«Why Learn Brazilian Portuguese?»
by Amanda Ennes
«Portuguese is the sixth most spoken language in the world, and the official language of 10 countries, besides being significantly present in other territories. It is estimated that over 270 million people worldwide speak Portuguese, and 80% of them are in Brazil.»
«Although Portuguese is originally from Portugal, Brazilian Portuguese is its most studied variant in the world today. Throughout the history of Brazil, the Portuguese language gathered indigenous terms used there before the colonization by Portugal, and grew stronger with its own features, particularly in phonology.»
«Despite this, Brazilian and European Portuguese are very similar, especially when considering formal writing. Representatives from countries in which Portuguese is the official language agreed on a reform of the Portuguese orthography. This reform aims to unify and strengthen the language, making it even more important to world.»
«Today, Brazil is the 9th largest economy in the world. Due to its economic importance, especially in the MERCOSUL (South America’s sub-regional block), many countries in South America, and some of Brazil’s economic partners, are now teaching Portuguese at schools and educational centers.»
«The world is changing fast. Companies are doing business in several countries around the world and Brazil is among one of their favorite places to invest their money. Among other things, Brazil has one of the largest consumer markets in the world. A vast majority of young and dynamic workers, is the second largest emerging market, and is among the top producers and exporters of sugar, ethanol, biofuel, coffee and soy beans.»
[Transcrição parcial de artigo, da autoria de Amanda Ennes, publicado em 08.11.16 no “blog” do portal “Day Translations”. Destaque e sublinhado meus.]
