Spoken by more than 240 million people, Portuguese is the sixth most widely spoken language in the world.
It is the official language in eight countries on four continents. The United States is also host to important Portuguese, Brazilian and Cape Verdean communities, especially in New England, where Portuguese is the third most widely-spoken language after English and Spanish. An estimated 1.3 million native Portuguese-speakers live in the United States.
The MIT Portuguese Program was created in 2010 to provide a solid foundation in the language and cultures of the Portuguese-speaking world. We offer elementary, intermediate and advanced level classes, as well as an intensive language course for Spanish speakers.
Our courses are designed to enable students to communicate effectively with native speakers as well as to acquaint them with the culture and civilization of the Portuguese-speaking world, and in this way prepare them to function successfully in a Portuguese-speaking environment. In our classes, students are encouraged to actively participate in a variety of small and large-group interactive activities. Through the study of authentic cultural readings, art, music and films, students become proficient in the Portuguese language and engage in critical analysis and discussion of the Portuguese-speaking world.
We offer a wide array of activities throughout the year for students to immerse themselves in Portuguese beyond the classroom, including lectures, cultural events, film screenings, and our monthly Portuguese roundtable Solta a Língua, open to the entire MIT community, which provides an opportunity to share a typical Brazilian meal in a relaxed setting, while speaking in Portuguese.
Spring 2019 Course Offerings
21G.800 Accelerated Introductory Portuguese (NEW)
21G.804 Portuguese IV
21G.820 Topics in Modern Portuguese Literature and Culture: Portuguese Language through Brazilian Film
This class is an introduction to Brazilian Cinema focusing on some of the most representative contemporary Brazilian film productions. We examine their historical, social, political, and social context. The selected films explore topics such as social inequality, migration, race relations, the role of women in society, as well as major political and historical events that have impacted Brazilian society. Emphasis will be placed on overall language enrichment of oral and written Portuguese through class discussions, grammatical analysis and vocabulary building. Classes will be conducted in Portuguese.
Looking ahead
Fall 2019
21G.803 Portuguese III
21G.811 Conversational Portuguese (NEW)
The indication of prerequisites for specific Portuguese offerings does not apply to students who have already completed equivalent work. For further placement advice, consult Nilma Dominique.
A note regarding the enrollment policy of the Global Studies and Languages section: Enrollment limited to 18 for pedagogical reasons. Preference will be given to pre-registered students, including pre-registered undergraduates who were cut from the same class the previous semester due to the enrollment cap. Please note that you have to attend the first day of class to maintain your preference level. In case of over-enrollment, preference will be given in the following order: declared majors, declared minors, declared concentrators, first-years, sophomores, juniors, seniors and graduate students.
