Why Study Portuguese at OSU?
OSUs innovative Portuguese language program and challenging, interdisciplinary minor and major in Portuguese can enhance any academic program. Your expertise in this vital language will set you apart. Consider these reasons for learning Portuguese at OSU:
- Portuguese is spoken in eight countries on four continents: Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea Bissau, and São Tomé and Principe
- It is the 7th or 8th most spoken language in the world. There are as many native speakers of Portuguese as of French and German combined.
- Portuguese is the language of 25 percent of the population of the Southern Hemisphere. It is spoken by nearly 40 percent of the population in countries bordering the southern Atlantic rim region, around which eight metropolitan areas use the language.
- There are an estimated 1,000,000 Brazilians currently living in the United States, many of them undocumented.
- More than a third of Latin Americas population lives in Brazil and speaks Portuguese.
- World Bank data shows Brazil having the 10th largest GDP worldwide, and the largest in Latin America - Site Resources
- After English, Portuguese is the most common language in the world used on Web sites and in blogging.
- Ohio is the sister state of Paraná, Brazil, and facilitates international cultural and business contacts.
Ohio is a great place to begin to develop an expertise in Portuguese and Luso-Brazilian culture. After establishing a linguistic and cultural knowledge base on campus, you can participate in OSUs study abroad program in Parans capital city, Curitiba, famous for its beauty, safety, and state-of-the-art public transportation system.
When you return with first-hand knowledge of Brazil and a remarkable level of fluency, with a small additional investment of time, you can solidify your credentials by minoring or double-majoring in Portuguese.
Knowledge of Portuguese can complement courses of study in a number of disciplines, such as Spanish, Political Science, International Studies, International Business, Latin American Studies, and Comparative Studies.
Department of Spanish and Portuguese
