Brazil is the world's sixth-largest economy. And Portuguese is the fifth most widely spoken language in the world, with 200 million native speakers.
Although we tend to think of Brazilians and Portuguese people as the only native speakers of Portuguese, we must not forget other countries where it is also spoken, such as Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
Brazil is home to Latin America's largest stock exchange (Bovespa) and world-class companies in the oil, mining, aircraft manufacturing, steel, telecommunications, food, beverage, and engineering sectors.
It is our second-largest trading partner (surpassed only by China) and a strategically important ally for Uruguay. We share a border of more than 1,000 kilometers and are working on various border integration projects.
Brazil is a leader in the process of regional integration in Latin America.
By mastering the Portuguese language, you’ll gain access to business knowledge and information that isn’t available in other languages, since Brazil has a large publishing industry of its own and there is an abundance of economic publications in Portuguese.
In addition, institutions in Brazil and Portugal have cooperation agreements with Universidad ORT Uruguay. Therefore, there is no better way to learn Portuguese effectively than through language immersion, by participating in exchange programs with Portuguese-speaking countries.
What are you waiting for to brush up on your basic knowledge of this language?
Cooperation Agreements
Universidad ORT Uruguay cooperation agreements with the following Brazilian universities:
- Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais
- Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
- Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul
- University of São Paulo
It also has agreements with two Portuguese universities:
- ISCTE – Lisbon University Institute
- Technical University of Lisbon - Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences
The Culture of Brazil and Portugal
Brazil is a profoundly multicultural country, shaped by large and diverse waves of migration from every continent.
Its popular music is known around the world and has wide variety of genres and styles, such as samba, bossa nova, choro, axé, lambada, forró, and sertaneja.
Some of Brazil's best-known and most iconic international hits include the samba "Aquarela do Brasil " (composed by Ary Barroso) and the bossa nova "Garota de Ipanema " (lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes and music by Antônio Carlos Jobim).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svVeCQeCG98
Brazilian literature boasts many notable figures, such as the writer Jorge Amado (Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands).
The film industry, for its part, is one of the most developed in Latin America. And the massive soap opera industry helps showcase the country’s wonders to the world, with numerous international hits such as *Color del pecado*, *Avenida Brasil*, *Terra nostra*, *El clon*, and *El rey del ganado*, among many others.
In Portugal, the Golden Age of literature is generally considered to be the Renaissance, a period that saw the emergence of figures such as Bernardim Ribeiro, Gil Vicente, Sá de Miranda, and, above all, the great epic poet Luís de Camões, author of *Os Lusíadas*.
In the realm of the novel, the second half of the 19th century saw the emergence of the realist and naturalist movements, whose leading figure was Eça de Queirós.
The literary trends of the 20th century are represented primarily by Fernando Pessoa, regarded as the country’s greatest poet alongside Camões, and, in its later years, by the development of fictional prose thanks to authors such as António Lobo Antunes and José Saramago, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1998).
Master's and Doctoral Scholarships in Brazil
The Graduate Student Exchange Program (PEC-PG) offers international students the opportunity to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees in Brazil.
It is jointly administered by the Cultural Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) of Brazil.
This is an educational cooperation initiative with developing countries with which Brazil has agreements in the fields of education, culture, science, and technology.
Uruguay has an educational agreement with Brazil, under which Uruguayan students can participate in the PEC-PG program.
The program's goal is to award master's and doctoral scholarships, with a focus on enhancing the qualifications of university professors, researchers, professionals, and college graduates.
Scholarships are awarded in all fields of study where there are graduate programs that grant nationally recognized degrees.
By visiting the website of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, you can find comprehensive information on how to participate in the PEC-PG program and on the graduate courses recommended by CAPES at Brazilian higher education institutions.
Institution offering the courses
The Portuguese courses offered by the Language Center are organized and taught by the Uruguayan-Brazilian Cultural Institute (ICUB).
Founded in 1940, this institution is the only one in the country authorized by the Brazilian Ministry of Education and Culture to administer the exam leading to the Certificate of Proficiency in Portuguese for Foreigners (Celpe-Bras).
The Celpe-Bras is a standardized Portuguese language test required by many universities for admission to undergraduate and graduate programs in Brazil.
Performance is evaluated on four levels:
- Intermediate
- Upper intermediate
- Advanced
- Advanced (Advanced Level)