sobre nós
(About us)
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the portuguese language
the portuguese language
Portuguese is the 6th most spoken language in the world, with over 215 million native speakers spanning several continents. Portuguese is the sole official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe. It is also one of several official languages in East Timor, Equatorial Guinea and Macau. In terms of native speakers, Portuguese is the most spoken language in South America (and in the southern hemisphere at large), and the third most spoken language in Europe.
Map: the Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) world
(Source: Wikipedia)
Portuguese is an Iberian Romance language, placing it in the same geo-linguistic group as Spanish, Catalan and Galician. It is the second of five most-spoken Romance languages in the world: Spanish (470 million native speakers), Portuguese (215-250 million), French (150 million), Italian (90 million), and Romanian (25 million).
Why study Portuguese?
Why study Portuguese?
Because it is so widely spoken, learning Portuguese can open up a wealth of professional, economic, and cultural opportunities. Brazil is a particularly important player in international business—it houses the world's eighth largest economy by GDP, and one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Because of the country's demographic and economic growth, the number of Portuguese speakers in the world is expanding. UNESCO estimates that, by 2050, there will be approximately 335 million native Portuguese speakers worldwide. There are a wealth of jobs available to bilingual English-Portuguese speakers in many fields: tourism, translation, international trade, engineering, and many more. Because there are few English speakers who also speak Portuguese, these jobs are in high demand.
Portuguese is also relatively easy for English-speakers to learn. Those who are already familiar with another Romance language such as Spanish, French or Italian have a particular advantage, as these languages share many words and grammatical structures with Portuguese. Conversely, knowing Portuguese is also a fantastic gateway into learning other Romance languages.
our program
our program
The Portuguese program at ASU offers Portuguese language classes for a variety of levels, from beginner to advanced. All classes allow students to develop well-rounded Portuguese skills by practicing conversation, reading, and writing in real-life contexts. In addition, we offer accelerated Portuguese classes for Spanish speakers. For students who already know Spanish, learning Portuguese can provide an extra edge on the job market.
ASU also offers a variety of Portuguese cultural classes (taught in both English and Portuguese) that address topics such as:
- Contemporary Brazilian Popular Music
- Issues pertaining to race, social class, and citizenship
- Linguistics
- Filmmaking
- Various Portuguese-speaking writers, intellectuals, and artists
- Brazilian Pop Culture
Students who study Portuguese are eligible to complete the Brazilian Studies certificate and/or the Latin American Studies certificate. For more information about ASU's Portuguese program and related extracurricular activities, click here.
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