The simplest way to learn European Portuguese for families is to give each person their own course at their own level under one shared subscription, because a parent aiming for the CIPLE A2 and a nine-year-old heading into a Portuguese classroom need very different things. The A2 level required for most citizenship paths is modest; a child keeping pace in class needs much more. You have probably already seen the mismatch at the dinner table. You are drilling the verb ser, your daughter is asking how to say "offside," and your partner just wants to order a galão (guh-LOWNG, a milky coffee in a glass) without receiving plain hot milk. One course level can't serve all three. Paying for three separate subscriptions adds up quickly, too. That is the gap the Pois Pois family plan is built for: up to four people for €25 a month, each placed separately, each with their own login and level, all on one shared weekly household board.
Why can't a parent and a nine-year-old share one course?
Because they are learning for different reasons, at different speeds, with different deadlines.
A parent usually needs the language of errands and paperwork: the senha (SEN-yuh, the numbered ticket) at the Loja do Cidadão, the landlord, the pediatrician, and eventually an exam. A child needs the language of the playground, the classroom and the group chat, and they need it by the first week of term.
Put them in the same course and one of two things happens. The adult gets bored with colors and animals, or the child drowns in verb tables about opening a bank account at Finanças. Either way, somebody quits by October.
The fix isn't a better single course. It's separate paths that live under one roof.
How many families are learning Portuguese in Portugal right now?
More than ever, and it shows in the schools. Here are the headline figures:
| Figure | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign residents in Portugal, end of 2025 | 1,585,854 | The Portugal News, reporting AIMA, Sept 2026 |
| Foreign residents in the municipality of Lisbon | 200,073 | The Portugal News, reporting AIMA, Sept 2026 |
| Foreign residents in the municipality of Porto | 60,351 | The Portugal News, reporting AIMA, Sept 2026 |
| Share of the Algarve's population that is foreign | 27.9% | Portugal Resident, citing INE |
| Foreign students in Portuguese schools, 2023 | about 140,000 (13.9%) | European Commission, citing OECD Education at a Glance 2024 |
That school figure was about 53,000 (5.3%) in 2019, according to the same European Commission summary of the OECD report, which also quotes Portugal's education minister saying 25 to 30% of new students don't speak Portuguese. If your kid is starting school in Cascais, Portimão or Funchal without the language, they have plenty of company.
How does the Pois Pois plan handle European Portuguese for families?
One subscription, separate learners. Here's what that means day to day.
What does it cost?
The Family plan is €25 a month, VAT included, for up to four people. Each extra person beyond four is €7 a month. For comparison, our Individual plan is €13 a month. Annual plans charge for 11 months instead of 12 and come with a 21-day refund window from the first charge.
Does everyone start at the same level?
No. Each person takes their own adaptive placement test, which names their gaps and builds a plan. Your teenager might land well ahead of you (humbling, but useful), and your partner might skip straight past the greetings. Each person gets their own login, level and course across 163 units: 135 units from A1 to B2, a 16-unit CIPLE A2 track and a 12-unit Civics track.
Is it really European Portuguese?
Yes, and only that. Every lesson runs through a Brazilianism linter and a style contract: tu with pt-PT endings, estar a + infinitive ("estou a comer," I'm eating), and pronouns after the verb. The voices are European and speak at real speed, the way the lady at the pastelaria actually talks.
What does the weekly household board do?
It puts the whole family's week in one shared place, and in our view it does more to keep kids practicing than any single feature.
Children don't stick with an app because of spaced repetition. They stick with it because a sibling is watching, a parent noticed, and Sunday dinner includes a quick "so, who actually did their Portuguese this week?" The board turns learning from a private chore into a household thing.
A few ways families use it:
- Sunday check-in: look at the board together and pick one phrase everyone uses at dinner.
- Friendly rivalry: siblings at different levels can still compare effort, because nobody is on the same course.
- Parent accountability: it's harder to skip your own lesson when your nine-year-old can see you did.
Which level does each family member actually need?
It depends on age and goal, which is exactly why one level doesn't fit.
Adults heading for citizenship
For most paths to Portuguese citizenship, applicants show A2-level Portuguese, usually through the CIPLE exam, as explained in this guide to Portuguese language requirements for citizenship from Defesa Legal. Our CIPLE A2 track covers the exam's four task types, timed. It's genuine preparation, not a promise of a pass. Rules change, so always check AIMA and official government sources before you apply.
Kids and teens
The same Defesa Legal guide notes that CAPLE runs school versions of its exams for 12 to 15 year olds, and an exam called TEJO for ages 8 to 11. More practically, a child in a Portuguese classroom needs to follow the teacher, not just pass a test, so their level will usually need to climb higher than a parent's.
Heritage learners and partners
A spouse who grew up hearing Portuguese from a grandmother in the Azores may understand far more than they can say. Placement catches that, so they don't waste weeks on olá.
Make lessons about your family's real life
Type any topic and Pois Pois generates a lesson, quiz, game, dialogue or story about it. Your son types "football practice in Braga." You type "registering at the junta de freguesia." Your partner types "the plumber who said volte amanhã." Same subscription, three different lessons.
When someone gets stuck, Sandra, our AI tutor, explains in English, corrects in European Portuguese and marks homework answer by answer, so a child sees exactly which sentence went wrong instead of just a score.
Phrases your family can use this week
Start with these at home, then take them outside:
- Bom dia (bong DEE-uh): good morning
- Estou a aprender português (shtoh uh uh-pren-DEHR poor-too-GESH): I'm learning Portuguese
- Podes repetir, por favor? (POH-desh reh-peh-TEER, poor fuh-VOR): can you repeat that, please? (informal tu, fine with kids and friends)
- Como se diz... em português? (KOH-moo seh DEESH... ayng poor-too-GESH): how do you say... in Portuguese?
- Já fizeste os trabalhos de casa? (zhah fee-ZESH-teh oosh truh-BAH-loosh deh KAH-zuh): did you do your homework?
A quick breakfast dialogue:
Mãe: Bom dia! Já fizeste os trabalhos de casa? Filho: Pois pois. Mãe: Pois pois quer dizer que não.
(Pois pois, roughly "yeah, yeah," can mean agreement or polite disbelief. Mothers across Portugal know which one.)
Recap and a challenge for this week
- A parent and a child need different levels, so give each their own path.
- Figures from AIMA and the OECD show more foreign families, and more foreign kids in school, than a few years ago.
- Adults usually aim for A2 for citizenship; kids usually need more to keep up in class.
- A shared weekly routine keeps everyone going longer than any app feature alone.
Your challenge: pick one phrase from the list above and have every person in the house use it at least once a day until Sunday.
If you'd like a structured way to keep it going, you can try Pois Pois for 7 days (your card is taken up front but not charged during the trial, and you can cancel in two clicks), or set up the family plan so the whole household learns together at €25 a month for up to four people.
Pois pois. The Pois Pois team