7 Reasons to learn Portuguese

Are you wondering why you should learn Portuguese? Let me give you some good reasons.

Where does Portuguese come from? Where did it start? A bit of history.

Learning a language its like a journey full of interesting places to visit. Knowing a bit about
its origins can increase your interest and connection with language.

Lets get some key information on Portuguese language. In 1500, when Portuguese arrived
in Brazil, their language became the official one. By 1757 the local language spoken by
natives (Tupi guarani) was forbidden.

The Portuguese spoken in Brazil has a lot of African and Indian influences. On the other
hand, the Portuguese spoken in Portugal was influenced by French. After independence in
1822, Portuguese language in Brazil suffered influences from Dutch, Spanish and other
Europeans. Long story made short.

Nowadays, over 240 million people speak Portuguese (Brazil alone has a population of
200 million).

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1. Portuguese is one of the most widely spoken
languages in the world: 11 countries on 4 continents
Approximately 208 million people are native speakers of Portuguese, which makes it the
sixth most common language in the world. This figure jumps to 230 million if we include
people who speak Portuguese as a second language. The official language of eight
countries: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guine-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal,
and So Tome and Prncipe. Also spoken in the Portuguese islands of Madeiras and
Azores.Fastest growing language of Europe (with Spanish). Though not official, it is also
spoken in Macau, Andorra, Luxembourg, Paraguay, South Africa, and Namibia. It is
estimated that 1.3 million native speakers of Portuguese live in the USA. It is an official
language of the European Union.

2. Brazil labor force needs qualified professionals

Brazil is looking for professionals in all sectors. This is why every year thousands of people
decide to move to Brazil. However, in order for a Brazilian adventure to give you the results
you expect, you need to learn Portuguese. You can not get the most out of this experience if
you dont have a clue of what locals are talking about. Knowing Portuguese can help you
find a job or put you in a good position in companies that are or that will be in contact with
this South American powerhouse. Do you agree?

3. The number of Portuguese speakers is on the rise

In the coming years, more and more people will speak Portuguese. UNESCO estimates that,
in 2050, Portuguese will be spoken by approximately 335 million people.

4. Trade is increasing between the world and Brazil

Brazil is the 5th largest economy in the world. It makes sense in the global economy to
study Portuguese. Since 1995, Brazilian imports and exports have practically doubled. Its
reasonable to expect that trade between US & Europe and Brazil will continue to increase.
Portuguese is the Working and/or official language in important international organizations
(African Union, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, the European Union,
and Mercosul, the Organization of American States, the Organization of Ibero-American
States, and the Union of South American Nations).

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5. Portuguese is relatively easy to learn
Portuguese is a rather easy language to learn, especially if you already know some French,
Spanish or Italian because a number of words are nearly identical. As for grammar, English
and Portuguese organize sentences in the same order (noun verb complement). And
who doesnt have a Portuguese/Brazilian neighbour, acquaintance, or friend with whom to
practise speaking without having to move to another country?
If we compare Portuguese to languages of other developing countries (Mandarin or Korean,
for example), learning Portuguese is walk in the park!

6. Few English speakers also speak Portuguese (less

competition)
If we compare the number of English speakers who also speak French, German, Spanish,
etc. with those whose second language is Brazilian Portuguese, there are significantly less
speakers of Portuguese as a second language. This means that you will have less
competition for jobs in all sectors if you focus on learning Portuguese.

7. Brazilian Portuguese is a desired language in a

number of professional sectors (tourism, international
trade, research, etc.)

Numerous scientists consider Brazil to be the country with the most important biological
diversity in the world. Portuguese is spoken in a number of tourist destinations, such as
Portugal, Madeira, Brazil, and the Cape Verde archipelago. Economic prosperity is pushing
the Brazilian middle class to Europe, so it will become more and more important for tourism
professionals (guides, interpreters, group leaders, etc.) to be able to communicate in
Brazilian Portuguese. Do you need extra reasons? There you go:

8. Portuguese is the fifth most common language on the

Web
Portuguese is also becoming more popular online due to new technological developments.
Around 83 million Internet surfers speak Portuguese, and the number of webpages in
Portuguese continues to increase. This makes Portuguese one of the most common
languages on the Web.

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Learning Portuguese helps you to understand Spanish
As your Portuguese improves you'll also be able to get around in Spanish (more or less) to a
much greater degree than you'd be able to if you learned Spanish first and tried to get
around in Portuguese.

So stop screwing around and begin your journey to learn Portuguese today.

Ready to start? Here is a great source, a best seller from Amazon that it will help you to get
started.
Brazilian Portuguese, Complete Edition is a unique multimedia course that takes you from a
beginner to an advanced level in one convenient package. At the core of Brazilian
Portuguese, Complete Edition is the Living Language Method, based on linguistic science,
proven techniques, and over 65 years of experience. This method teaches you the whole
language, so you can express yourself, not just recite memorized words or scripts.

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Have fun!

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