Overview of the Portuguese Programmatic Course

You learn easily from the Portuguese Programmatic Course by imitating and repeating the dialogues of natural, everyday conversations recorded on the cassettes or cd's by native speakers. A variety of drills and exercises help you develop fluency while guiding you to the correct intonation and pronunciation. At the end of each lesson unit in Volume 1 is a brief "culture capsule," - recorded in English, that provides insight into the language usage and customs of Brazilian Portuguese. Volume 2 will extend your vocabulary and facility in more complex dialogues.

FAST Preface

The Brazilian Portuguese Familiarization and Short-term Training (FAST) Course was written by Neire Barim Johnson, Portuguese Language and Culture Instructor, under the supervision of Stephen Zappala, Chairman of the Department of Romance Languages, and Jane Kamide, Section Head. Mr. Zappala wrote the Language Notes and Thought Translation sections. consultant for the text was Martha Gowland, FAST Course coordinator. Initial formatting and editing was done by Michael Allen and Christina Hoffman, who also made arrangements for publication. Typing of the text was done by Neire Johnson with assistance from Myriam Bourdin. Field testing of the materials was done by Neire Johnson with the assistance of Silede Gross, Maria Ryan, and Jane Kamide.

The recordings were made in the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Language Laboratory studio, with the technical assistance of Jose Ramirez and Mark Macklow. The voicing was done by Carmen Alves, Cassio Castro Miranda, Marcio Dos Santos, Zoe Green, Silede Gross, Neire Johnson, Walber Marinho, Maria Ryan, Marisa Werlang, and Stephen Zappala.

The art work was done by Anee Meagher-Cook, with contributions from Roberto Kamide, in consultation with John McClelland, Head of the FSI Audio-Visual Unit. Special thanks go to Zoe Green, Silede Gross, and Marisa Werlang for contributing with illustrations for the text.

We are grateful to the many generations of language students who have also contributed to the development of the text with their useful comments.

FAST Methodology - The Step Approach

Here is an explanation of the methodology used in a FAST course. The order of these lessons will help you obtain the language skills and confidence needed to deal with any given situation. In class, of course, things will not always go smoothly - nor should they. Your teacher is responsible for assessing your progress and attitude throughtout the lessons and is also responsible for making adjustments to your needs whenever sensible and necessary.

Self-confidence is the ultimate goal of a FAST course. How you come to the language is as important as how much language you learn. The sequence of these lessons has been proven successful at FSI. It is important that you follow the sequence as given. Inverting the order or skipping steps will seriously diminish your gains. Both teachers and students find this approach more natural, less arduous and at least as productive as other approaches.

Preliminary Step

Prior to in-class study, you will have a chance to become familiear with the new lesson. With a sample dialog on tape to take home and listen to, you will "get acquainted" with the new situation and the new language. "Get acquainted" means just that - by no means are you expected to memorize anything before coming to class.

When you listen to the tape, notice that the native speaker's part in the dialog is somewhat richer and fuller than the American's part. This has been done purposely since, once you are in Brazil, you will be interacting with native speakers who use a higher level of speech - one which only needs to be understood, rather than repeated.

Step One:   Setting the Scene

Words and phrases are easier understood and more easily recalled if they are learned in a usage context. The setting described in this section will help you imagine where, when and with whom you will use the language you are about to study. Always take a moment to read the description in this section silently.

Step Two:   Hearing It

Now with books closed, you will listen to the dialog, trying to guess what is going on. You should listen for familiar sounding words, trying to relate them to one another in meaningful ways. Eventually, of course, your goal is to find out some answers to the following questions: What is the dialog about? What is the American trying to do? Does s/he succeed? Does the native speaker understand? What is the native speaker doing? How is s/he reacting. After the first time, you may listen to the tape as many times as needed, still with your book closed. Afterwards, with assistance from the teacher, you and your classmates will help each other in making sense of what is being said.

Step Three:   Seeing It

Sample Dialog

Many students, especially Americans, learn well through the eye. As the tape is played again, this time you look at the dialog while you listen. After this listening session, students will try to guess at the meaning of some of the new words. You should be aware of 1) cognates that have the same origin as English words, and which may resemble English in spelling and/or pronunciation; and 2) contextual clues.

Filling in the Blanks

In each of the "Filling in the Blanks" exercises, you will hear the dialog one sentence at a time. After each sentence, you will be given time to write - as best as you can - however many of the missing words you can remember. The purpose of this exercise is to help you begin to "fix" the language in your mind. Whatever blanks remain may be filled by re-doing these exercises at home. Afterwards, you may check the spelling by looking at the printed dialog.

Step Four:   Taking It Apart

Contextual Equivalents

As your teacher pronounces each of the words, the entire class as a group repeats, always paying attention to the English translations given. After this choral reptition, the teacher pronounces the item again, but this time you will be called upon to repeat individually.

As a test of memory, the teacher will select the Portuguese items at random and call upon individual students with books closed to translate them. Finally, you will open you book and, covering the Portuguese side, individually give the Portuguese version of the various items. After working with the vocabulary items, you will study the language notes, asking the teacher for clarification as needed.

Step Five:   Getting the Feel of It

Additional Vocabulary

This section is normally not worked on in class unless time and interest warrant it.

Pronunciation Practice

This step begins with pronunciation practices A&B that focus on specific sounds or sounds combinations. You will be called upon, with books open, to pronounce items individually after the same items by reading them without the teacher's model. Correction is provided as needed.

In pronunciation practice C, the same thing is done with the American's lines in the lesson dialog. A smooth and natural rendition of the lines is the goal.

Brief Exchanges

This section consists of various sets of stimulus-response items that are designed to illustrate certain grammatical patterns. Each exercises should be done in the following manner:

• A)  With books open, the teacher gives each stimulus, followed by its response, each item having a different student repeat the response. (This sub-step is repeated as often as necessary.)
• B)  With books closed, you will be called upon individually to respond to stimuli selected at random by the teacher. Responses need not be identical to what appears in the text, provided they follow the pattern. (This sub-step is repeated as often as necessary.)
• C)  With books open, students ask the question and teacher/students respond.

Step Six:   Putting It Together

Now that you have examined and practiced saying bits and pieces of the language, you will re-assemble the language you have learned, focusing on usage.

The beginning lessons contain various re-assembling exercises that may be done orally, in class, or assigned as written homework.

Thought Translation

This section is designed to test your ability to use what has been presented, to convey thoughts or ideas that may come to you in English and which contain words that you cannot translate literally.

Step Seven:   Varying It

This step introduces variant lines, first in the American's part of the dialog and later in the Brazilian's part. Here is the procedure that will be followed:

• A)  With books open, the teacher reads the model once.
• B)  With books closed, the teacher reads the model for
• C)  With books open, the teacher reads each variant line, each time having a different student repeat.
• D)  with books closed, the teacher gives the Brazilian line: different students respond from memory with one of the variant lines.

Step Eight:   Making It Work

The teacher, taking the part of the Brazilian, enacts the original dialog with each student. This role-playing continues until students feel comfortable doing it and can do it fairly easily. It is important that roles not be reversed.

Step Nine:   Using It

Everything that has happened so far has been aimed at helping you learn to do some new things with the language. It all leads to this critical step, where you try applying what you have learned to other situations. For the first time in the lesson, the communication becomes real.

Depending on the context of the lesson, you will engage in various activities which will call upon the language you have learned. YOu may ask the teacher questions, or provide the teacher with some information, or set up a situation that would involve doing the kinds of things you have practiced during the lesson.

Except for role-playing situations, the information exchanged should be real information, not imaginary. Neither the teacher nor the students should know what the other will say. However, if a question arises about personal history, the answer may provide some real information- or make up an answer.

You may draw information from world geography, practical or cultural information, personal history or preference, or something else. The object is to leave students with the feeling that the lesson has enabled them to do something worthwhile.