Portuguese

With Portuguese, you can speak with the nearly 220 million people of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Portugal, and East Timor. Nearly 199 million of these Portuguese speakers are from Brazil alone, the fifth most populous nation in the world and, with the eighth largest GDP, one of the more prominent emerging economies. Its growing international significance is further reflected in its selection to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. The study of Portuguese is also your gateway into a world-wide culture offering vibrantly interesting literary, cinematic, musical, and visual production, including winners of the Palme d’Or and the Nobel Prize.

The Portuguese Program in the Department of Romance Studies offers a full sequence of language courses (LP111, LP112, LP211, and LP212) to develop students speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills, as well as provide an introduction to the culture of the Lusophone world. We also offer an Intensive Elementary Portuguese course which is equivalent to one year of college-level Portuguese and a great way for Romance-language speakers to get a head start on completing the full two-year sequence.

Additionally, we have begun offering upper-division courses in English and Portuguese to accommodate student interest beyond the language sequence.  LP310 is an introduction to Brazilian cinema taught in English by Dylon Robbins. The course centers on a selection of Brazilian films from throughout its history so as to examine some of the recurrent themes in Brazilian culture, including violence, poverty, politics, popular culture, Carnival, urbanization,  race, and national integration. During the 2011-12 academic year we will also offer courses on Brazilian and Portuguese cultures taught in Portuguese by Célia Bianconi.  The courses will develop advanced language ability through an examination of an array of texts and other cultural manifestations:  fiction, non-fiction (including history), poetry, cinema, music. Advanced topics courses on Brazilian culture taught in Portuguese by Dylon Robbins will soon follow.

While still in the planning and approval stages, the Portuguese Program will soon offer an inter-disciplinary minor which will build upon LP111, LP112, LP211, and LP212, and include other upper-division language courses. Minors will be encouraged to take courses both in the Portuguese program and in other departments and programs with many of the Boston University faculty that offer relevant courses, such as the Departments of History and Political Science.

Questions about the Portuguese Program?
Escreva pra gente!