WHO WE ARE

Portuguese Global - International Academy of Portuguese is Europe's leading school of Portuguese. We offer face-to-face and online training in London, Lisbon, the Algarve, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro. Worldwide online training in group classes or one-to-one is also available.
After a temporary suspension due to the pandemic, we have now resumed face-to-face training in London, Lisbon, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
But our online services became also a very important part of what we do. So we now offer all the services in both formats (face-to-face and online) From our offices in London, Lisbon, the Algarve and São Paulo, we organise one to one or group training for individuals and corporate training (in-house training).
Group courses in Lisbon, the Algarve, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo are available through local partnerships.


OUR HISTORY

We started off in 2007 under the brand LinguaDireta Portuguese Courses, having later re-branded to "Portuguese Global". 15 years on we are now the biggest provider of Portuguese teaching in the UK and the only one specialising in all the variants of the language, training hundreds of learners each year. We currently offer both face-to-face and online teaching, which means we are reaching sudents from the the UK, Ireland, Continental Europe, and as far as the USA, Dubai or Singapore, having become Europe's largest school of Portuguese as a second language.
At Portuguese Global - International Academy of Portuguese, we pride ourselves in offering a dedicated and personalised service provided by highly qualified teachers, first-class course materials and up-to-date methods and techniques.
All our teachers are professional native speakers with a relevant academic degree, and specific training in "Portuguese as a second language".

We are proud of our portfolio of clients which includes major corporations and institutions operating in Portugal, Angola, Brazil, as well as individuals learning Brazilian or European Portuguese for personal reasons, and school and university students.
Our clients include the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office, BNP Paribas, Hogan Lovells, Ernest & Young, and Exxon Mobil, among others. Individuals learning Portuguese for personal reasons also comprise an important part of our clients.

WHY CHOOSE PORTUGUESE GLOBAL
  • Swift and Competent Solutions:
    Our exclusive focus on Portuguese allows us to be highly specialised and to fulfil any requirement promptly, however complex or specific. It also enables us to offer culturally informed teaching, cross-variant resources optimisation and high overall quality control for competent solutions.
  • Personalised Service:
    Your particular needs will be discussed with one of our expert linguists in person or over the phone or in person. The Director of Studies monitors progress, liaising whenever necessary with the student and teacher.
  • Complete Satisfaction or Your Money Back:
    Prior to allocating a teacher, we will send you a proposal containing the teacher's profile for your approval. You may change your mind after the first lesson, and suspend the course, ask for a different teacher or simply have your money back.(*)
  • Quality Services at Fair Prices:
    Our strategy of resource optimisation allows us to provide high quality services at normal market prices.
      • (*) Applies to one-to-one services only.

LOCATION

Our school is in 19-21 Ridgmount St. London WC1E 7AH (Bloomsbury/Fitzrovia), a 2 min walk from the Goodge Street tube station, and seven minutes from the Tottenham Court Road station.
We offer group coureses face-t0-face and online, with Zoom. One-to-one lessons are exclusively taught online, except for corporate training (in-hourse training organised by us for companies. We also deliver full immersion courses in Lisbon, Porto, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
We have offices in Lisbon and London. Our offices in London are located in 30 Moorgate, London EC2R 6PJ (mail only), and 136 High Holborn, London WC1V 6PX (LABS office).


WHAT SETS US APART

We only teach Portuguese. Portuguese Global - International Academy of Portuguese® offers a team of high-calibre professional teachers, comprising Portuguese and Brazilian native speakers with outstanding CVs and extensive experience.
Our classes are selectively designed for those wishing to learn in individual lessons or group courses, in London and Lisbon, at our centres, offices and homes, and worldwide through partners in Brazil or online training.
Focusing exclusively on the Portuguese language makes the learning experience unique; paying maximum attention to detail, optimising methodologies, and resources across the different variants of the Portuguese language, and deepening its cultural dimension. It also enables us to provide specialised services like Portuguese for Spanish Speakers.
In the highly competitive market of language teaching, nothing but excellence will keep us in business. We are a solidly results-driven, dynamic and modern organisation, where teachers go through a rigorous selection process, new technologies are fully applied to education, methodologies are cutting-edge and teachers receive in-house training.

All our classrooms are equipped with up-to-date teaching technology, including interactive electronic whiteboards allowing the use of audio-visual and digital media.


METHODOLOGY

Learning a new language is much more than getting to grips with different grammar and vocabulary. Most people need to use the language to interact - speaking and communicating with other Portuguese speakers. Our teachers therefore follow a communicative methodology. The method prioritises communicative oral performance, but the written aspect is not neglected. Of course, sometimes we have special requirements which require some focus on writing or reading skills - students preparing for their GCSEs, A Levels or university assignments, or corporate students who need to learn how to produce a report. Every course is always tailor-made according to the specific requirements of each student. We can equip you with the right tools to learn the language fast and in a culturally-sensitive way.


OUR FIELD OF EXPERTISE

We provide teaching services focused on the Portuguese language and Portuguese-speaking cultures. We are always seeking to enrich our knowledge bases, so we can respond to any demands about the languages and cultures we teach at any level. This includes teaching adults for personal or business reasons, children, GCSE or A Level exams, special courses of Portuguese for Spanish speakers, or indeed any request in the domain of our target languages and cultures.


Here's a list of cases that kept us busy recently:

  • >> Anna has a house in the Algarve. She wants to be able to talk to the locals in Portuguese. She joined our 10 week group course programme, and has now completed three levels!
  • >> Mert works for a Bank located in Canary Wharf and wants to relocate do São Paulo, Brazil. Having a good grasp of the Portuguese language will give him a competitive edge to get the job.
  • >> Kate is starting Spanish and Portuguese studies at Cambridge this year. With an intermediate knowledge of Spanish but no previous knowledge of Portuguese, she is following the university advice and taking a Portuguese for Spanish speakers course with us, prior to the start of the academic year.
  • >> Chris is an American who wants to be able to converse with his Portuguese fiancée's family and friends. He lives in London but actually took Skype lessons for convenience!
  • >> Alistair is a director at a multinational with business relations with Portugal. He travels there frequently for meetings and needs to be able to socialise and also to participate in business meetings.
  • >> David is a partner in one of the Big Four. He travels frequently to Angola and wants to be able to converse socially and participate in meetings using Portuguese.
  • >> Marco is preparing a GCSE exam in Portuguese.
  • >> Angelo and Hugo are two brothers of 7 and 12 respectively, the sons of a Portuguese father, both born in London. They speak little Portuguese. Their parents want to go back to their native Madeira later this year, and want to minimise the impact of them joining the Portuguese educational system.