Portuguese
Portuguese
Portuguese is the world’s second most spoken Romance language. It stems from Latin and has many similarities to French, Italian, and Spanish. Approximately 210 million people in eight countries in Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia speak Portuguese today. It is the official language of Portugal and Brazil, the most populous country in Latin America with the tenth-largest economy in the world. Over 51% of the population in South America speak Portuguese. It is an official language of the European Union, Mercosul, and the African Union. By studying Portuguese, students learn about nations and cultures known internationally for their architecture, cinema, history, literature, music, religion, science, and technology.
Portuguese at the University of Notre Dame
Undergraduate students who study Portuguese can pursue a minor in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies and/or a minor in Latin American Studies, satisfy the University language requirement, study abroad in Brazil for a semester or a year, deepen their knowledge of the cultures and societies they study in the social sciences and in the humanities, do a summer internship in Brazil through the Kellogg Institute, and build their curriculum vitae for fellowship opportunities and for post-graduate work. Notre Dame’s Portuguese Program offers a solid foundation in the Portuguese language and a thorough introduction to the Portuguese-speaking world via cinema, literature, the media, and popular music. The Portuguese Program has the generous support of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD), the Ministry of Culture in Brazil (Minc), and the Nanovic Institute for European Studies.
