7 Platforms to Learn Portuguese with Subtitles [Updated for September 2024]

Understanding spoken Portuguese can be more than a little tricky.

You can use subtitles to get a leg up so that you can enjoy Portuguese movies, TV shows and even YouTube channels, allowing you to practice your listening skills without being in over your head.

These seven resources for learning Portuguese with subtitles are a great way to dive into listening practice!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

1. Netflix

Put your Netflix subscription to great use!

Netflix offers tons of authentic content from around the world, including Portuguese-language TV and movies.

Perhaps best of all, the platform offers optional English subtitles, allowing you to turn them on and off to meet your learning needs and preferences. Beyond that, some options allow you to use subtitles in either English or Portuguese, making it easy to adjust the settings to meet your level, needs and goals.

To find Portuguese content, just search “Portuguese.” Really, it’s that easy! While you’ll also see a few English-language options in the mix, you’ll find plenty of authentic Portuguese shows and movies.

For instance, if you’re looking for a bingeable TV show, check out the dramatic “3%.”

2. FluentU

This immersive platform offers a collection of authentic videos and review exercises. You’ll find video clips from Brazilian and European Portuguese media, including movie trailers, music videos, news segments and much more.

You can choose if you want subtitles in Portuguese, English or both and toggle them on and off as you watch. But these aren’t normal subtitles—hover over or click on unfamiliar words to find their meaning, part of speech, a corresponding image and additional information.

When you hover over or click on a word, the video automatically pauses so you can review the information without missing anything. And by clicking on the word, you’ll get some example sentences and even additional videos that feature the word in other contexts so you can truly understand how it’s used.

FluentU tracks your progress and offers personalized quizzes and a flashcard feature so you can review new vocabulary and test your knowledge as you progress through the videos.  

You can also check out videos such as this one on the FluentU Portuguese YouTube channel:

3. Amazon

Your go-to shopping destination just got a little better! You can stock up on a nice selection of DVDs with Portuguese audio and optional subtitles. Just watch for regional restrictions before you purchase to make sure that you can use them at home.

On Amazon Prime Video, you can search for your favorite movies to check if they’re available. For instance, you might enjoy “Monstros S.A.” (“Monsters, Inc.”), which features Brazilian Portuguese audio and optional subtitles in English and/or Portuguese. Similarly, Portuguese students can check out “Aladdin,” and explore similar subtitle options.

One of the easiest ways to find subtitled movies in Portuguese on Amazon is to search “Brazilian subtitled” or “Brazilian edition movie.”

European Portuguese learners will have a bit less luck. While you can search “Portuguese subtitled,” the search will yield some movies with English audio and even some books. Instead, you may have to choose a specific European Portuguese movie and search for it by name.

4. Lyrics Training

Music fans, rejoice! You can practice your Portuguese skills by watching subtitled music videos.

Lyrics Training offers great music videos, like “O Sol” (“The Sun”) by Vitor Kley. But Lyrics Training has a twist! The subtitles are incomplete, and your task is to fill in the missing words.

Luckily, if you mishear something, just hit “Rewind” to replay the most recent line.

You set the level, so this program is appropriate for beginning through advanced Portuguese students. Beginners fill in fewer words, while expert-level students are challenged to fill in every word. If the challenge seems too great, you can also print the lyrics for easy access.

5. Practice Portuguese

For students focusing on European Portuguese, it can be more challenging to find authentic resources. But Practice Portuguese is a YouTube channel that can hook you up with great listening activities that focus on primarily European Portuguese.

Practice Portuguese offers an array of videos designed specifically for Portuguese learners, but the real highlight is the subtitled options. Animated dialogues frequently offer subtitles in Portuguese, making it easy to read along as you listen.

Plus, the animations make it easy to figure out word meanings. For instance, Portuguese students can learn some food vocabulary, as well as some differences between European and Brazilian Portuguese, by watching “Encomendar uma Pizza” (“Order a Pizza”). 

To find subtitled options, just look at the video titles: The channel clearly labels its subtitled options.

6. Easy Languages

Movies, TV and music are undeniably great, but if you’re looking to travel, you might want to hear what real people on the street sound like. Easy Languages is a terrific YouTube channel that lets you listen to real Portuguese speakers.

And the subtitling’s pretty irresistible: Videos have dual captioning, allowing you to see both the Portuguese caption alongside its English translation simultaneously. This makes it easy to read along with what you hear, while quickly looking at the translation for any words or phrases you don’t understand.

The “Easy Brazilian Portuguese” playlist features on-the-street interviews with real Brazilians.

You can also learn about Brazilian life and culture with videos like “A birthday in Brazil.”

7. wwiTV

If you want to watch real Brazilian TV, wwiTV is your hookup. This free website provides links to livestreams from some of the biggest TV channels in Brazil.

While the livestreams don’t have subtitles, some of the recorded clips on wwiTV feature auto-generated subtitles. You can set these subtitles to Portuguese or auto-translate to English by clicking the “CC” in the bottom right-hand corner of the YouTube videos on the site, like in the case of the recorded broadcast for NBR TV.

Let’s be real: auto-generated subtitles aren’t perfect. They do get some words wrong. However, when people speak clearly, as they do on news broadcasts, they can be pretty helpful.

Plus, more advanced Portuguese students could make an additional learning activity out of finding the errors in the subtitles.

Why Learn Portuguese with Subtitles?

So, how can you benefit from learning Portuguese with subtitles:

• Using subtitles can allow you to access more authentic material. Real-world audio-based content can be challenging for students to approach, but with subtitles available, even beginners can enjoy media intended for native speakers.
• Watching authentic materials can help you pick up valuable vocabulary you might otherwise miss, like Brazilian slang.
• Using English subtitles can also make it easy to quickly determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases. Without subtitles, you’ll have to either guess a word’s meaning based on context or pause what you’re watching to look it up.
• Finally, using Portuguese subtitles can help you connect spoken and written Portuguese. Reading and listening are two different skills and it can be hard to connect the spoken and written words in your mind. However, if you read along in Portuguese as you listen, the mental connection can become clearer.

 

These seven resources to learn Portuguese with subtitles might be just what you need to improve your listening skills without being overwhelmed. Use these subtitled resources to level up your Portuguese skills!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)