Listening in European Portuguese (EU-PT): B1 Resources, Podcasts & Tips
Like I’ve said in other posts, improving my listening in eu-pt is still a mountain I’m climbing. Despite passing the B1 exam, I feel like I’m a solid A2 listener at best, and I’m still playing catch-up on listening as I'm getting more into B2 grammar rules and topics for reading and writing.
The main issue for me is that I find a lot of listening content available is either pretty basic (e.g. dubbed kids shows that give you a A1-A2 understanding) or they jump straight to that fast-paced C1-C2 level (particularly when trying to listen to Portuguese radio Antena 1). However, this lack of content has been improving in the past year or so.
What I’ve found most helpful to push into B1 listening has been on YouTube, where people are developing listening exercises for this level.
My favorite B1-friendly resources
YouTube
- Practice Portuguese Shorties - with more and more higher-level content coming out, this has definitely been my favorite, and they also have a great podcast: practiceportuguese.com/shorties
- The Sounds of Portuguese - great B1 playlist: YouTube B1 playlist
- Simpleton Portuguese - specifically their listening practice videos, like this one (really great for learning about Portuguese history and getting a feel for rural towns).
- Actual B1 listening exam exercises compiled on YouTube: exam-style playlist
Podcasts
- Learning Portuguese is Fun - episodes classified by level, short and bite-sized. I’ve played them in the background while doing chores for passive practice: learningportugueseisfun.com
- Portuguese with Leo (Intermediate European Portuguese): https://www.portuguesewithleo.com/podcast/intermediate
- Storyglot - each episode lists its level: storyglot.com/podcast
- Slow Portuguese with Maria - designed to be slower; if it feels too slow, adjust playback speed to suit your level: Spotify
Honestly for me, besides the lack of listening resources around B1, the other limiting factor is immersion. I don’t live in Portugal, I only listen to fully Portuguese conversations every so often, and I have no need to listen to Portuguese in my daily life. Ultimately, practice makes perfect, and I think to really improve I need to create my own immersion until I can start parsing through the noise and actually understanding what people are saying.