São Paulo is a huge city, opened 24 hours, 7 days a week, in there you meet people from all regions of the country, the city was made up by immigrants from many parts of the world. Nowadays - just like in a distant past, Portuguese is not the only language heard on its streets. Last time I visited my hometown, in 2010, I could hear English, Spanish, French, Dutch...
Helen Joyce praises the language and the country for its size, natural resources, people and present financial situation. The latter, according to her, is already a good reason to start your course on Portuguese language.
Joyce says:
"You won’t need a new alphabet or much new grammar, though you may find the language addicted to declensions and unduly fond of the subjunctive. You’ll learn hundreds of words without effort (azul means blue, verde means green) and be able to guess entire sentences (O sistema bancário é muito forte: the banking system is very strong). With new pronunciation and a few new words you’ll get around in Portugal and parts of Africa. If you speak Spanish, French or Italian, you’ll find half the work is already done — and if not, why not try? With Portuguese under your belt you’ll fly along".Of course Joyce's views about the language "per se" are simplistic, but her approach to language learning is fantastic. One can easily feel her intention to compare Brazilian Portuguese to its BRIC's counterparts: Russian, Mandarin, Hindi... For an English speaker, it is quite obvious that learning Portuguese will be more straight-forward than learning those other languages, due to their Indo-European root, English's Latin influences and, of course, the western culture both languages carry.
From some years on, I have noticed during my daily routine as a Portuguese teacher that more people are choosing Portuguese as their second language than ever; be it for personal or professional reasons. I could observe that some of them even start learning the language as a tool to stand out professionally, as more and more multinational companies are doing business with Brazil, opening offices in there, buying shares, investing etc.
On the other hand, I also have students who learn European Portuguese, and this is also a "hit" as many English own beach properties in Portugal or Madeira and also, because many marry Portuguese partners. I love the sound of European Portuguese and I am addicted to Lisbon. Teaching European Portuguese is completely different from teaching the Brazilian variety. As Helen Joyce highlights, the sounds and vocabulary do play an important part in distinguishing one type of Portuguese from the other. But the differences go further. phrases are built in different ways, they certainly have a distinct "tempero".
Click here to read Helen Joyce's full article and don't forget to vote for the language you think is "the"one to learn!
And if you want to give this language a go, check my website: www.PortugueseOnDemand.co.uk for further information on how to study it from home or in your company.
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