A palestra de hoje na universidade foi boa para quem está começando a carreira.

Because Portuguese usually uses the definite article more often than English.

• A palestra = the lecture / the talk
• In English, we might sometimes say Today’s lecture...
• In Portuguese, it is very natural to say A palestra de hoje...

Leaving out the article here would sound less natural in standard Brazilian Portuguese.

De hoje means of today or more naturally today’s.

So:

• A palestra de hoje = today’s lecture
• Literally: the lecture of today

You could also hear other structures in Portuguese, but de hoje is a very common and natural way to express this idea.

Because na is a contraction:

• em + a = na

So:

• na universidade = in/at the university

Portuguese very often contracts prepositions with articles:

• em + o = no
• em + a = na
• de + o = do
• de + a = da

This is something English speakers need to get used to, because English does not usually do this in the same way.

Foi is the past tense of ser and here it refers to a completed event in the past.

• foi boa = was good

Since the lecture happened as a specific event, foi is the normal choice.

Compare:

• A palestra foi boa. = The lecture was good.
  (a completed event)
• A palestra era boa. = The lecture used to be good / was good in an ongoing descriptive sense
  (this sounds less natural in this context)

For a single lecture that happened today, foi is the expected form.

Because boa agrees with palestra, which is a feminine noun.

• palestra = feminine
• so the adjective must also be feminine:
  • boa = good

If the noun were masculine, you would use bom:

• O curso foi bom. = The course was good.
• A palestra foi boa. = The lecture was good.

Para quem means for those who or for anyone who, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• foi boa para quem está começando a carreira
• = was good for people who are starting their career

Here, quem does not mean just one specific person. It often means whoever / those who / anyone who.

This is very common in Portuguese:

• Isso é importante para quem estuda.
  = This is important for those who study.

Está começando is the present progressive, like is starting in English.

It is formed with:

• estar
  • gerund
• está começando = is beginning / is starting

This emphasizes that the action is in progress or is currently happening.

Compare:

• quem está começando a carreira = those who are starting their career
• quem começa a carreira = those who start their career
  (more general or less natural here)
• quem começando a carreira is incorrect by itself, because the gerund usually needs a verb like estar here.

In Brazilian Portuguese, estar + gerund is very common.

Portuguese often uses articles in places where English might not.

• começando a carreira = starting their career
• Literally: starting the career

In Portuguese, this sounds natural and complete with the article. English often prefers their career or simply a career, depending on context, but Portuguese commonly uses the definite article in these kinds of expressions.

Yes, carreira can be broader than just the English word career in a narrow sense.

It can refer to:

• a profession-related path
• someone’s professional development
• a long-term working life in a field

So in this sentence, começando a carreira suggests:

• starting one’s professional life
• beginning one’s career path

It sounds very natural for people who are new to the job market or early in their profession.

It describes the group of people for whom the lecture was useful or good.

The structure is:

• A palestra de hoje na universidade = the subject
• foi = the verb
• boa = description
• para quem está começando a carreira = tells us for whom it was good

So the whole sentence means that the lecture was especially good or useful for people at the beginning of their career.

Yes, somewhat, but the original order is very natural.

Original:

• A palestra de hoje na universidade foi boa para quem está começando a carreira.

You could also say:

• A palestra na universidade hoje foi boa para quem está começando a carreira.
• A palestra de hoje foi boa para quem está começando a carreira.

But changing the order can slightly change what sounds most natural or what gets emphasized.

The original version flows well because it introduces:

1. the lecture
2. which lecture (de hoje)
3. where (na universidade)
4. evaluation (foi boa)
5. for whom (para quem está começando a carreira)

A very literal version would be:

• The lecture of today at the university was good for those who are starting the career.

That is understandable, but not natural English. A more natural English version would be:

• Today’s lecture at the university was good for people who are starting their careers.
• or ...for those starting their careers.

This is a good example of how Portuguese and English often express the same idea with different article use and slightly different phrasing.