    1937 — Serões de Dona Benta

    1937 — O Poço do Visconde ( good light reading with an undertone political view of the author, about Oil prospecting )

    1937 — Histórias de Tia Nastácia

    1939 — O Picapau Amarelo

    1939 — O Minotauro  ( good light reading )

    1941 — A Reforma da Natureza

    1942 — A Chave do Tamanho

    1944 — Os doze trabalhos de Hércules (dois volumes)

    1947 — Histórias Diversas

José Mauro de Vasconcelos

    Banana Brava (1942)

    Barro Blanco (1948)

    Longe da Terra (1949)

    Vazante (1951)

    Arara Vermelha (1953)

    Arraia de Fogo (1955)

    Rosinha, Minha Canoa (1962)  Good reading

    Doidão (1963)

    O Garanhão da praia (1964)

    Coração de Vidro (1964)  Excellent reading. Four short stories

    As Confissões de Frei Abóbora (1966)

    Meu Pé de Laranja Lima (1968)

    Rua Descalça (1969)

    O Palácio Japonês (1969)

    Farinha Órfã (1970)

    Chuva Crioula (1972)

    O Veleiro de Cristal (1973)

    Vamos Aquecer o Sol (1974)

    A Ceia (1975)

    O Menino Invisível (1978)

    Kuryala: Capitão e Carajá (1979)

Jorge Amado   - To read Jorge Amada is to understand Bahia of old

He has many, many titles. To make it short, I pare down to the can't miss ones.

Cacau     (1933)

Jubiabá     (1935) 

Capitães da areia     (1937) 

Seara vermelha     romance     (1946) 

Gabriela, cravo e canela     (1958) 

A morte e a morte de Quincas Berro d'Água     (1959)

Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos     (1966)   

Tenda dos milagres     (1969) 

Teresa Batista cansada de guerra     (1972) 

Tieta do Agreste     romance     (1977) 

Farda, fardão, camisola de dormir     (1979) 

Erico Verissimo

    Clarissa – 1933

    Olhai os lírios do campo – 1938

    Saga – 1940

    O resto é silêncio – 1943

    O tempo e o vento (1ª parte) — O continente – 1949

    O tempo e o vento (2ª parte) — O retrato – 1951

    O tempo e o vento (3ª parte) — O arquipélago – 1962

    O senhor embaixador – 1965

    O prisioneiro – 1967

    Incidente em Antares – 1971

Sérgio Porto a.k.a. Stanislau Ponte Preta

Satirical writer.. Good for short stories.  Very amusing tales. From the hip writing.

    Tia Zulmira e Eu (1961)

    Primo Altamirando e Elas (1962)

    Rosamundo e os Outros (1963)

    Garoto Linha Dura (1964)

    Febeapá - Festival de Besteiras Que Assola o País (1966)

    Febeapá 2 (Segundo Festival de Besteiras Que Assola o Pais) (1967)

    Na Terra do Crioulo Doido (1968)

    Febeapá 3 (1968)

    A Máquina de Fazer Doido (1968)

Cartoons

O Amigo da Onça  simlar to  cartoons Enemies of Man from the Esquire Magazine

Most of them were published by the excting Cruzeiro Monthly Magazine, a copy of Time Life.

These comic strips were created by r Péricles de Andrade Maranhão

@abthree

yes, bad news about the 15 years.