Beginning Portuguese



PGSE 3101-3102 (Language Studies) & PGSE 3103 (Cultural Studies)

This course sequence is designed for students with no previous classroom instruction or functional ability in Portuguese, and little or no experience in another Romance Language. In Language Studies, students are exposed to intensive grammar instruction to develop their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Most students completing this course sequence will be able to initiate, sustain, and close a simple conversation dealing with familiar topics, and will be able to write simple short narratives and read simple authentic texts. They will notice a tremendous difference in terms of comprehension from week 1 to week 7, and by the end of the program they will create with the language to a certain degree, combining elements to communicate personal meaning and satisfy relatively simple social demands, often in a reactive mode. Cultural Studies is a portion of the course that introduces arts in general, history, geography, and daily life cultural elements of the Portuguese-speaking world. Most students completing this course achieved Intermediate sublevels in the exit assessment.



Prerequisite: Placement and/or approval of the instructor and/or director prior to registration