Why Study Portuguese?

- Portuguese is the sixth-most widely spoken language in the world, spoken by over 200 million people, well ahead of German (10th), French (11th), and Italian (15th).

- There are over 1.3 million native speakers of Portuguese living in the United States. Portuguese is the official language of eight countries including Brazil, Portugal, and Mozambique, and an unofficial language in numerous linguistic islands in China and India.

- Brazil is the 5th-largest country in the world with the 8th-largest economy. The state of São Paulo has the largest industrial zone in Latin America. With more than 170 million people, Brazil has a mass consumer market. The US is Brazil's largest trading partner.

- Because few Americans speak Portuguese, proficiency in the language is a highly marketable business skill.

- Since it is so important and so rarely studied, knowledge of Portuguese is a very marketable skill, especially in commerce and banking.

- Speaking Portuguese can made you a more attractive candidate for a full-time job.

- Although business students, for example, can operate in English in a large
number of countries, a deeper understanding of the cultures there
would enhance their performance as employees or entrepreneurs.
Interactions and negotiations in English may be possible, but there is
nothing like knowing the local language to become aware of the nuances
and the sensitivities involved in everyday life or work situations.

- Acquiring another language makes students better problem solvers, unleashing their
ability to identify problems, enriching the ways in which they search and process information, and making them aware of issues and perspectives that they would otherwise ignore.

- Language learning is a powerful way of appreciating and respecting the diversity of the
world.

- English proficiency may have become a necessary qualification for employment at most
multinational organizations, but it is certainly not sufficient to pursue a successful professional career in an international context.

- Learning a language exercises the mind and enriches the spirit. It is a fundamentally humbling process by which students learn that their culture and way of expressing it are relative, not absolute. That perspective makes them more open to other points of view, and more likely to avoid one-size-fits-all solutions to the problems of the world.