Getting drivers license from zero

eadweard4 Member

Member since 21 August 2021

eadweard4Member17 July 2023 19:06:22

Hey!

I never came around to getting drivers license back home, so now I want to get it in Portugal.

My Portuguese knowledge is pretty bad, so wondering if anyone had any experience with learning in English language driving school (preferably in Porto) and subsequently passing exams and getting the license?

Hairyhippy Active member

Member since 03 February 2021

HairyhippyActive member18 July 2023 09:10:49

@eadweard4 You have a real challenge ahead of you. You will have to do the written exam in portuguese but for the actual driving test you can have a translator site in the back seat to translate from the examiners portuguese to english.聽 Have you got any other languages, in which case I wonder would it be better for you to do a test in another E.U. country and then get the licence changed in Portugal? Also have you thought of taking your driving test in England and then getting it changed when you move to Portugal -- just a thought. The IMT who change driving licences are incompitant so it may take some time. It took them 2 and a half years to change mine and then they spelt my name wrong and left off one catagory!

ctomac Contributor

Member since 21 May 2022

ctomacContributor18 July 2023 11:19:55

114

@eadweard4

My wife is in the same situation and as far as we know there is no driving school in Porto that offers lessons in English.

Besides, like somebody else said, the theory test is in Portuguese, as are the available resources (I highly recommend Bom Condutor).

I also did not have a valid driver's license anymore when we arrived in Portugal, so I spent time learning Portuguese first (I started more than a year before we actually landed here) and then enrolled in a driving school. The lessons themselves helped me a lot in improving my Portuguese, so this is really the way I would recommend.

My wife is now already in her second year of Portuguese language lessons here in Porto, and hopefully next year will be able to enrol for driving lessons too.

So ... good luck!