About us
A small school you can finish with your coffee.
What the name means
- escola
- school
- bolacha
- a biscuit: in Portugal, the plain, everyday kind that comes with your coffee
Escola Bolacha is “biscuit school”. A bolacha is small, ordinary and part of the day, and that’s the idea: a few minutes of practice, often, like a coffee and a biscuit. Not a course you have to make time for.
That’s also why the icon is a little schoolhouse made of a biscuit.
It’s a European Portuguese word for a European Portuguese app. On your phone’s home screen it’s just Bolacha.
Why numbers
Numbers are what you need first in a new country: prices, phone numbers, dates, the time of an appointment. They’re also what your ear struggles with longest, because they come fast and leave no room to guess from context.
Why European Portuguese
European and Brazilian Portuguese sound quite different, and most language apps teach only one. European Portuguese swallows its vowels, so “I know this number” and “I caught that number” are two different skills. Escola Bolacha trains the second one, in the Portuguese of Portugal.
Made for your phone
Everything is laid out for a phone held in one hand: big buttons, a keypad that never covers the question, and sessions short enough for a coffee. It works in any browser on a laptop or desktop too. Add it to your home screen and it opens like an app.
Who makes it
Made in Portugal for Portuguese learners. Designed by Brian Tam of Let’s Make Great!. A small group of learners have been using and shaping it since September 2026. Everything you see came from their feedback, and the in-app feedback button goes straight to Brian.
It’s free, has no ads and doesn’t ask for an account. Your progress is kept on your own device; only bonus-round scores go to the shared leaderboard.