- Fourth Cultural Post
For this post I wanted to focus on all the Portuguese speaking countries in the world. I am still fascinated by how many different countries throughout the world speak Portuguese, and I would love to be able to share my thoughts on it through this post.
The countries that speak Portuguese are: Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Macau, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe. However, Portuguese is not a primary language in all of these countries: it is actually a secondary language for every country but Brazil, Portugal and, São Tomé and Príncipe. The reason for the existence of Portuguese in these countries is due to colonization. There are other countries throughout the world that have pockets of Portuguese descendants and speakers, but they were not listed because the population is very small and Portuguese is not the primary or secondary language in that country. Some examples include Chaul and Goa in India, and Flores Island in Indonesia.
More than 250 million people worldwide use Portuguese daily. Portuguese is the fastest growing European language after English, and more and more countries are making Portuguese as part of their learning curriculum. For example, Portuguese is already a mandatory language in the schooling systems of Uruguay and Argentina.
It comes to no surprise then, that Portuguese is a high demand language that more and more college students are aiming to learn to increase their career opportunities. Much of this is due to the increasing importance of Brazil’s developing economy and impact on international policy trade. There is huge potential of new market opportunities and expansion in Brazil, and Brazil’s further influence on surrounding countries such as Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina, makes learning Portuguese even more important.
Working on this post has made me realize the spread and growth of the Portuguese language. I am glad that I am getting this exposure to Portuguese now, because I would love to be part of the ever-growing Portuguese community, that will be so important for business in the future.
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