How long does it take to learn Brazilian Portuguese if I already speak Spanish on a B2 level?

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trickybilly
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How long does it take to learn Brazilian Portuguese if I already speak Spanish on a B2 level?

Postby trickybilly » Sat Aug 20, 2022 1:49 pm

I speak Spanish on a B2 level. I would like to learn Brazilian Portuguese on at least a B1 or B2 level. I have at least 1-2 hours daily for language learning. According to your mind how long will it take?
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Re: How long does it take to learn Brazilian Portuguese if I already speak Spanish on a B2 level?

Postby iguanamon » Sat Aug 20, 2022 4:16 pm

Welcome to the forum, trickybilly. I don't think anyone can give you an exact number. I learned Portuguese after having self-learned Spanish to C level. I thought it would be easy. The languages are 80% similar. I tried the various "From Spanish to Portuguese" courses. What didn't work for me with those courses was that they forced me to see Portuguese through a Spanish lens.

It wasn't until I decided to treat Portuguese as a language in its own right that I actually started to learn Portuguese. I am not saying to forget the knowledge of Spanish. The vocabulary is similar, though there are many and numerous "falsos amigos". The grammar is similar- though there is the future subjunctive and personal infinitive.

I can't remember how long it took me to learn Portuguese to B2 after having learned Spanish, but I can say at least a year if not longer, since you specifically mentioned B2 level, I assume that means listening, speaking and writing too... not just reading.

The courses I used were the DLI Portuguese Basic Course an Pimsleur 1-3. I used them concurrently. The DLI course is the most thorough and complete course I have ever used. Pimsleur helps with accent and automaticity. They work well together.
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Re: How long does it take to learn Brazilian Portuguese if I already speak Spanish on a B2 level?

Postby anitarrc » Sat Aug 20, 2022 4:26 pm

Caveat: I am not too good at judging levels. I did a level test for C2 French 15 years ago and passed. But I know I still make grammar mistakes, mainly in the use of legal subjontif and passé antérieur, so I prefer to rate myself C1.

To your question: 4 years ago my Spanish was definitely fluent albeit not error free
All of a sudden a visit to Sao Paulo and a job offer came up. Since they had to ask me 100s of questions, raise the money for my flight etc I had about 3 months to prepare. Started Duolingo PT from US-EN.
Soon switched to PT from ES which was a better idea to navigate the pitfalls of portunhol.
Still struggling with my future employer's audio messages, I found a WhatsApp group about 4x4s in Portuguese. That helped a lot.
When I arrived I still struggled at customs and immigration but to my great relief they smiled and corrected me a bit.

Everybody will understand you if you use a Spanish word or wrong grammar. Don't worry. The only problem is the speed in SP
Unfortunately Bolsonaro's new rules destroyed the plan to move, but now I ended up in Luxembourg writing prose about railway repairs from French to Portuguese and it works, with some help from word's grammar tool.

Priberam and dicio are also indispensable for the finer points.

Folha de Sao Paulo is also great to improve your vocabulary!
Last edited by anitarrc on Sun Aug 28, 2022 7:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How long does it take to learn Brazilian Portuguese if I already speak Spanish on a B2 level?

Postby Odair » Sat Aug 20, 2022 4:28 pm

B2 is too little, there is still a lot more to learn than that what you have learnt so far, even in were only to continue focusing in Spanish. Transferring that little knowledge to Portuguese, it will only give you a small head-start.
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Re: How long does it take to learn Brazilian Portuguese if I already speak Spanish on a B2 level?

Postby leosmith » Sun Aug 28, 2022 2:36 am

trickybilly wrote:I speak Spanish on a B2 level. I would like to learn Brazilian Portuguese on at least a B1 or B2 level. I have at least 1-2 hours daily for language learning. According to your mind how long will it take?

I'm a native English speaker with Spanish about C1 and French about B2. Last August I wanted to travel to a country that was actually open to tourists without testing on arrival, so I chose Brazil and started studying. I studied it for about 3 months, 3 hours per day, then went to Brazil for 1 month. I would say that my level at the end of the trip was about B2.

In your case, maybe 6 months at 1-2 hours per day to reach B1? Good luck!
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