Exploring Portuguese | Summer Youth Program | Dean | Learn something | Village Employment
On Wednesday, October 24, 2007, Concordia Language Villages officially welcomed Portuguese as the 15th language and Mar e Floresta as the 15th Language Village. The formal announcement took place on Capitol Hill and was heralded by United States Senators Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar, House of Representatives Portuguese-American Caucus co-chair Patrick Kennedy, caucus members Representatives Devin Nunes and Jim Costa, Ambassador of Portugal João de Vallera, U.S. State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs Thomas Farrell, Concordia College president Pamela Jolicoeur, members of the Village Steering Committee, and the Language Village’s leadership team.
Translated as “Sea and Woods,” Mar e Floresta, was catapulted into the national scene as speakers remarked on the importance of Portuguese in today’s global society.
Senator Norm Coleman, representing the Language Villages’ home state and host of the event, emphasized the importance of Portuguese in emerging energy solutions: “Portuguese is spoken by some people who will be very important to shaping our new Century. Consider Brazil, which has become the world leader in ethanol and should be a model for the United States as we seek to reduce our oil dependency. Or Portugal, which has taken the leadership of the European Union. Or Luso-phone Africa – I am reminded of my own trip to Mozambique in 2003, where we looked at the scourge of AIDS. The lesson is this: if you want to work on issues like renewable fuels, European development or the global AIDS crisis, it would really help to speak Portuguese.”
Ambassador Vallera of Portugal eloquently illustrated the language’s ability to draw people together: “The Portuguese language is not the property of the 14 million Portuguese that live in their motherland, it is the common patrimony of eight countries that represent more than 200 million citizens in five different continents, all of them in the course of developing increasingly important relations with the U.S.A. and with growing and expressive communities living in this country.”
As the sixth most-spoken language in the world, Portuguese is an important skill for global citizenship. It is spoken on every inhabited continent, and in South America, more people speak Portuguese than Spanish. In fact, more people speak Portuguese than speak German, French, Italian, or Japanese independently or combined.
Portuguese communities are powerful entities on both coasts within the United States. Representative Patrick Kennedy of New Jersey said that he has the honor of representing the largest population of Portuguese-speakers in this country. “In our nation, the number of Americans who speak Portuguese is a well-kept secret. The new Portuguese Language Village is the first significant national step in bringing this knowledge to light.”
From the west coast, California Representatives Nunes and Costa both hoped that youth in their districts would attend summer sessions at Mar e Floresta and enhance language opportunities offered in the schools. Representative Nunes also recognized Portuguese Language Village steering committee member Diniz Borges as an outstanding Portuguese teacher in his state. Borges is founder and executive director of the Institute for Azorean-American Studies and a Portuguese language teacher at Tulare Union High School in California.
The Luso-American Development Foundation awarded Concordia Language Villages a generous $300,000 grant toward the start-up costs of the new Portuguese Language Village. Dr. Rui Machete, executive council chairman of the Foundation, joined the festivities, flying in from Lisbon, Portugal.
“We are grateful to Dr. Machete," said Christine Schulze, executive director of Concordia Language Vilages, "for his vision and leadership in supporting more opportunities for young Americans to learn Portuguese and be immersed in the cultures of the Lusophone world. We anticipate that we will draw youth from across the United States to Mar e Floresta in its inaugural summer session.”
The funding will also support curriculum development, staff training and community outreach for the new Village.
Mar e Floresta will be located at a camp facility in northern Minnesota. Youth, aged 8 to 18, will be able to attend two-week immersion sessions starting in July 2008. Participants, known as “villagers,” will study the language and take part in a variety of educational and cultural activities typical to Portuguese-speaking cultures. Surrounded by a supportive staff of native and non-native speakers, instruction will be given in small language-learning groups according to proficiency levels. Villagers need no previous knowledge of Portuguese to participate. Educational and cultural activities familiarize learners with the music, dance, songs, crafts, games and foods representative of Portuguese-speaking cultures.
An integral part of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., the Language Villages strengthens the College and its commitment to creating responsible global citizens.
“I am proud of the Language Villages program and its accomplishments, both in the United States and around the world. But I am especially thrilled to celebrate the launch of another language which we feel can significantly enrich both the Concordia undergraduate experience and the Language Villages program beyond what either could achieve independently,” said Dr. Pamela Jolicoeur, president of Concordia College.
Concordia Language Villages offers 15 world languages to 11,000 youth, families and adults from all 50 states and 32 countries yearly. The addition of Portuguese is in keeping with its tradition of teaching critical world languages and cultures to pre-collegiate young people.
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