Introduction

Wh i Ie the situation for the classroom learner is sometimes bleak with regards to vocabulary acquisition, it can be equally as frustrating for independent learners. These individuals may pick up a work of fiction or a newspaper and begin to work through the text word for word, as they look up unfamiliar words in a dictionary. Yet there is often the uncomfortable suspicion on the part of such learners that their time could be maximized if they could simply begin with the most common words in Portuguese, and work progressively through the list.