(My apologies for not having blogged in nearly two weeks. The Hellfest of midterms is nearly over, so we resume our regularly scheduled posting.)
Ah, Portuguese. The forgotten Romance language. Or so it may have continued to be, were it not for the efforts of one museum in São Paulo. The article claimed that Portuguese has more speakers than French, Italian, German, and Japanese, a statistic that made me doubletake. After all, how could a language so popular be so unheard of in America? I investigated further and, indeed, Portuguese is the sixth most widely spoken language. It also lies above Russian, Bengali, and Punjabi.
So why is it not given the same consideration as Spanish, Italian, or French? Why is it not an official language of the United Nations, though it is spoken on the five major continents? (sorry Australia) Portuguese isn’t yet a world language, involved with global affairs. It’s big in Brazil, and the rise of the Brazilian economy has saw the slow encroachment of Portuguese into Chile and Argentina. Maybe someday, Portuguese will get the respect it deserves. For now, any push for recognition is honorable. Kudos, CPLP.
