Portuguese + Volunteering

I enjoyed the classes and improved my language skills monumentally during my stay. I fount the teacher to be very kind and welcoming as he took a personal interest in each student and we often had sessions where we could talk freely about different topics of interest to improve our talking skills in a more engaging way. I only took part in one excursion, which i also found interesting. The student house was also very close and so going to school didn't require waking up too early. I also met a lot of friends at the student house so i prefered it to staying in to having an apartment in a hotel.

Very short - I was very satisfied with everything especially my two teachers.

I liked the classes, but it was hard work for me. The Workshop in the afternoon was no repetition, but more Input.
The teachers were very friendly and motivated.
The comfort in the Housing leaves something to be desired.
But all in all, a great time for me.

My only disappointment with the course was that there weren't classes of my linguistic level - B2 - in the morning. I had to change my schedule to fit the new timetables and I had to miss social and cultural activities because I had to take classes in the afternoon. I had expected to be in a class of international students, especially young adults, coming from different backgrounds: instead, I had only one classmate who was much older than me. Nevertheless, the fact that it was a small class can also be considered an advantage, since our teacher had the opportunity to make the programme fit our educational needs and clear our doubts. In general, I didn't have a bad experience. The facilities were good, the staff available, my teacher was prepared, classes were insightful. I had appreciated that she made us read long essays in order to correct our pronunciation.

The location of the school and the student residence is conveniently located where student benefits to join cultural activities with classmates after lessons. The school fees and charges for residence are reasonable for students.

Lessons are run at the right pace however some of the grammatical rules could be explained more in greater details l.
The residence is hygienic however should provide air-conditioning during summer as it was quite hot.

Teacher and classes were really cool, it’s enough you don’t need more everything is well done for you to perform. Good location by the way.

Excellent experience. The classes were very enjoyable and with a lot of complementary material that the same teachers give you during the course, which helps you to advance quickly in the language. In addition, guided tourist activities are offered after classes which allow you to learn about the city. Without any doubt it has been an adventure to repeat.

I really enjoyed the lessons and found that the combination of staying in Lisbon and having lessons in the morning really helped advance my level of portuguese.

My only negative was the lack of students, which of course is out of your hands. I found it quite lonely as I didn't have anyone to socialise with outside of the classes. However, apart from that the overall experience on learning portugese was very enjoyable and immersive.

Everything was great starting from the school, the teachers and their lessons. Always fun and smiling to us, I did learnt a lot and reached my A2 level even if I had never studied Portuguese before. Probably the only thing which sometimes I didn’t like it was sharing the flat with that many people, sometimes they were a little bit too noisy and leaving almost everything dirty in the house. But as I said before I wouldn’t change anything at school :) keep up the good work!

- Classes to my intellectual needs; since previously the teacher made a brief "professional test"

- The teachers always introduced me as a "colleague", and they facilitated and collaborated in everything! Excellent team!

- Location and facilities, absolutely correct.

- I have participated in specific activities satisfactorily.

- Unfortunately the house is in poor condition: 1) you must wait 5 to 10 minutes to have hot water, only for another 5-10 minutes!
The drains are clogged, the water reaches the ankles! It was communicated orally to the person in charge, saw it as normal (...)-

- At the time what was communicated about parties and smoking inside the student apartment, there was no good response, and
if they took any action it made things worse.


* I hope that never again live a person with "disability", just for being different, psychological abuse by their roommates!

When I started studying Portuguese at CIAL I didn't know anything about the language. I've been in Lisbon for 7 weeks and I have gained a lot of knowledge and even got my A1 after 4 weeks! My teachers were really nice and supportive.

The only downside was the apartment I was in, when I arrived there was construction going on and there was a lot of noise almost all day. There weren't as many bathrooms as promised and one of the toilets didn't work most of the time.

Overall I did really love my experience, the excursions were nice and the other students were really open minded! This trip was great for my knowledge of Portuguese and getting to know different cultures!

CIAL can be very good if you have a good teacher. They give you a very nice book at the start of the couse and it's 3 hours a day every week. I think it could be more intensive and have you work more. The students are ok; I had expected to more friends than I did. It doesn't give you the opportunity to interact with all students more often. But in general for a week or two I could recommend.

I spent two great weeks. I had private lessons (seven hours per day) with two teachers who complemented each other perfectly. I learned at my own pace and I progressed enormously during those two weeks. I was staying in with someone who was really nice. We talked every day over breakfast. I, unfortunately could not participate in activities seeing my schedule, but I already knew Lisbon so I have no regrets. It was a unique and wonderful experience.

I had some nice teachers, but not all. I think I chose the wrong course, because I'm a beginner student and I even don't know how to say the numbers in Portuguese, so I had a bad performance in class for two months, that was embarrassing.

The school was amazing! The lessons were intensive and it was useful to have follow-ups from the teachers on a daily basis. They were very nice and talented teachers with great experience.

Being in CIAL made me love Lisbon, with all the free daily activities and visits to museums and famous places in this city. This opened my eyes to Lisbon's beauty, and made me want to learn the language of this city more and more.

The location of the school is in the center, near two metro stations, with a lot of buses also passing there. I liked the pretty colorful walls in CIAL; even the details in the design of the classrooms of the school were so beautiful. I miss it.

The school provided books for free for every level, and I also liked whenever our teachers wanted us to have new or extra information (like poems, articles from newspapers, lyrics of Portuguese songs, grammar, and additional exercises). Every student had the photocopies within two minutes.

I was living in a different housing already before joining CIAL, so I don't have an idea about CIAL housing.

It was great experience for me and helped me a lot to improve my Portuguese Language in a matter of six months.

I spent a full 12 months at CIAL to round and perfect my Portuguese understanding and use in day-to-day.

The classes were pitched at the correct level, and what worked was that the classes / groups ran for a full month. No 1-week passerby allowed.

The location was central. In addition, there is a home stay option.

CIAL is my family, if not my near relative.

I have attended the school before. I unfortunately was only able to stay for one week. The teacher was aware of this and I did a lot of work during the short period. All the staff in the school were very understanding of the fact that I was recovering from an eye operation and my vision was not fully restored.

The standard of tuition was as good as ever. Virgilio is an excellent teacher and communicator. I look forward to returning in 2016.