Review Detail

I used Pimsleur Brazilian Portuguese I to prepare for a mission trip to the city of Aracaju in Sergipe, Brazil. I purchased the 30-CD set and listened to them in the car for about 6 months prior to my trip. I finished 28 of the CDs. When I arrived in Brazil, our interpreters were BLOWN AWAY by my pronunciation. At one point, I asked about a word I didn't know: "O que quer dizer a palavra 'mensagem'?" (What does the word 'mensagem' mean?) The interpreter later told me he couldn't figure out why I didn't know that word (it means 'message'), since I clearly was a native Portuguese speaker! I had numerous people tell me they thought I was Brazilian, and when I would greet people, they would immediately start speaking to me in Portuguese, because I sounded like a native! I was able to understand about 40% of what people were saying, and was able to communicate about 75% of what I wanted to say without assistance. My travel companions would call me over if an interpreter was unavailable, to ask me to help in a conversation! When we left, the missionary's wife, who has lived in Brazil for 35 years, asked which program I had used, because she wanted to recommend it to others. I told her, "Pimsleur"!!!