It is one of the best price offers for anual português courses on the market, however it is by far not a perfect opinion for students who are proficient in any Latin-based language or English. The system is designed to accommodate Chinese students with difficulties in oral disciplines who are the main source of income for the program. As a result the teaching program provides less than moderate assistance with grammar, introducing the topics that have to be practiced by the students on their own, sometimes in bulk in the end of the semester. The most of the program hours are devoted to developing oral skills of Asian students, other students are used as tutors. On the dark side, the institution has very poor facilities, most of the buildings don't have heating or isolation, furniture often falls apart, bathrooms often don't work. During winter months it is really cold inside. Overall experience strongly depends on the personality of the professors and the composition of the group. Students can express preferences but ultimately can't choose the group or the teacher. As a rule, the higher the level of the language, the lower the number of students with Latin or English mother tongue. It is a traditional school where interaction between students and a professor is based on subordination. Groups usually contain 10-13 students. Admission to the course gives a right to apply for a student visa, which is very convenient.

I studied level A1 (absolute beginners) in the 2019 Summer intensive course of Portuguese for foreigners, during September '19. Only 7 students in my class (3 from Asia). In the first steps of a foreign language, naturally grammar and pronunciation are essential. All the more, as Portuguese is notorious for its phonetic characteristics. I found the syllabus of the course and the adequacy of the particular Professor quite satisfying. A bit confusing though, in that the teaching did not follow the numbered sequence (or vice-versa) of the study papers (Unidades), which were distributed to us as the classes progressed. Also the replies (solutions) to the various written or audio exercises, I think might better be given (emailed) to us day-by-day as the course progressed, than emailed to us "in bulk" two-three days before the final test. Anyway, by the end of a 4-week course we were able to form oral sentences in an attempted "conversation" in Portuguese. The Secretariat staff were helping, always with a smile ! Regarding the premises, Ok there were a few "hick-ups" in that we had to change classroom 3 times (the last room did not have a door ! fortunately the weather was warm ) but the building was in the phase of extensive repairs in preparation of the new academic year. My overall opinion about the course is quite positive ! Im considering to do Level A2 in September 2020 ! Obrigado :-)

I left a very long review before and compared Nova Uni and Lisbon Uni after one month summer course in each uni. Based on my own experience, I had so much better experience in Nova Uni while the opposite in Lisbon Uni; I highly recommend Nova Uni (interactive, fun, so much less people ... ) and don’t recommend Lisbon Uni at all (traditional, rigid, so much more people …). I saw some data in their booklet: in 07/2017, they had almost 400 students, almost half were Chinese. Not to mention many poor facilities considering so many students paying so high price to study Portuguese there … Funny enough, I recently met a Chinese girl, who did 2 years’ level A Portuguese course in Lisbon Uni. She did A1.1, A1.2, A2.1, A2.2 for 4 semesters respectively for 2 years. She still can’t speak properly and understand well when I met her in level B1/2 course ran by the state. Similarly, I met a British in the summer course in Lisbon Uni, where he attended 3 times A level course, yet he still couldn’t speak well either. The teachers often let the students do exercises in the class. I really hate the teachers waste time in the class like this. We are adults, we are supposed to learn in the class, and do exercises at home and correct them in class. I don’t think we are paying money to do exercises in the class while we could be doing at home, that’s just my opinion … Lisbon Uni left a reply below after my previous review, saying my opinion doesn’t count since I only did one month course there; this is just an update/rewrite of my previous review. I don’t think I need to write more of my own experience. You can decide for yourself. I also second Katy Go’s review.