Portuguese for Business

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Teaching Methods

At the language classes, major concepts and useful expressions of the Portuguese language will be given via expositive method, combined with exercises and teamwork in which language skills are used. Film and reading sessions will be organized to clarify important aspects of European and Lusophone culture and business environment.

Learning Outcomes

This curricular unit will offer students the ability of: understanding and use of familiar everyday expressions; communication in simple tasks related to business; describing experiences, events, hopes and ambitions; expressing ideas, opinions and plans in Portuguese. Besides, students will be able to identify: major issues in European and Lusophone business culture and society; the complexity, creativity and potential of the aforementioned countries and regions; the relationship between culture, politics and economy in Portugal, Europe and the other Lusophone countries. Based on empirical experience, students will be able to analyze and interpret expressions of cultural values and individual/collective sentiments in Lusophone countries and Europe.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1.Introduction to Portuguese language: history, phonetic and grammar, major differences between Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese and African Portuguese, gestures and new tendencies.

2.Familiar everyday expressions and frequently used expressions related to business: Introduce oneself and others; ask and answer questions about personal details; require and exchange information on familiar and routine matters.

3.Conversation topics: “shopping”, “in a restaurant”, “in a commercial/industrial fair”, “at the post office”, “in a job interview”; How to make phone-calls, write e-mails and commercial letters.

4.Reading sessions on Portuguese, Lusophone and European culture, history, society, business culture and consumption habits.

5.Different cultural manifestations of cross-cultural communication in Lusophone cinema and literature.

Head Lecturer(s)

Miao Zhou

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Individual presentation (20%) + participation in class (20%) + Portuguese language test (20%) + final exam (40%): 100.0%

Bibliography

AA.VV. (2014) Aprender Português: Português para Estrangeiros 1 e 2, ed. Carla Oliveira e Luísa Coelho. Lisboa: Texto Editores.

AUERBACH, Erich (2004) Time, History and Literature. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

BERLIN, Isaiah (1999) The Roots of Romantism, ed. Henry Hardy. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

BOYANJIAN, James C. (2008) Portuguese Trade in Asia under the Hubsburgs, 1580-1640. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

CUNHA, Celso e CINTRA, Lindley (2015) Nova Gramática do Português Contemporâneo, 22.ª ed. Lisboa: Figueirinhas.

FRANKOPAN, Peter (2015) The Silk Roads: A New History of the World. London: Bloomsbury.

JAYSURIYA, Shihan de Silva (2017) The Portuguese in the East: A Cultural History of a Maritime Trading Empire. London: I.B.Tauris.

MENASSE, Robert (2012) Der Europäische Landbote: Die Wut der Bürger und der Friede Europas. Wien: Herder.