I am taking private Portuguese classes via Skype with Betania. I love what I am learning!! She tailors my lessons to suit my "mixed level needs." This means so much to me, and I am making progress very quickly. The nice thing about skype is that you can learn from the comfort of home, save travel time, & be eco-friendly by not wasting gas. Adeus parking, hello class in pjs on your couch with a cup of tea!!! I met Luciana and Vanessa at a Brazilian language meetup--they also teach and are very warm and welcoming. Luciana coordinates payments and matches students with teachers. She also writes a blog and has great tips on language usage right on her webpage--streetsmartbrazil.com. I am getting exactly what I need for my work, while having fun at the same time. It is very rewarding!!! Don't be shy, get started now!! A new group class starts in Jan. 2012. Boa sorte (good luck!!) read more

I'm what you might call a linguaphile. Before I found StreetSmartBrazil, I spent a lot of time trying to find the best online resources to learn portuguese on my own, which is not an easy undertaking. Just searching the web for "Portuguese lessons" brings up hundreds of websites, podcasts, software, books, videos and cd's, a few of which are really good, but most of which are poorly done, not worth your time, overpriced, or just trying to sell you something. And unless you have some brazilian friends who are very very patient, even the best of these won't give you the opportunity to actually converse with a native speaker, which I think is essential. After wading through this morass of online language instruction, you have no idea how pleased I was to find StreetSmartBrazil. For what I think is an extremely reasonable price, Luciana and her instructors will teach you Portuguese face-to-face (over the web via Skype in my case), not just the textbook grammar, but also the most colloquial, urban ways of speaking. No matter what you've heard, Portuguese is a very different language from Spanish. There is a lot of overlap in the vocabulary but the grammar, usage, and especially pronunciation is far removed. You can't just learn Spanish and expect to speak Portuguese. Now, as far removed as Portuguese is from Spanish, so again is Brazilian Portuguese from European Portuguese. So you need to be careful about what variant a book or course is going to teach you. You can't learn European Portuguese and expect to speak believable Brazilian Portuguese. And here's where things get interesting. Because actual spoken, informal Brazilian Portuguese is yet a further step removed from the formal written Brazilian Portuguese that 90% of all materials teach you. I've learned that Brazilian Portuguese is a rich language with numerous regional variations and often many different ways of saying the same thing, some of which are more common than others. Brazilian Portuguese also exhibits a high level of what linguists call "diglossia", which means that the language people use when they speak informally to each other is very different from the more formal written language (which is the language that mosdt books and courses really teach you). This difference is in fact very large in Brazilian Portuguese compared to other languages, even English. And this brings me to the idea of "usage". Usage is all those ways that the informal spoken language takes on a life of its own, separate from the written language. Usage is what really makes your speech sound natural and native-like. Textbooks, online courses and audio courses can do a great job of teaching grammar and vocabulary, but even the best audio courses and textbooks, many of which I use and like, have a big problem: they don't teach you usage. And if you don't take the time to learn usage, your speech may be intelligible but will sound overly formal or a little strange. Pretty much the only way to learn usage is by interacting with native speakers. And usage is, in my mind, where the real value in StreetSmart Brazil lies, simply because you can't learn it anywhere else. So, to sum up, these are the three biggest benefits of SSB: 1. pronunciation and accent 2. usage 3. conversational practice Conversational practice is so important, because having regular conversation with a native speaker can help you really internalize all the grammar and vocabulary you've learned. Plus you will learn all those short little words and phrases that speakers use to keep the conversation flowing - things like "I see", "Oh really?", "To tell you the truth..." - which are a great help to a new speaker. Instead of a one size fits all approach, SSB's instructors will show you the ways that most people actual speak, teaching you the variations that are most common for where you are traveling, including many expressions that aren't in any textbook. That said, this is not just for learning informal phrases. Luciana has developed her own very thorough teaching materials and is an excellent teacher when it comes to grammar and vocabulary. I've had lessons with her and with another SSB instructor, and both experiences have been excellent. I really appreciated that both instructors put a lot of effort into creating individualized lessons, as well as producinging materials, blog posts, videos, and running a discussion forum so that there are many different ways to engage with the language and brazilian culture. I feel a lot better spending money to learn from a personal tutor who is genuinely invested in my learning than buying an expensive piece of software. read more

I've only just started learning Portuguese with Street Smart Brazil and I can't rave enough about my experience and the quality of instruction. I love being able to take my classes over skype, in the comfort of my home (I don't even have to change out of my PJ's!)- skipping a commute saves me tons of time. I'm also super impressed with the materials provided in the program; everything was created by the owner (Luciana) and it's clear that a lot of time, effort and energy was put into developing the learning guide and workbook. The style of teaching is the best part- it's clear that Luciana is passionate about what she does and that translates into every part of the learning experience. She's professional, always prepared, and enthusiastic! I've tried other classes in the Bay Area and Street Smart Brazil is definitely the way to go if you want to learn Portuguese. Another big plus? Her class rates are VERY reasonable. read more

I signed up to take Portuguese classes with Street Smart Brazil on a whim as I had decided to learn a new language as a New Year's Resolution for 2012. I've been really happy with my classes and would recommend that anyone interested in learning Portuguese sign up. Some of the other reviewers take classes via Skype, but I opted for the group classes and I attend once a week. Our groups have varied in size but they've been relatively small enough so that everyone has a chance to speak and practice. The material we've used has been a nice mix of grammar, listening exercises and conversation - and it's always felt relevant and current. The groups have been an interesting mix because there have been students who don't speak anything other than English and people who speak other languages like Spanish, but who are trying as hard as they can to not use it during class and really embrace Brazilian Portuguese. Sign up for a class if you're interested at all. You'll be speaking Portuguese before you know it. read more

Street Smart Brazil has been a terrific way for me to learn more Portuguese. I first met Luciana, the head of the school, when she subbed for my advanced Portuguese class at Berkeley last semester--she made a great impression, and her enthusiasm in that classroom was contagious! Berkeley gave me a grant to study 120 hours of Brazilian Portuguese this summer, and I decided to do it all with Street Smart Brazil. 20 hours a week is a lot of time to spend one-on-one with a language instructor (heck, it's a lot of time to spend one-on-one with anyone), but Luciana is delightful, which has kept the classes interesting. She is very flexible, and we hold most of our classes in person but some through Skype as well. Luciana has catered the course materials to fit my exact needs. For example, I'm more interested in the Portuguese language in general (including European and African Portuguese) than in slang specific to Brazil, so we don't focus too much attention on the Brazil-specific aspects of the language. For anyone heading to Brazil, though, I think these classes would be an excellent opportunity to familiarize yourself with the way the language is spoken by ordinary people in ordinary settings, and Luciana has prepared a ton of materials on the way Brazilians casually communicate. We've gone on a couple field trips to museums (and next week to Alcatraz), which has been a fun and interesting way to practice speaking in a variety of contexts. The language school is run extremely professionally. Although I didn't do much comparison shopping, it's my impression that the rates are very reasonable for one-on-one language instruction. I highly recommend this school. read more

Street Smart Brazil (http://www.streetsmartbrazil.com) is the best source I have found for learning Brazilian Portuguese. My background was simple, a unilingual American preparing to travel solo to Brazil for 15 days. Discovering that a majority of Brazilians do not speak English fluently left me with six months to learn as much Portuguese as possible prior to my trip. Learning another language only requires a few things: surrounding yourself with a great support system, focusing on what you find interesting and time. Identifying that my support system was a key component to my success I enlisted Street Smart Brazil to provide a framework to fast track my learning. I've worked with Luciana and her team at Street Smart Brazil since May 2012 taking a one hour lesson per week via Skype. I had the opportunity to work with three instructors from Street Smart Brazil all of whom are amazing language teachers. I was conversational within five months and found communicating with Brazilians to be quite easy including acting as a translator for some English-only speaking tourists having a tough time getting around in Brazil. I returned from Brazil in November and have continued my one hour Skype sessions with Street Smart Brazil. I highly recommend Street Smart Brazil to anyone wanting to learn Brazilian Portuguese. read more

I studied Brazilian Portuguese on my own for several months, using books, CDs, and some on-line resources. I had studied German, French, and Spanish in the past, but none of that prepared me for the complexity of Portuguese; in fact, one of my Portuguese textbooks said that having studied other languages could actually be a detriment. Anyway, I was about to give up completely when I contacted Street Smart Brazil and was lucky enough to get the owner, Luciana, as an instructor. In the first session (which was free,) she was able to assess my proficiency level and work with me to put together a program of study that was not only specifically tailored to my individual learning style but also my work schedule. (For example, when I'm on the road for business or vacation, I can still have my lessons via Skype, which for me is just as good as or even better than an in-person session; and with the iPhone Skype application, I can have my lessons even if I don't have my laptop with me.) Luciana develops her own material, but she's knowledgeable enough about other resources to recommend outside reference books and workbooks that are suited to my particular skill level and learning style, unlike other teachers I've had who rigidly adhere to a particular teaching method and insist on using one specific dictionary and/or workbook. There's also the StreetSmartBrazil.com web site, with a blog, "word of the week," and other resources. Another nice thing about Street Smart Brazil is that they really believe in an organic approach to teaching; for example, if I hear a particular phrase that I'm curious about in a Portuguese song, we'll incorporate that into the lesson. Or if I hear one of my Brazilian friends use a word I'm not familiar with, Luciana can explain not only the meaning, but also the regional and cultural context as well. So in any given session, we might study dialects, food, slang, and etiquette, along with gender agreement and verb conjugations. We progress at a pace that's comfortable for me, but Luciana is careful to make sure I'm challenged just enough to move forward but not so much as to be overwhelmed. It's a nice balance. With most other languages, I'd probably go with the traditional classroom, but from my experience with Portuguese, I strongly recommend the personalized and diverse approach that Street Smart Brazil provides. (At the very least, the free first session is worth the time.) Edit Remove read more

I totally love learning from Luciana at Street Smart Brazil. She did an excellent job preparing me for my trip to Brazil. She tailored our lessons and my homework in a way that I learned much more quickly an enjoyable than when I had tried with the Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur methods. I am continuing my lessons to know even more for my next trip. read more

It has been about a year since I've started taking classes with my instructor Tatiana. I used to consider Portuguese my second language, now I use it just as much as English. In my opinion, you won't find a better way to learn formal and coloquial Brazilian Portuguese. In addition to this, you're getting a living lesson in Brazilian culture. This has been the most rewarding experiences of my life. Having had a chance to have class with Tatiana, Jaqueline, and Luciana, I can tell you with certainty, that they all have a refreshing passion for teaching and helping others learn Portuguese! The passion that they demonstrate fuels me to complete all of my homework that Tatiana gives me every week that has challenged me every week to improve, my ability to read, write, and speak Portuguese. I can't thank Street Smart Brazil enough for all that this team of top notch teachers have done for me and my wife. As others have well stated on this site, the teachers are very flexible and adaptable to the needs of each individual student. My wife began taking classes once she couldn't get me to stop talking about all the things I was learning and the high quality of the classes. And while her language learning goals are different from mine, from the first lesson, my wife was hooked. I can't stress enough how wonderful this team of instructors are. They know their stuff and they will do all they can to make sure that you will too. You'll get your money's worth and more with Street Smart Brazil. Why not sign up today? It really is as good as it gets! read more

Street Smart Brazil is a wonderful resource for anyone wanting to learn not only the language of Portuguese, but also the culture of Brazil. I have been taking one-on-one classes with Daniela and trying to improve my Portuguese for an upcoming trip to Brazil. Daniela is muita simpática, and she is a terrific teacher. One on one skype classes are great! And the website is FULL of great information. read more