Author: David Domingos
Format: pdf
Number of Pages: 126
Illustrator: Studio Ghibli style AI
Publish Date: 2025
Version: 1.0
Language Level: A2 – Português Europeu Língua Estrangeira
Price: 25
Caravela A2 (Part 1) is a European Portuguese as a Foreign Language manual focused on communication. It introduces a new approach to both learning and teaching European Portuguese.
To write this manual, I began by analysing existing materials and separating the essential from the accessory. I considered essential anything with practical value and immediate applicability, and accessory everything else. At this stage, I noticed that most available content was accessory—even the communicative material wasn’t truly practical or immediately applicable. In most cases, it was designed more for classroom conversation practice than for real-world use. This happened because topics were chosen mainly based on the grammar and vocabulary to be taught, rather than on actual communication.
So, I eliminated all accessory content and focused on what was essential. As a result, grammar—though present—was moved to the background, serving only as a tool to support understanding and expression when needed.
The outcome is highly communicative, practical, and primarily oral content. I also observed that the most challenging skill to develop is listening comprehension. Students could build good sentences, but outside the classroom, they struggled to interact orally because they couldn’t understand native speakers. That’s why the manual focuses on listening comprehension. Phonetics is also geared toward improving this skill.
The manual is organised into thematic units. Typically, each unit begins with vocabulary and useful phrases to be studied in advance, if possible. Then come listening exercises to test recognition of the learned vocabulary. These are followed by sample dialogues and test questions. Next, essential grammar is introduced in a simple and compact way. Appendices provide more detailed information on grammar, phonetics, and vocabulary.
Then come oral interaction/conversation exercises to practise specific topics and build fluency and confidence in communication. These activities include roleplay simulations with guiding scripts and support vocabulary. This is where the manual truly stands out: most of its exercises are oral roleplays, allowing students to practise real-life everyday situations in the classroom. At present, there is no comparable manual on the market.
At the beginning of the manual, there is an index of units with their respective programmes, and at the end, you’ll find exercise solutions and audio transcripts.
With around 70 minutes of audio, 50 conversation exercises, and 20 practical writing tasks, the manual provides everything a student or teacher needs to learn or teach—just a pen and a device to play the audio.