LC Portuguese study guide
LC Portuguese · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The LC Portuguese examination is a proficiency test used to establish that a reader can work with Portuguese-language material at a professional level, most commonly for translation, cataloging, research, or reference work in a library or information setting. It is aimed at candidates who already read Portuguese with reasonable fluency and need an independent, structured assessment of that skill rather than a teaching qualification. The LC Portuguese study guide has 6 sections and about 1,879 words.
01Reading Comprehension
Reading Comprehension in LC Portuguese uses authentic or adapted texts - news briefs, institutional notices, literary extracts, and opinion pieces - and asks for main idea, explicit detail, inference, writer stance, and cohesion. You are not tested on translating every word; you are tested on building a reliable gist and then locating evidence.
302 words, about 2 min02Grammar and Syntax
Grammar and Syntax checks control of agreement, tense and mood, pronoun placement, prepositions, and clause linking in standard Portuguese. Questions may be discrete sentences or short connected texts; the exam rewards standard written norms while recognising educated variants.
313 words, about 2 min03Vocabulary and Idiomatic Usage
Vocabulary and Idiomatic Usage tests collocations, register, idioms, false friends, and regional variation. Items often contrast a literal reading with the idiomatic one, or ask which expression fits a formal versus informal context.
301 words, about 2 min04Translation (Portuguese to English)
Portuguese-to-English translation tests whether you can carry meaning, register, and stance into natural English without calque. Passages may be institutional, journalistic, or literary; marks come from accuracy of propositional content and appropriate English style.
297 words, about 1 min05Translation (English to Portuguese)
English-to-Portuguese translation tests production: correct mood, agreement, pronoun placement, prepositions, and natural collocation, with awareness of European versus Brazilian norms. You must write Portuguese that a native editor would accept, not word-for-word English in Portuguese clothing.
343 words, about 2 min06Cultural and Regional Context
Cultural and Regional Context tests knowledge of Lusophone societies and how language varies across them: Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cabo Verde, Guiné-Bissau, São Tomé e Príncipe, Timor-Leste, and communities in Asia and the diaspora. Items may ask about customs, geography, institutions, music, or the meaning of a culturally loaded word.
323 words, about 2 min