Instituto de Cultura e Língua Portuguesa (ICLP)

Enrolling in the ICLP program was the best decision I made in moving to Lisbon. Not only do you learn the Portuguese language and culture in a structured, academic environment but you make dear friends from all over the 🌎 world. That was the unexpected surprise - the close friendships 😊 I have been fortunate to have excellent language instructors in this program and the office staff are very very supportive, expedient, professional and friendly ❣️ If you’re considering enrolling in ICLP, don’t hesitate “Bem vindo ao ICLP!”

— Chris Dee

I studied from level A2-C2, starting in 2022. I really enjoyed the classes- there are interesting and fun trips to learn about culture, art and history. Later, as we improved, we were able to learn about Portuguese literature too. The courses are excellent, with broad focus on Portuguese language in various contexts and culture. Passing through 5 levels, I met 10 different teachers- all of them encouraging and engaging, as well as being great teachers. The office staff are also kind and helpful. I found the price very reasonable for the number of hours, trips and great quality of teaching. Highly recommended!

— Lesley Page

The ICLP is great, this year my wife applied to enroll the Português Língua Estrangeira (PLE) annual course 2022/2023 and they rapid replied, on the platform system, every question we have related to the registration and how prepare the documentation to do it. The process is online and easy to do (I though would be complicated, but not). She also explained the next steps to request the proof of enrolment for visa purposes. My wife is happy and anxious about her lessons starting soon. Definitely will recommend this to all my foreigners friend who wanna learn Portuguese language. It's one of a kind opportunity. Also I would like to give a special thanks to the professor Mafalda Almeida which answered all our questions about the registration process.

— Amauri Bueno de Camargo Junior

It is one of the best price offers for anual português courses on the market, however it is by far not a perfect opinion for students who are proficient in any Latin-based language or English. The system is designed to accommodate Chinese students with difficulties in oral disciplines who are the main source of income for the program. As a result the teaching program provides less than moderate assistance with grammar, introducing the topics that have to be practiced by the students on their own, sometimes in bulk in the end of the semester. The most of the program hours are devoted to developing oral skills of Asian students, other students are used as tutors. On the dark side, the institution has very poor facilities, most of the buildings don't have heating or isolation, furniture often falls apart, bathrooms often don't work. During winter months it is really cold inside. Overall experience strongly depends on the personality of the professors and the composition of the group. Students can express preferences but ultimately can't choose the group or the teacher. As a rule, the higher the level of the language, the lower the number of students with Latin or English mother tongue. It is a traditional school where interaction between students and a professor is based on subordination. Groups usually contain 10-13 students. Admission to the course gives a right to apply for a student visa, which is very convenient.

— Katy Go

I left a very long review before and compared Nova Uni and Lisbon Uni after one month summer course in each uni. Based on my own experience, I had so much better experience in Nova Uni while the opposite in Lisbon Uni; I highly recommend Nova Uni (interactive, fun, so much less people ... ) and don’t recommend Lisbon Uni at all (traditional, rigid, so much more people …). I saw some data in their booklet: in 07/2017, they had almost 400 students, almost half were Chinese. Not to mention many poor facilities considering so many students paying so high price to study Portuguese there … Funny enough, I recently met a Chinese girl, who did 2 years’ level A Portuguese course in Lisbon Uni. She did A1.1, A1.2, A2.1, A2.2 for 4 semesters respectively for 2 years. She still can’t speak properly and understand well when I met her in level B1/2 course ran by the state. Similarly, I met a British in the summer course in Lisbon Uni, where he attended 3 times A level course, yet he still couldn’t speak well either. The teachers often let the students do exercises in the class. I really hate the teachers waste time in the class like this. We are adults, we are supposed to learn in the class, and do exercises at home and correct them in class. I don’t think we are paying money to do exercises in the class while we could be doing at home, that’s just my opinion … Lisbon Uni left a reply below after my previous review, saying my opinion doesn’t count since I only did one month course there; this is just an update/rewrite of my previous review. I don’t think I need to write more of my own experience. You can decide for yourself. I also second Katy Go’s review.

— Ailin Chen