Every year on 5 May, World Portuguese Language Day highlights the important role this language plays in preserving human civilisation and culture. The current Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union makes this year’s celebrations even more special.
Around the world, Portuguese is one of the most spoken and widespread languages. It is the most widely spoken language in the Southern hemisphere. Portuguese speakers also account for the first wave of globalisation following to the Portuguese discoveries. Due to this, the Portuguese language had an influence on other languages. Nowadays, about 220 million people in the world are native speakers of Portuguese. This makes Portuguese the 6th most spoken language on the planet. Someone who speaks this language is called a Lusophone. A majority of Lusophones live in Brazil. Besides Brazil, eight other countries name Portuguese as the official language. These countries are Angola, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Principe, Timor-Leste and of course Portugal.
The Council of Ministers of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) originally began observing a Day of the Portuguese Language and Culture on 5 May. In 2019, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) changed it to World Portuguese Language Day. This was the first time an unofficial UNESCO language was given this honour.
Many Portuguese-speaking countries celebrate this day with concerts, cultural and artistic activities, and literary events.
Did you know?
- Commonly used words in English like banana, embarrass, acai, breeze, coconut, macaw, monsoon, molasses, mosquito, mango, maraca, samba, zebra, and cobra are of Portuguese origin.
- Until recently the letters k, y and w were absent from the Portuguese alphabet. Owing to the strong influence of English, they have been added to write foreign names.
- The differences between European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese emerged in the 18th century, with Brazilian Portuguese being heavily influenced by Italian and other non-Portuguese colonisers.
Would you like to celebrate the World Portuguese Language Day but also The Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU by practising your interpreting skills with some Portuguese speeches? If yes, the Speech Repository is the ideal choice! There you will find 178 public and 22 restricted speeches in Portuguese on various subjects! Let’s get started!
Happy practice!
Your Speech Repository Team