Over the past four decades, scholars have debated the pedagogical and sociolinguistic needs of heritage language learners. It is widely accepted that these learners present several characteristics that are different from those of foreign (or non-heritage) language learners. However, scholars have also pointed to similarities between the two groups of learners, especially in terms of linguistic production. This paper contributes to the discussion about the needs of the two groups of learners by investigating how they carry out activities from a Portuguese language textbook. Looking at two types of activities (speaking and writing), learners' perceptions of textbook exercises are analyzed. The article also discusses interactions within each distinct group. While differences were found between the two groups of learners, several similarities were also evident. Based on these results, pedagogical suggestions are offered in the concluding section of the article. (Contains 2 figures.)