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Best Apps Portuguese

It is understandable that not many people see the usefulness of Portuguese learning apps. Apps used to be very simple. You could learn a little bit of a language through a phrasebook, a dictionary or some kind of game – but not much beyond common phrases and simple words..

A lot has changed since then and you can now learn so much more from Portuguese language apps.

There is so much variety when it comes to apps that’ll help you learn Portuguese. These apps vary in terms of the price range, quality and focus. We’ve tested out so many of them and have found some great ones along with some popular ones we aren’t really fond of.

This list aims to help you sort through the apps available for learning Portuguese and find one or two that work for you. We’ve organized the apps based on what they do best and what their focus is. Some of these apps fit into more than one category and we hope this list makes it so much easier to find your preferred app to learn Portuguese.

Table of Best Apps to Learn Portuguese.

Links below will send you to the app websites, and the app details are down below.


OVERALL BEST

Best for Oral Communication Skills: Pimsleur

Best Lesson Structure: Babbel

Best Interactive Course: Lingodeer

Best Non-Linear Learning App: Ouino


READING AND LISTENING

Best for Podcast-Style Lessons: PortuguesePod101

Best for Interesting Reading Material: LingQ 

Best for Side-By-Side Reading: Beelinguapp


SPEAKING AND WRITING

Best for Getting Feedback on Writing: italki

Best for Getting Feedback on Pronunciation: Speechling

Best for Speaking Portuguese from Day 1: Pimsleur


VOCABULARY ACQUISITION

Best for Learning Words in Context: Clozemaster

Most Enjoyable Vocabulary Practice: Memrise


TUTORS AND LANGUAGE EXCHANGES

Best Online Tutor Platform: italki and Preply

Best for Finding a Language Exchange Partner: HelloTalk and Tandem


Best Overall Portuguese Learning Apps

This category includes apps that take a more holistic approach to language instruction and learning. They teach more than one skill and usually teaching several. They often have lessons that build on each other in a progressive fashion. Keep in mind, you won’t be fluent just by using these apps, but they can be a great place to start.

Best for Oral Communication Skills

Pimsleur

Brazilian and European Portuguese

I initially excluded Pimsleur from this post because of how absurdly expensive their courses are. Well, they recently added a subscription option which lowers the price from over $500 for a one-time purchase to under $20/month. So instead of being terrible value, it’s actually a pretty good option now.

Pimsleur is a bit different than other courses because their focus is more on communication skills – speaking and listening. Throughout the lessons, you’ll need to participate and actively speak Portuguese as you listen to dialogues spoken by native speakers. Those who use Pimsleur will end up with stronger than average speaking skills but will be lacking in grammar, as that’s not covered at all. 

See our Super-Detailed Pimsleur Review

Best Lesson Structure

Babbel Portuguese

Brazilian Portuguese

Babbel is an online language-learning platform with over 1 million active users. The Babbel Portuguese app aims to get learners to a conversational level as quickly as possible through the use of a variety of exercises and spaced repetition for review. The courses are well put together and relatively inexpensive.

Babbel Spring Sale! Get 60% off on Babbel subscriptions. See details on the website. Offer ends on 3/17/24.

See our Super-Detailed Babbel Portuguese Review

Best Interactive Course

Lingodeer

Brazilian Portuguese

LingoDeer is one of my favorite course-like apps. I’ve found that the lessons and exercises are structured in a way that mostly makes sense. Exercises are also heavily gamified and short in length, which makes for an engaging experience.

I find it to be a little bit more challenging (in a good way) than Duolingo, where oftentimes you can answer questions correctly even if you haven’t learned anything. LingoDeer won’t be the only resource you need to use to learn Portuguese but it can give you a solid introduction to the language.

See our Super-Detailed Lingodeer Review

Best Non-Linear Learning App

Ouino

Ouino is a software program and mobile app with more than 500 lessons and 1,000 exercises in Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Portuguese. It’s curriculum-based with an academic approach (as opposed to relying on gameplay like some other language apps). It covers the basics such as vocab and pronunciation, but can also help you improve your conversation skills and master verb tenses.

Ouino would be great for you if you want to pick a language back up after not using it for a while, if you love structure, or if you want lots of practice. It could also be a good resource for language students who want to keep their skills sharp in between semesters.

Limited time offer. Lifetime Access is only $95.76!! You can get an additional language for 50% off, OR you could get all 5 languages for life for $191.52. You should know that Ouino enjoys one of the lowest product return rates in the industry. 🙂

See our Super-Detailed Ouino Review

Apps to Learn Portuguese Reading and Listening

Developing and improving receptive skills while learning a new language is super important. They’re necessary skills to possess if you would like to hold a conversation and understand the world around you. The apps mentioned below are designed to help you improve these skills by exposing you to language material.

Best for Podcast-Style Lessons

PortuguesePod101

Brazilian Portuguese

PortuguesePod101 could also fit in the general courses category. I’ve included it here because the majority of its content is audio, lessons taking the form of a podcast.

The lessons focus on Brazilian Portuguese and span the beginner to advanced levels, progressing logically from one to the next. The amount of English in each lesson decreases as you reach more advanced levels. Grammar and cultural notes are also included, which adds value to the app.

While the design of PortuguesePod101 could be improved, the quality of its content makes it a worthy resource.

Save 25% on a subscription to PortuguesePod101 with the coupon code ‘ALLLANGUAGERESOURCES’. 

See our Super-Detailed PortuguesePod101 Review

Best for Interesting Reading Material

LingQ

Brazilian and European Portuguese

LingQ is a popular app for reading and listening to content in many languages, including Portuguese. You’ll find various lessons, podcasts (with transcripts), articles, and more.

One interesting feature in this app how it color-codes words. When you start, all the words are highlighted in blue. As you read, words change color based on whether you mark them as “known” or look up their meaning. It’s kind of cool to track how many words you know and visualize how difficult a piece of text is.

A lot of the content is added by users, coming from all sorts of different places. It’s also arranged by difficulty, making it easy to find something that suits you. Another feature that I like is the option to import your own text. I’ve used LingQ to add full books that I’ve found online and found it to be a very convenient way to practice reading.

See our Super-Detailed LingQ Review

Best for Side-by-Side Reading

Beelinguapp

Brazilian and European Portuguese

Beelinguapp is an app that offers side-by-side texts in quite a few different languages. It’s pretty cool because you can read along with a story while referring to the native text or a translation. You can also listen along while text is highlighted in karaoke mode.

One limitation is that you can only look up the meanings of entire sentences and not individual words, though it’s usually pretty easy to deduce a word’s meaning this way. Lots of the content is children’s stories, but more articles involving science & technology or culture have been added lately. Some of the content is free, but you’ll have to pay a small price for full access.

Apps for Portuguese Speaking and Writing

It is very exciting once you start practicing speaking and writing in Portuguese. These skills showcase your ability to communicate your thoughts, and practice can be very rewarding. Though there are apps that can definitely help you with these skills, finding quality apps can be hard. Here are some that provide good practice by getting other people involved.

Best for Getting Feedback on Writing

italki

Brazilian and European Portuguese

This is one of my favorite resources, and it’s best known for being an online tutor directory. I’ve included in this category because of a community feature that is often overlooked and available for free – the Exercise section. This is a great place to get feedback on your writing by a native Portuguese speaker, and it’s really easy to use.

Basically, you just write a journal entry about anything you’d like or respond to a prompt, and other users have the chance to give you corrections. It works really well but depends on people willing to help each other out, so be sure to do the same and give feedback to other language learners. Right now get a $10 credit with your first purchase.

See our Super-Detailed italki Review

Best for Getting Feedback on Pronunciation

Speechling

Brazilian Portuguese

One of the best ways to practice pronunciation is by mimicking native speakers. Speechling recognizes this method and centers exercises around the concept. Using the platform will give you plenty of chances to record yourself speaking with the intention of perfecting your pronunciation.

What makes this platform extra cool is that you can submit recordings of yourself to be evaluated by native speakers. It’s hard to beat receiving personalized feedback from a human when it comes to pronunciation! The platform is free to use for a limited number of recordings each month. Signing up for a subscription unlocks unlimited recordings to send for feedback.

Save 10% on a subscription to Speechling with the coupon code ‘ALR123’.

See our Super-Detailed Speechling Review

Best for Speaking Portuguese from Day 1

Pimsleur

Pimsleur is one of the most popular and longest-standing resources out there for learning a foreign language. Its courses place a strong emphasis on aural and verbal communication skills, paying less attention to grammar explanations and reading or writing skills. There are over 50 language courses available with Pimsleur, and the bulk of the material is taught with audio lessons.

See our Super-Detailed Pimsleur Review

Learn Portuguese Vocabulary with Apps

Increasing your vocabulary may be the best thing about language apps. Apps use methods such as spaced repetition systems (SRS), for example, to make study time more efficient. The easier a word is for you, the less often you’ll be asked to review it and vice versa. Take a look at the apps below and find the one you best prefer.

Best for Learning Words in Context

Clozemaster

Brazilian Portuguese 

Clozemaster is a gamified app that reminds me of a 90’s-style video game. Its focus is teaching vocabulary in context, presenting new words in sentences as opposed to isolated. Learning new words this way makes it easier to remember them and understand how they’re actually used.

Exercises are fairly one-dimensional, either fill-in-the-blank or multiple-choice, but the app uses elements of gamification like points and leaderboards to keep things interesting. Again, there’s a premium version but most people will find plenty of value in the free option.

See our Super-Detailed Clozemaster Review

Most Enjoyable Vocabulary Practice

Memrise

Brazilian and European Portuguese

Memrise is another insanely popular app. While the content is organized into courses, and can actually cover a wide variety of material, it’s most useful for building vocabulary. It’s essentially a gamified flashcard system that uses spaced repetition to make help you commit new words to long-term memory.

There are tons of different courses to choose from, both official Memrise courses and those created by users. Because of this, the quality and content can vary quite a bit from course to course. There is a premium version, but most users will find more than enough value in the free version of Memrise.

See our Super-Detailed Memrise Review

Tutors and Portuguese Language Exchange Apps

You will need to talk to some Portuguese speakers at some point if you are serious about learning Portuguese. While it might be great to take a trip to Brazil or Portugal, this isn’t an option for a lot of people. Let’s look at some of the apps that can help you connect with some native speakers.

Best Online Tutor Platform

italki

Brazilian and European Portuguese

In my opinion, italki is easily the best place to find a tutor and a good option for finding language exchange partners as well. One of the major benefits is that you can book classes directly from a teacher, making it far cheaper and more flexible than other places.

There are currently over 160 Portuguese teachers available, many of them offering classes for under $10 per hour. There are two types of teachers: community tutors and professional teachers. The professional teachers have a professional qualification, and anybody can be a community tutor. Community tutors tend to charge a bit less and classes are typically less formal, usually conversation-based.

Italki is also an excellent place to find a language exchange partner. Many learners write posts looking for partners, and adding and messaging friends is easy. Right now get a $10 credit with your first purchase.

See our Super-Detailed italki Review

Preply

Brazilian and European Portuguese

Preply is another online tutor platform with a ton of teachers. While there are plenty of tutors offering good prices and high flexibility, tutors aren’t treated as well here as the other platforms. If you do go with Preply, keep in mind that tutors aren’t paid at all for trial lessons (which aren’t free). 

Exclusive 50% discount for ALR readers! Make sure to use our link to receive it.

See our Super-Detailed Preply Review

Best for Finding a Language Exchange Partner

HelloTalk

Brazilian and European Portuguese

HelloTalk is perhaps the best and most popular language exchange app around. It’s really easy to use and begin chatting with people all over the world. They have an absurdly large amount of users interested in practicing their language skills.

You can message and make voice or video calls. Additionally, there are lots of extra useful features like translations, a way to make writing corrections, groups, and more. English speakers will find it especially easy to find language partners. 

See our Super-Detailed HelloTalk Review

Tandem

Brazilian and European Portuguese

Tandem is another very popular language exchange app that makes it easier for language learners to connect and help each other out. It has similar features to HelloTalk, but the apps have a different overall feel and slightly different community. Compared to HelloTalk, Tandem’s design can almost feel like a dating app.

See our Super-Detailed Tandem Review

Maybe Try These Portuguese Learning Apps

Are the options we’ve mentioned not quite what you’re looking for? Then the options below may be worth checking out. They may not have made our top choices, but they’re popular choices and have some good things going for them.

Rocket Portuguese

Brazilian Portuguese

Rocket Portuguese features audio lessons and exercises that are repetitive and monotonous, even if they do contain a lot of explanations and opportunities to practice. The price however is probably too high for what’s on offer. While the course aims to provide practice in a variety of language skills, there are simply better alternatives that are also less expensive.

See our Super-Detailed Rocket Portuguese Review

Busuu

Brazilian Portuguese

Busuu is probably most similar to Babbel but with a nicer interface and less helpful grammar explanations. They also integrate a language exchange aspect where you can get feedback on your writing or speech.

See our Super-Detailed Busuu Review

Ling

European Portuguese

Ling is a Duolingo-esque app that also has writing and speaking practice, example dialogues, chatbot practice, and more. It’s fun and intuitive, although probably best for beginner and lower-intermediate speakers.

See our Super-Detailed Ling Review

Udemy

Brazilian and European Portuguese

Udemy is a platform where pretty much anyone can create a course for pretty much anything, including Portuguese. Because it’s so easy to post a course, you’ll find some unique courses as well as some of varying quality. Be sure to wait until a course is reasonably priced as sales are frequent and significant.

Mango Languages

Brazilian Portuguese

Mango Languages utilizes some cool features like color-coded text, a literal translation option and phonetic descriptions, but it’s priced a bit higher than similar apps. Overall, it could make a decent option for beginning students. 

See our Super-Detailed Mango Languages Review

Mondly

Brazilian Portuguese

This is another app I would find it hard to justify paying for. It does some things well but mostly performs poorly. It would be most useful for someone trying to learn a few key phrases before a vacation.

See our Super-Detailed Mondly Review

Rosetta Stone Portuguese

Brazilian Portuguese

Rosetta Stone Portuguese is one of the most well-known resources for learning Portuguese languages. It takes an immersive approach to teaching and is widely used by corporations and individuals alike. High levels of repetition and an absence of translations or explanations are hallmarks of the course. Rosetta Stone course could be most suitable for learners who don’t mind repetitive exercises and prefer to learn from pictures and context rather than translations and explanations.

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See our Super-Detailed Rosetta Stone Portuguese Review

Best Free(mium) Apps for Learning Portuguese

Is learning Portuguese something you really want to try but you don’t have the budget for some of the apps mentioned above? Here are our budget friendly options for you to choose from.

Best Free Interactive Course

Duolingo

Brazilian Portuguese

Pretty much anyone who has ever considered learning a second language has heard of Duolingo. It’s a place where a lot of people get their toes wet. While it’s great that they offer a free way for anyone to start learning Portuguese, the truth is that serious learners are probably better off spending their time elsewhere.

The exercises in Duolingo are fun and convenient, but the app suffers from robotic audio recordings and unrealistic sentences that won’t serve you in the real world. You also won’t get any grammar explanations with the app version.

That said, casual learners or those with motivational struggles are the ones that could benefit the most from Duolingo. It does a great job of getting you to study a little bit each day and it’s fun to use. 

See our Super-Detailed Duolingo Review

Best Free Reading Extension

Readlang

Brazilian Portuguese translations, but can also be used for European Portuguese texts 

Readlang is a web app that makes it easier to look up words as you read content online. Just click on a word while reading and it’ll be translated for you. Additionally, you can have full phrases translated, but that’s limited to 10 per day before you’d need to upgrade to their paid plan at $5/month. There’s no limit on individual word translations. Words you look up are saved for later flashcard practice.

Best for Customizable Vocabulary Practice

Anki

Brazilian and European Portuguese

Anki is similar to Memrise in that they’re both essentially flashcard apps. While they can both be used to learn just about anything, they’re most commonly used to memorize new words. Where Memrise is very welcoming to newcomers, Anki appeals more to the veteran language learner looking to customize their learning experience.

Anki isn’t known for its sleekness, but you can make it do pretty much anything you’d want a flashcard app to do. It’s free everywhere except on iTunes, where it’ll cost $25 to download (iPhone users can still use it for free in a mobile browser). Anki also has quite a few shared decks for learning Portuguese that you can import and use.

Best Free University Courses

Coursera

Brazilian Portuguese 

Coursera is a platform that offers access to free online university courses. There are Portuguese language courses and courses on other subjects taught in Portuguese. They offer certification upon completion for those that are willing to pay.

Best Freemium Course Offerings

edX

Brazilian Portuguese 

edX is an online platform that offers access to many university courses for free with certificates available for purchase upon completion. You’ll be able to find courses explicitly teaching Portuguese as well as courses teaching other subjects in Portuguese (a good option for more advanced learners).

So, What is the Best App for YOU to Learn Portuguese?

There may not be as many apps to learn Portuguese as, say, Mandarin Chinese or English, but there are still plenty worth using.

Although apps are great, there are other ways to study Portuguese as well. It is always smart to have different resources aside from just apps to help you learn Portuguese. We recommend that you check out our list of favorite online Portuguese courses and the best podcasts for learning the language.

Are there any useful apps for learning Portuguese the we’ve missed? Do let us know!

2 thoughts on “30 Best Apps To Learn Portuguese (Brazilian and European)”

  1. And also Lingodeer does not. It took me a while to see that, which is frustrating.

    Memrise DOES teach Euro. Portuguese. I love Pimsleur, but they only have one level, and I really learn well with Duolingo’s format, but they only have Brazilian. Practice Portuguese is EU format, but I personally don’t learn well the way they teach.

  2. Bonnie J Williamson

    The title fooled me. You never stated which apps taught European Portuguese. Duolingo does not.

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