For true beginners, students who know very basic Portuguese, or speak Spanish

Fill out an application form, to get a link to register : https://forms.gle/wgMobd9sVFvxvyuP9
(an assessment is not needed for this class)

Português Básico 1 is a beginner’s class with a focus on listening, speaking and developing communication skills in Portuguese from the first day, without resorting to translating into one’s native language. This course will give you a solid base and allow you to start communicating with Portuguese native speakers. The instructor will use visual materials, music, and conversation between participants during the learning process, focusing on her native Brazilian Portuguese, and also examine some differences between Brazilian, African, South Asian and Continental (European) Portuguese.

The program will introduce grammar structures in practical ways, and some writing exercises. The course runs weekly, with 2 hours on Zoom, and an extra hour of required practice exercises. As you develop your language skills, we will also engage with the history of Brazilian people, its revolutionary struggles, and other means of resistance.

Join us for an introductory course on the basics of Portuguese with a glimpse on historical and contemporary contexts of the working classes and social movements in Brazil, and other Portuguese-speaking countries.

DETAILS

There are two offerings of Basic 1:

CLASS 1:

• This class meets on Zoom on Mondays every week (for 8 weeks) from January 8 – February 26, 2024
  6pm – 8pm EST
  (and up to one extra weekly hour of self-study required)
  $160 – $320 sliding scale cost for students

CLASS 2:

• This class meets on Zoom on Wednesdays every week (for 8 classes) from January 17 – March 1, 2024
  6pm – 8pm EST
  (and up to one extra weekly hour of self-study required)
  $160 – $320 sliding scale cost for students

Fill out an application form at: https://forms.gle/wgMobd9sVFvxvyuP9 .

After you complete the application, you will be invited via email to register for Basic 1 – check your email!

More information:
Portuguese is a language with roots in Portugal and also the official language spoken today in 10 countries: Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Portugal, Guinea-Bissau, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Macau, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Portuguese is arguably among the 9 or 10 most spoken languages in the world, but only 5 percent of its speakers live in its original home Portugal. It is estimated that 270 million people speak Portuguese today, amongst which nearly 254 million are native speakers. It is the second most spoken Romance language, after Spanish. Brazil’s 211 million people is the largest Portuguese-speaking population in the world.

As a colonial language, it suffered many transformations, particular to each locale. It is nowadays also a result of cultural resistance of the indigenous and enslaved people during colonialism. It is spoken in the U.S particularly in the Northeast, in California and in Florida, where native Portuguese speakers, who are immigrants from Africa, South Asia, Europe and Brazil have concentrated historically. In nearby regions, it is more widely spoken in areas of Newark, New Jersey; Astoria, Queens; in the coastal regions of Connecticut, and Massachusetts.