Portuguese at U of T

Portuguese is the official language of eight nations: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guiné-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tomé e Príncipe . It is spoken by more than 200 million people across the five continents. Brazil alone has a growing population of 170 million people.
Portuguese is the sixth most spoken language in the world.
Portugal has a rich culture dating back to the 12th century. When learning Portuguese one has access not only to the culture and literature of this nation – great writers such as Camões, Pessoa, Lobo Antunes and Saramago – but also to the culture and literature of the other Portuguese-speaking countries.
Portuguese has been taught at the University of Toronto since 1947. It is part of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
Portuguese combines well with other modern languages and literatures as well as other programs such as Latin-American Studies, European Studies, Sociology, Political Sciences and others.

There are summer courses offered by the University of Lisbon and University of Coimbra which are recognized by U of T. The department also offers advice on other types of courses and arrangements; students have studied both in Brazil and Portugal.

Why study Portuguese in Canada?
There are about half a million people from Portuguese background in Canada. There are many opportunities for employment using Portuguese skills in the country. On the other hand Brazil and the other speaking countries need expertise in many areas and Portuguese language skills are a great asset.
Is it hard to learn Portuguese?
Portuguese is a romance language. Spanish, Italian and French speakers in particular will discover the same language structure. There are many opportunities of practicing the language in Toronto – in cultural clubs, cafes and wonderful bakeries all over the city.