Celpe-Bras is Brazil's official certificate of Portuguese for foreigners, the one universities, employers and the government ask for. This course gets you ready for it in eight weeks, about 90 minutes a day. It's free and there's no sign-up: your texts, marks and progress are saved in your browser.
Part 1: The written part
Four weeks on the four writing tasks: how to read a task, pull the right facts out of a text, an audio or a video, and write them to the right person for the right reason.
Week 1: How the exam thinks
The format, the 0 to 5 scale, and the method for every task: who am I, who am I writing to, why, and with which facts.
- Day 1The exam in one hourWhat Celpe-Bras asks you to do, how it is marked, and your first task, written cold, as a baseline.Open lesson
- Day 2Reading the task statementThe QPQO method: find who you are, who reads you, why you write and which facts you need, before you read the source.Open lesson
- Day 3Role and readerMake the person who writes and the person who reads visible in your text, choose the right register, and write your first letter to a group.Open lesson
- Day 4Select and rewordPick only the facts the task needs and say them in your own words, with four tools for rewording a source.Open lesson
- Day 5Reading marked answersMark three answers to one task the way the examiners do, see what separates a 2, a 3 and a 4, and write your first reader’s letter.Open lesson
- Day 6 · Timed practiceTimed practice: suggest and explainEighty minutes of writing, back to back: an e-mail that suggests and a letter that explains. Then two oral cards.Open practice
- Day 7 · CheckpointCheckpoint 1Test the first week: the exam’s rules, QPQO, role and reader, select and reword, and the marking scale.Try checkpoint
Week 2: Read, select, reword
Tasks 3 and 4: long articles, choosing the facts the task needs, and putting them in your own words.
- Day 8Long articles, fastRead a 600-word report with the task in hand: skim for the structure, scan for the facts, and turn verbs and quotes into sentences of your own.Open lesson
- Day 9Saying what the source saysReport what people in the source said with segundo, de acordo com and the right reporting verb, know when a quote is worth keeping, and write a tribute in your own voice.Open lesson
- Day 10Numbers in your textTurn the source’s figures into fractions and comparisons, round them honestly, pick the two that matter to your reader, and meet the proposal.Open lesson
- Day 11Holding a text togetherJoin your sentences with connectors of addition, contrast, cause and consequence, and stop repeating the same noun, in a letter from a cooperative’s president to its members.Open lesson
- Day 12A text that stands on its ownWrite for a reader who has never seen the source: give the context, open by saying what the text is for, close the way the genre closes, and fit it all on one page.Open lesson
- Day 13 · Timed practiceTimed practice: two long textsEighty minutes, two tasks from exam-length texts: an e-mail that asks an authority for something, and a reader’s letter that takes a position on a column.Open practice
- Day 14 · CheckpointCheckpoint 2A test of week 2: reading long texts, rewording, reporting what a source says, numbers, connectors and texts that stand on their own.Try checkpoint
Week 3: Listen, note, write
Tasks 1 and 2: taking notes over two plays, catching names and numbers, and writing in twenty minutes.
- Day 15Notes over two playsHow to use the two plays of an audio: the first for the gist, the second for the details, on a note page built from the task. Plus the leaflet.Open lesson
- Day 16Names, numbers and dates by earCatching figures, years, prices and names at speed, reading the screen of the video, and writing a public announcement that explains how a service works.Open lesson
- Day 17Writing in twenty minutesTarefa 1 leaves about twenty minutes to write: a two-minute plan, a four-paragraph skeleton, what to drop when time is short, and the newspaper article.Open lesson
- Day 18Promoting and convincingThe language that makes a reader want something, built only on the source’s facts: evaluative words, direct address, a call to action, and the post.Open lesson
- Day 19Interviews as a sourceWho said what in a radio interview, turning speech into writing, reported speech with its tense shift, and the column for a guide.Open lesson
- Day 20 · Timed practiceTimed practice, exam timingThe first hour of the exam as it really runs: a video task in 30 minutes, then an audio task, by hand, with no teaching in between.Open practice
- Day 21 · CheckpointCheckpoint 3A test of week 3: notes and numbers by ear, the twenty-minute plan, and the five genres for the listening tasks.Try checkpoint
Week 4: Argue
Task 4 at full strength: taking a position, answering an author, asking an authority to act. Ends with a half mock exam.
- Day 22Taking a positionThe shape of an opinion text (a claim, two reasons and the source), the verb forms after acho que, não acho que and é importante que, and the reader’s letter in full.Open lesson
- Day 23Answering the authorSum up someone’s argument fairly in one or two sentences, grant what is right in it with embora, apesar de and ainda que, and then give your answer.Open lesson
- Day 24Asking an authority to actThe open letter: who signs, who is addressed, the problem, the request and the reasons, with the subjunctive after solicitar que, pedir que and para que.Open lesson
- Day 25Proposing actionThe proposal in full (situation, proposal, concrete actions, expected results) and the three kinds of condition: se adotarmos, caso a Diretoria aprove, se todos trabalhassem.Open lesson
- Day 26Causes, consequences, solutionsRead a dense opinion text as a chain of causes, consequences and a solution, link your own argument with uma vez que, visto que, por conseguinte and de modo que, and take a position on someone else’s proposal.Open lesson
- Day 27 · Timed practiceTimed practice: argue, then suggestEighty minutes of writing: a reader’s letter on a column about school grades, then an e-mail from a nurse suggesting therapy dogs for a hospital. Two oral cards follow.Open practice
- Day 28 · Mock examHalf mock examHalf an exam under exam conditions: Tarefa 1 from a video and Tarefa 3 from a text in 90 minutes, then ten minutes of conversation, and your level so far.Take the mock
Part 2: The oral part and the themes
Two weeks on the 20-minute conversation and on the subjects the exam keeps coming back to.
Week 5: The conversation
The interview about you, the six moves of every card, getting unstuck in Portuguese, and fluency.
- Day 29Five minutes about youThe interview that opens the oral part: the registration questionnaire, your own stories, and the three-part answer.Open lesson
- Day 30The six moves of every cardWhat the examiner asks about every card, always in the same order, and how to describe a photo, a cartoon and a chart.Open lesson
- Day 31Getting unstuck in PortugueseWhat to do when a word is missing or a question is not clear: describe, correct yourself, ask again and buy time, without leaving Portuguese.Open lesson
- Day 32FluencyWhat fluency means in the exam, the chunks and markers that keep Brazilian speech moving, and the 4-3-2 drill.Open lesson
- Day 33Your country and BrazilThe last two moves of every card: comparing your country with Brazil without stereotypes, and what to say when you don’t know Brazil well.Open lesson
- Day 34 · Timed practiceTimed practice: a whole oralA full 20-minute oral, with the interview and three cards one after the other, and then one 40-minute writing task.Open practice
- Day 35 · CheckpointCheckpoint 5A test of the week on the oral part: the interview, the six moves, getting unstuck, fluency and comparing countries.Try checkpoint
Week 6: Brazil in ten themes
Environment, equality, work, technology, health, education, culture, food and cities: the words and the references you need.
- Day 36Environment and sustainabilityThe words and references Brazilians use for the forest, waste, energy and the climate, and a website text about sustainable açaí written from a radio interview.Open lesson
- Day 37Diversity, equality and inclusionThe respectful, current words for race, gender and disability, the references behind them (cotas, quilombola, Libras), and an open letter asking shops to become accessible.Open lesson
- Day 38Work and technologyThe words for jobs, rights, remote work and automation, what CLT, carteira assinada, MEI and LGPD mean, and a staff notice on the right to disconnect written from a TV report.Open lesson
- Day 39Health and educationThe words for public health, vaccination, schools and university, what the SUS, a posto de saúde, the Enem and a universidade federal are, and a letter asking a health secretary for more community health agents.Open lesson
- Day 40Culture, food and citiesThe words for festivals, heritage, street food, transport and housing, what patrimônio, a festa junina, a feira and the periferia are, and a travel piece on a June festival written from a TV report.Open lesson
- Day 41 · Timed practiceTimed practice: two tasks on the week’s themes70 minutes of writing against the clock: a school website text from a TV report on a zero-waste week, and a proposal for free buses on Sundays from an opinion article. Then two cards.Open practice
- Day 42 · CheckpointCheckpoint 6A test of the week’s ten themes: the words, the institutions and references, the stock sentences and the numbers by ear. Then one more card.Try checkpoint
Part 3: Exam ready
The hard cases, the mistakes that cost marks, and then the exam itself, twice, under the real clock.
Week 7: Hard cases and polish
Unusual genres, the errors English speakers make most, difficult cards, and proofreading by hand.
- Day 43Telling a storyThe crônica: retelling a story from another character’s point of view, with each past tense doing its own job.Open lesson
- Day 44Unusual genresInstructions, a guide section, a noticeboard text, an itinerary: the imperative, the sequencers, and a flood guide written from a radio interview.Open lesson
- Day 45The errors that cost most, 1Crase, por and para, verbs with their prepositions, and contractions: the slips English speakers make most, and how to stop making them.Open lesson
- Day 46The errors that cost most, 2Agreement, accents and spelling by hand, false friends, and ser or estar: four more places where English speakers lose the reader.Open lesson
- Day 47Hard cards and the last three minutesIrony, abstract subjects and questions you have no answer for; a proofreading routine for the end of each task; and the opinion article.Open lesson
- Day 48 · Timed practiceTimed practice: an audio and a columnSeventy-five minutes of writing: a text for a neighbourhood newspaper from a radio interview, and a reader’s letter on a column about street art. Then two cards.Open practice
- Day 49 · CheckpointCheckpoint 7Forty questions on the week: past tenses in a story, instructions, crase and prepositions, agreement and false friends, irony and proofreading. Then a cartoon card.Try checkpoint
Week 8: Exam conditions
A full mock exam, a repair day, your exam-day plan, and the final mock with your level.
- Day 50Your exam planA time budget for the three hours, the order to work in, what to do when your mind goes blank, how to use the draft page, and the plan for exam week.Open lesson
- Day 51 · Mock examMock exam A: writtenA full written paper under the real clock: four tasks in three hours, from a video, an audio and two texts.Take the mock
- Day 52 · Mock examMock exam A: oralThe 20-minute conversation in full, an interview and three cards, and then your first complete result: written score, oral score and level.Take the mock
- Day 53Repair dayRead your own mock exam like a grader: find where each text lost marks, rewrite the weakest one, and build your personal error list.Open lesson
- Day 54Exam dayThe registration questionnaire, what to take, what happens in the written room and in the oral room, the night before, and a light warm-up.Open lesson
- Day 55 · Mock examFinal mock exam: writtenThe final written paper, in the real format and under the real clock: four tasks in three hours. Tomorrow’s oral completes it and gives you your level.Take the mock
- Day 56 · Mock examFinal mock exam: oral and your levelThe 20-minute conversation in full, then your result on the final mock: written score, oral score, your level, what it means and what to do next.Take the mock
Is this course for you?
You don't need to have done any other course, here or anywhere else. You do need to speak some Portuguese already, because the exam has no beginner level. This course fits you if you can:
- follow the main points of a news report or a radio interview in Portuguese, even if you miss details;
- write a simple e-mail in Portuguese without a translator;
- hold a conversation about your life, your work and your plans, with mistakes.
That is roughly an intermediate level (B1). If Day 1 feels far too hard, build your Portuguese first and come back; if it feels comfortable, you're in the right place. Either way, start with Day 1: it has your first task, and the mark you give yourself there is the one you'll try to beat.
What the exam asks for
There are no grammar questions and no multiple choice. You write four texts in three hours (one from a video, one from an audio, two from articles) and you have a 20-minute recorded conversation. Every text has a job: an e-mail to a mayor, a leaflet for a health centre, a reader's letter to a magazine. Each is marked from 0 to 5 on whether it does that job, and your level is the lower of your written and oral scores. The exam guide has the details: timing, marking, levels, dates and what to take on the day.
How each day works
1. Warm up
A few questions from earlier days, so what you learned last week is still there on exam day.
2. One skill
A method, a kind of text or a piece of language the exam rewards, shown with examples and checked with practice.
3. A real task
A source and a task in the exam’s format, against the clock. Then a checklist, two model texts and your own mark from 0 to 5.
4. Five minutes of talk
An examiner’s questions, read aloud. You answer out loud, record yourself if you like, and rate how it went.
How to move through the course
- One day at a time, in order. Days 1 to 5 of a week are lessons. Day 6 is timed practice with two tasks. Day 7 is a checkpoint: 80% right on the first try means you're ready for the next week.
- Write by hand at least twice a week. The exam is handwritten in black ink, one page per task. Print the answer sheet and use it.
- Mark yourself honestly. The checklist and the two model texts show you what the examiners look for. A generous mark only hides what you need to fix.
- Get a second opinion. Before the exam, ask a teacher or a Brazilian friend to read two or three of your texts. This course can't read them for you.
- Use your review list. Every practice item you get wrong is saved to My review.
- Three mock exams. A half mock on Day 28 and full ones on Days 51 to 52 and 55 to 56, under the real clock.
What's in it
| Weeks | You work on | By the end you can |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | The four writing tasks | Read any task, pick the facts it needs from a text, an audio or a video, and write them as an e-mail, a letter, an article, a leaflet, a proposal or an opinion |
| 5 to 6 | The conversation and the exam's favourite subjects | Talk for 20 minutes about yourself and about three cards, and discuss the environment, work, health, education and culture in Brazil |
| 7 to 8 | Hard cases, your own weak points, and the exam itself | Sit a full paper under the real clock and know your level |
The genre kits collect, on one page, how each kind of text opens, closes and sounds.
About the marks. Nobody at this site reads your texts or hears your answers. You mark them yourself against a checklist, model answers and the exam's own scale, and the course works out a level from that. It is a good guide and not a guarantee. The real exam is marked by trained examiners.