🇧🇷 Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese graded readers: what to read at each level
Graded readers for Portuguese are fewer than for Spanish or French, and a large share target European Portuguese, whose pronunciation and some grammar differ from Brazil's. If your goal is Brazilian Portuguese, it is worth checking which variety a book uses before buying it.
ReadNative's Portuguese book is The Alienist, Machado de Assis's satire, retold in Brazilian Portuguese as one graded story from A1 to B1 over 36 chapters. It is free, and you can read the first chapters free in your browser, tapping any word for its English meaning or any sentence for a translation.
Brazilian Portuguese graded readers on ReadNative
What to read at each level
A1
Present tense and everyday vocabulary. The early chapters of The Alienist — the man of science, Dona Evarista, the town council — introduce the characters slowly.
A2
Past tenses (pretérito perfeito and imperfeito) and more dialogue. Continue The Alienist as the Green House fills up and the town turns against the doctor.
B1
Longer chapters, the personal infinitive and some subjunctive. The final chapters of The Alienist reach B1.
B2
Brazilian fiction, crônicas (short newspaper essays, a very Brazilian genre that is ideal for learners), and Machado de Assis's original short stories.
Not sure where you are? Take the Brazilian Portuguese vocabulary test or check a text with the difficulty checker.
Questions
What is a graded reader?
A book written or retold with controlled vocabulary and grammar for a specific level, so a learner can read a whole story in Portuguese with little dictionary use. The aim is lots of comfortable reading, not decoding.
Brazilian or European Portuguese?
ReadNative teaches Brazilian Portuguese. Readers of either variety understand each other's written language well, but learners should be consistent at the start.
How do I know if a book is the right level?
If you understand the story and need to look up only a few words per page, it is right. If every sentence needs help, drop down a level; if you never tap anything, move up. In Portuguese the step from graded books to native texts is steep, so do not rush it.