Why study Portuguese?

Portuguese is the world's sixth most widely-spoken language (behind Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, English, Arabic and Hindi) with approximately 250 million native speakers in 10 countries. In fact, there are more Portuguese speakers in Brazil than there are Spanish speakers in the rest of South America. Here in the United States, There are approximately 3.5 million Portuguese speakers nationwide (with about 1,500 in Idaho).

The Portuguese language is becoming progressively more important in the business world. Brazil is one of the World's ten largest economies, and an important trade partner with the USA. More and more, it is becoming an indispensable tool for anyone doing business in Latin America. The need for Portuguese is also increasingly evident nationwide in health care, education, law enforcement, and many other fields.

Spanish speakers desiring to learn another language will find that Portuguese vocabulary and grammar structures are very similar to their own; there are likewise many cultural similarities between Brazil and the rest of the Latino / Hispanic world. In many universities, Spanish majors are required to take several credits of Portuguese to satisfy a related-fields requirement. Foreign language major at CSI who wish to pursue further language studies at a four-year school may wish to consider studying Portuguese together with Spanish for this reason. Closer to home, there are many people of Portuguese background in the local dairy and agricultural industries, making it an important tool for anyone wishing to enhance their ability to communicate with these individuals. CSI is proud to offer PORT 101 and 102. These courses emphasize oral communication, listening, reading and writing skills. Also central to each course is the use of popular music, film, and other media to examine the language through the lens of contemporary Luso-Brazilian culture.

After living in Brazil for two years, Portuguese instructor Adam Crofts spent the next twelve years zealously studying the language, culture, music and food of the region. He is what you might call "mildly obsessed" with Brazil. Come join us and discover Brazil for yourself!