Quick question before you pick a Portuguese app
Which Portuguese are you trying to learn? It isn't a trick question, but most learners never get asked it. There's the Portuguese of Portugal and the Portuguese of Brazil, and a course built around one won't leave you sounding like, or always understanding, a speaker of the other. To be direct: Sayelle teaches Brazilian Portuguese, the pt-BR locale, and not European Portuguese.
How different are they?
Enough to matter. Everyday words differ: a train is trem in Brazil and comboio in Portugal, a bus is ônibus in Brazil and autocarro in Portugal. Grammar habits shift, and the rhythm and vowel quality of the two accents can sound like different languages to an ear trained on only one. Knowing which one you're signing up for decides whether the months you put in match the Portuguese you'll actually hear.
The sound that gives it away
The clearest fingerprint of Brazilian Portuguese is its nasal vowels, like the end of não or the middle of pão and mãe. Air escapes through your nose while your mouth shapes the vowel, which isn't a sound English has. You can stare at the tilde over the ã for weeks and still not know what it should sound like. You need to hear it, say it, and find out whether you were understood.
Practise by talking
In Sayelle you speak or type to a tutor that answers in Brazilian Portuguese. Scenarios put you in a situation with no script, like a bakery, and lessons teach grammar through conversation. Study turns your own past chats into flashcards and listening practice.
What you'll learn
There are more than 190 lessons, starting from zero, with more on the way. The units cover:
- The Brazilian Portuguese sound system, oral and nasal vowels
- Greetings and first conversations
- Nouns, gender and number
- Numbers, time and dates
- Ser, estar and the present tense
- Food, home and city life
- Reflexive verbs, the preterite and the imperfect, and when to use which
- Object pronouns, making plans, shopping, travel and phone calls
- Regional accents of Brazil and everyday Brazilian culture
Practise on the bus
The tutor, speech recognition and voice models download once over Wi-Fi (about 4 GB), then run on your phone. A full spoken conversation works with no signal, and your raw microphone audio never leaves the device. You'll need iOS 18 or later, or Android 8.0 or later. Read more about how the offline AI works and what phone you need.
Common questions
Is this Brazilian or European Portuguese?
Brazilian Portuguese (pt-BR). Sayelle doesn't teach European Portuguese, and the two differ in vocabulary, grammar habits and pronunciation.
Do I need to know any Portuguese first?
No. The course starts with the Brazilian Portuguese sound system and builds from there.
Does it help with nasal vowels?
Yes. There are lessons on nasal vowels and nasal diphthongs, and since you speak out loud you get to hear and try sounds like ão and ãe over and over.
Does it work offline?
Yes. After a one-time download of about 4 GB, the tutor, speech recognition and voice all run on your phone. Signing in, purchases, syncing and new content downloads still need a connection.
Is it free?
Free to start. Conversations with your tutor are free and unlimited. Lessons and scenarios use practice energy that recharges over time, and Sayelle Plus is an optional subscription that removes that limit and unlocks more content.
Start with your first sounds
Sayelle is free to start. See the other eight languages it teaches, or download it now.
