Learn Portuguese with a big group of Portuguese students!

Our curriculum is designed for students at all levels of proficiency who want to learn the Portuguese language and cultures of the Portuguese-speaking communities around the world.
 

Curriculum

Portuguese is an international language and several communities around the world use it differently to suit their culture needs and contexts. Besides the specificities of each country, Brazil alone is home to several important dialects.

Our curriculum draws on all this vibrant linguistic and cultural diversity and gives you the opportunity to explore the variant or community you are interested in, while giving you enough knowledge to navigate other Portuguese-speaking cultures and variants. This commitment to diversity is reflected not only in terms of variants but also in faculty, staff, and students.

A typically day includes four to five hours of classroom instruction in Language & Culture, team-taught by the Portuguese School faculty, and thematic sessions, taught by invited writers, scholars, or artists, plus homework and assignments. The curriculum is organized around cross-disciplinary materials, from the arts and literature to environmental studies and architecture. Students explore Portuguese-speaking cultures through all sorts of cultural productions—theater, music, movies, novels, short stories, plays, etc.—and guest-lecturers. Students are also encouraged to participate in cocurricular activities of their choice.

Levels

Placement in a specific level is determined by language proficiency. All students take a language assessment prior to the start of the program. The language assessment is not part of the application process. Read more about level placement.