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Preface
The present book is a thorough re-working of the 1985 revision of Professor Claude E.
Leroy's Portugues para principiantes, which was first published in two volumes by the University of
Wisconsin Extension Division in 1964. The emphasis given in this textbook to Brazilian Portuguese
reflects the longstanding interest in and research on Brazil on the part of the University of Wisconsin
faculty and students.
Portuguas para principiantes is a time-tested text which can be used in conjunction with a
variety of approaches to the teaching of beginning Portuguese. This material provides students with a
good foundation in Brazilian Portuguese which can serve personal, academic or professional goals.
Each of the thirty lessons is a unit which introduces a dialogue, new grammar, vocabulary,
and exercises. This new edition includes short narratives by contemporary Brazilian authors as well as
cultural units which provide the student with information about important aspects of Brazilian life.
The glossaries contain all of the items presented in the vocabulary section of each lesson as well as
many other common words and expressions the student might wish to know. The glossaries are
followed by a verb appendix which includes all tenses of regular and often used irregular verbs. The
illustrations used in this text are dutifully acknowledged in a list which precedes the index.
Acknowledgements
The authors and publisher wish to thank Fernando Sabino and Editora Record, and Luiz
Fernando Verfssimo and Editora Abril for their permission to reprint "0 homem nu" and "0 dinico
animal," respectively.
We also wish to extend our appreciation to Lu Ann Ransley for her invaluable assistance in
the preparation of the manuscript and to Professor John Nitti for his continued support of this project.