Orientation Materials for AFS Students in Portugal

Know more about AFS methods, educational goals and how these combine to support your intercultural learning experience in Portugal AFS Educational Methodology and Goals.

Learn more about Portugal’s culture, Portuguese people and the AFS Program in Portugal by reading our orientation manual Welcome to Portugal (updated) but also the wise words of real AFS’ers who were hosted in Portugal, they wrote these letters specially for you – Will I Survive in Portugal!?

Find out about practical information, contacts, rules, etc so you can have a smooth beginning once you arrive in our country – Practical Information 2025.

Once you have finished reading these manuals and materials, you can start your Orientations for AFS Students - these will be uploaded once you start your experience.

If you come from Europe, please check these FAQ about mobile roaming FAQ Roam Like at Home EN.

Language Learning | Portuguese for Portugal

Language learning has to be ongoing and you can start training your European Portuguese right now! You can find some materials here to help you familiarize yourself with hearing, understanding, speaking, reading and writing in Portuguese. We recommend that you use the app Memrise, and we created a Basic European Portuguese for AFS'ers course just for you! You can use the AFS Portuguese Language Manual together with this course.

You can also use this exercise book with audios from Ciberescola da Língua Portuguesa – Manual Ciberescola.

Due to the pandemic, the Portuguese Government also created a TV program so students could follow up classes on the TV. This program is called #estudoemcasa (Study at Home) and there was a special daily class of Portuguese for Foreigners (Initiation) or Portuguese for Foreigners (Intermediate), check the link and watch the classes to familiarize yourself with the language. This program was extended to Grades 10 to 12 and new classes are available online.

In 2021 we established a partnership with Speak Social and you can now attend in-person or online language groups! Here is the registration link. Join and become a Speaker! Besides learning Portuguese you can also teach your native language.

Activities for Students and Host Families

Here you can find 5 activities that you can do with your host family throughout your experience and that can help, support and boost the learning experience for both. Your host family has also received them in Portuguese and we will remind you regularly to do them. These activities can help you start a conversation, learn more about your host family, discover more about yourself and your origin family, compare and reflect on cultural differences.

Activity 1 – Starting Life as a Family

Activity 2 – Cultural and Family Heritage

Activity 3 – Values and Behavior

Activity 4 – Non-Verbal-Communication

Activity 5 – Communication Styles and the Concept of Time