Portuguese for Kids
Accessing Portguguese for Kids
Despite its international prevalence, Portuguese is a rare bird in American elementary and secondary schools. Por que? With 178 million speakers worldwide, Portuguese ranks as the third most widely spoken European language, after Spanish and English. Many Americans know the language only as a relative—not to say ugly stepsister—of Spanish. Spaniards themselves, however, have long regarded this kindred Romance language with admiration; Cervantes himself dubbed Portuguese “the sweet language.” Sweet, widespread, and easy to learn, Portuguese for kids is an appealing choice. Born in a province of the Roman Empire, the language now makes its influence felt across the world. Samba, anyone? Portuguese for kids offers youngsters not only a language to learn but a rich source of historical and cultural interest.
Portuguese for Kids: A History Lesson
Like many other European languages, Portuguese descended from Latin and is a member of the Romance family. The Romans invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the third century BCE, and after decades of struggle with native tribes, established a province on the western coast named Lusitania. The territory encompassed much of what would become Portugal, and its imprint survives in the technical term for modern Portuguese speakers. Just as speakers of French are known as Francophones and English speakers as Anglophones, people fluent in Portuguese are referred to as Lusophones.
Following the Roman occupation, one group after another seized control of the area. First Germans, then Moors, and finally Christians, who claimed it as part of their Iberian Reconquest and established Portugal as an independent kingdom in 1179 CE. The following century Portugal took to naval exploration, an early pioneer in the process of globalization that continues today. By the end of the 1400s, navigators such as Vasco de Gama were sailing to exotic destinations in Africa, Asia, and South America, taking their language with them.
Portuguese Today
As a result of colonial expansion, Portuguese now flourishes throughout the world. Recognized as an official language on every continent except North America and Antarctica, Portuguese is spoken in Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, the Macau region of China, the Indian state of Goa, and elsewhere. The Portuguese vocabulary also reflects the diverse influences on the language’s evolution. Numerous words starting with “al-” indicate an Arabic derivation (alface = carrot, almofada = pillow). Words like roubar (to steal) and guerrear (to make war)come from German. (Compare the English “rob” and “guerrilla,” and recall that English itself is a Germanic language.)
The Practical Value of Portuguese for Kids
Because the language thrives so widely, choosing Portuguese for your kids will open doors all over the world to them. Young people interested in working or living in South America will benefit especially. Contrary to popular misperception, Portuguese is more commonly spoken than Spanish on that continent.
All the more reason not to view the two languages as rivals but complements. Acquiring one language can facilitate a study of the other. Sabrina Karpa-Wilson, formerly an Assistant Professor of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University, observes that students often take advantage of this linguistic kinship. When teaching Portuguese, she recalled “many people coming over from Spanish, and that makes sense because they can learn it quickly.” Indeed, these students see results fast. “After two semesters of intensive (Portuguese) study, students usually begin to settle down into the language and can carry out conversations on topics of basic to intermediate difficulty with reasonable fluency,” says Karpa-Wilson. For these reasons, parents with children already studying Spanish may wish to consider Portuguese for their kids as an option either now or later.
A Beat You Can't Beat
Portuguese for kids offers them access to a rich cache of culture, especially when it comes to music and dance. The national identity of Brazil was born from three parents: the European, the African, and the indigenous Indian populations. Small surprise, then, that the distinctively Brazilian sounds of bossa nova and samba are really amalgams of different ethnic influences. The Consulate General of Brazil in San Francisco describes the artistic intersection as follows: “the Indians with their reed flutes, the Portuguese with their singers and viola players, and the Africans with their many thrilling rhythms . . . make it [Brazil] a musical country.”
Samba, both a style of music and a type of dance, has a disputed origin. Although some historians maintain that the genre derives from African percussion and hand-clapping, the Consulate General also acknowledges the theory that “samba was born in the streets of Rio de Janeiro with contributions from three different cultures—Portuguese courtly songs, African rhythms and native Indian fast footwork.” Samba may have developed in the streets, but the cool wash of bossa nova could only come from the sea. Rolling in from the beaches of Rio, bossa nova’s smooth, rich harmonies, blending jazz with samba rhythms, spread to international shores in the 1950s.
Health Benefits of Children Learning Portuguese?
Warning: teaching children Portuguese may lead to an addiction to capoeira, a combination dance-and-martial art, performed to rhythmic music. Like samba and bossa nova, it springs from both African and Amerindian sources. Allegedly invented by Afro-Brazilian slaves as a way of practicing hand-to-hand combat under the guise of dance, capoeira integrates sparring and acrobatics with music and dance. The Capoeira Group at Princeton University describes its pursuit as “a dialog between players” that allows for a range of meaning and creative expression. Think about it, Mom and Dad. Here’s a way to keep children in shape physically and mentally with an activity they will probably enjoy. We call that a win-win-win situation.
Email This Article to a Friend
