The Best Podcasts for Learning Portuguese

Listening to Portuguese podcasts is an excellent way to easily learn new vocabulary and improve your listening comprehension. If you aren’t too familiar with podcasts yet and would like to learn more, we recommend reading the beginning of this article.

The supply of Portuguese podcasts isn’t as rich as other languages, but we were still able to dig up several interesting and useful podcasts to help you lean Portuguese. Here they are!

The Best Podcasts for Learning Brazilian Portuguese

Beginner-Level Brazilian Portuguese Podcasts

BrazilianPodClass

This site has over 400 podcasts on a wide variety of topics. Every podcast sticks to a specific structure. First, dialogues, then commentary. And finally they introduce vocabulary to help you understand more about the topic at hand. There is a little bit of English in the beginning, but for the most part, the explanations are in Portuguese. Their podcasts are well made and are divided into beginning level and intermediate level podcasts. There are quite a few ads, but that’s understandable since they publish so much great free content. As a bonus, they have a series of comic-style videos.

Portuguese Pod 101

Each episode of this podcast begins with a common situation in daily life. The first couple of podcasts are easy to follow since the actors speak very slowly. We like the variety of topics, and the explanations in English are helpful for understanding the story.

Website — iTunes

PortugueseLingQ

PortugueseLingQ has about 40 different podcasts. They are rather short, so they’re good for a gradual introduction to Portuguese. Each episode introduces new phrases to listen to and learn. This site is only for beginners.

Website

Intermediate Level Brazilian Portuguese Podcasts

Brazilian Portuguese Pod 

Another Portuguese podcast site with explanations in English, Brazilian Portuguese Pod has about 100 episodes hosted by a Brazilian named Andrea Barbosa. The large variety of topics is easy for an intermediate learner to jump into and understand. The actual website is under construction, but the author produces free podcasts you can download at the link below.

Download Link

Semantica Portuguese 

This site offers a series of 35 podcasts focusing on grammar and vocabulary. Once again, some explanations are given in English. After each podcast, they follow up with the adventures of an American who travels to Brazil. The podcasts can’t be found on their website, but you can subscribe to Semantica on the iTunes store.

Website — iTunes

The Best Podcasts for Learning European Portuguese

Beginning Level European Portuguese Podcasts

Practice Portuguese

For those just beginning to learn European Portuguese, here’s an excellent site which focuses on a different topic for each podcast. The actors speak slowly, and, furthermore, you can find transcripts on the site. Also, for each episode, they give you a list of words and phrases that are going to be used.

Website — iTunes

Rádio e Televisão de Portugal — RTP Play

RTP is a Portuguese public radio and television channel. On its website, it offers a wide variety of free Portuguese podcasts. The site also broadcasts programs from the other channels that make up RTP.

Website

Expresso

A weekly newspaper, Expresso, produces quite a few different podcasts in Portuguese consisting of interviews and reports. Browse the site and listen to an episode of the ones that pique your interest.

Website

Advanced Level European Portuguese Podcasts

TSF — Portugal Pasado

Portugal Pasado is a radio series featuring characters who speak rather quickly. However, it can be a useful exercise for those who are confident in their advanced level of Portuguese.

Website — iTunes

If you know of another high-quality podcast for learning Portuguese, let us know about it in the comments!