French in Portugal/Brazil

Clock   Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:27 pm GMT
Hi,
Can someone tell me how useful is the French language in Portugal and Brazil?

Please only answer this question if you really know.
I would love to hear from you if you are Portuguese and/or Brazilian.

Also, if you are Hispanic and you hate French, then please please please don't answer.


Alors, la question, encore une fois, c'est à quel point est-ce que le français s'impose au Portugal et/ou Brezil?



Thanks in advance / Merci d'avance :-)
Xuxo   Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:15 am GMT
Hi, I'm Brazilian and Spanish is popular here but French isn't. Spanish is taught in all public Brazilian schools .
Silas   Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:35 am GMT
Obviously Spanish will be important in both Portgual and Brazil due to the overwhleming presence of Spain and Spanish-speaking South America.

However, there is absolutely no doubt that French is a lot more respected and highly regarded than Spanish in both Portugal and Brazil.

Portuguese and Brazilians would love to be able to speak French and many do. Many Francophones adore Portuguese/Brazilian culture and music.

There seems to be a friendship/relationship between Francophone and Lusophone cultures.
J.C.   Thu Feb 12, 2009 6:11 am GMT
"However, there is absolutely no doubt that French is a lot more respected and highly regarded than Spanish in both Portugal and Brazil. "

I see no reason for that since French is just another language. To prove that this is not true, even the school "Instituto Rio Branco", that forms Diplomats in Brazil abolished French as a mandatory language and one must know ENGLISH plus another language that can be chosen from among German, Japanese, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Spanish.

"Portuguese and Brazilians would love to be able to speak French and many do. Many Francophones adore Portuguese/Brazilian culture and music. "
I don't know about Portugal but I don't know many people in Brazil who would love to speak French since it isn't as useful as learning German, Spanish or Japanese (Along with English of course), which will surely get you a job. I like French and learned it to read "Les Miserables" but don't see any practical use for it in Brazil.

Cheers!!
Guest   Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:50 am GMT
In short, the most useful language to go to Brazil and Portugal is obviously Portuguese.

The second one is Spanish, very similar language and compulsory in all Brazilian schools. It is also studied by some Portuguese people.

The third one is English, the World lingua franca. It is also studied at school in Brazil and Portugal.

So, French is not so useful in these countries, or at least, less than Portuguese, Spanish and English.
Julien   Thu Feb 12, 2009 1:57 pm GMT
ok
If you want to learn french, learn it
If you don't want to learn french, don't learn it.
It's easy, no?
So if you like french language, you can learn it and I'm sure you will find brazilian francophile who can speak french with you.
Sinon I think portuguese is the language you need in Brazil.
In portugal, many people can speak french, but not all, so learn portuguese in you really want to speak with them.
pequeninA   Thu Feb 12, 2009 2:29 pm GMT
don't know about Portugal but I don't know many people in Brazil who would love to speak French since it isn't as useful as learning German, Spanish or Japanese

Most brazilians are uneducated. France had and still has a fundamental and relevant function in Western Society. Why should Japanese or German be more studied than FRench in Brazil?? You cannot ignore French Literature and art if you have a basic education. Must economic aspects be the most relevant everywhere?
J.C.   Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:44 pm GMT
"Most brazilians are uneducated. France had and still has a fundamental and relevant function in Western Society. Why should Japanese or German be more studied than FRench in Brazil??"

Your posting shows that you have a lot of catch up to do. French is not studied in Brazil because it isn't useful, period!!! That has nothing to do with being educated. Look at Japan for instance, which has the second economy in the world and everybody is obliged to finish at least junior high school:
French isn't learned in schools neither I know anybody who speaks French.

Why do people study German and Japanese in Brazil? Do the math: Japan has world's second biggest economy (Brazil is also the country with the biggest number of Japanese-descendant people after Japan) and there are TONS of German companies in Brazil. So why would one bother learning a language that is USELESS in South America, unless you intend to go to French Guyana.

"You cannot ignore French Literature and art if you have a basic education. Must economic aspects be the most relevant everywhere?"

Brazil has a its own literature and I don't see any reason for Brazilians to read other literature without knowing theirs first. Fortunately I had the chance to read good Brazilian authors throughout school and only had contact with French literature in college, where I had to read "Fleurs du mal" but did it totally in Portuguese. Even so, I don't see why French literature should be treated with more respect than, for instance, Russian, Japanese or German literature.

Cheers!!
UhUh   Thu Feb 12, 2009 4:15 pm GMT
Dear JC why are you going on talking for an entire country when you don't even live there? How long have you been living abroad? The fact you are in love with a Japanese woman and you are living in Japan doesn't mean everybody should learn Japanese or an Asian language. You cannot represent the whole Brazilian people: I presume each Brazilian has got his/her own tastes. I know lots of Brazilians who love French or Italian and are not interested in German or Japanese at all. HOney tastes differ....
Guest   Thu Feb 12, 2009 5:30 pm GMT
The fucking frog is insulting the Brazilians saying they are uneducate just because they don't learn his stupid language. This way you pretend to promote French? hahaha.
J.C.   Thu Feb 12, 2009 6:02 pm GMT
"Dear JC why are you going on talking for an entire country when you don't even live there? How long have you been living abroad? "
I'm not representing Brazil, rather expressing my opinion based on what I have heard from people. I have been in Japan for 11 years and haven't been back for 6 years. Nevertheless, I don't think that French had a boom in such a short period.

"The fact you are in love with a Japanese woman and you are living in Japan doesn't mean everybody should learn Japanese or an Asian language."
In case you haven't read my postings on antimoon you'll realize I haven't studied only Asian languages. I studied Japanese because I had a great interest in Japanese culture from an early age. Too bad France isn't influential in Brazil. On the other hand, having a big Japanese community in Brazil gives access to more aspects of Japan.

"You cannot represent the whole Brazilian people: I presume each Brazilian has got his/her own tastes. I know lots of Brazilians who love French or Italian and are not interested in German or Japanese at all. HOney tastes differ...."
I have nothing against people who like French and Italian since I have already studied theses languages. However, let's call spade a spade, depending on one's objective French isn't useful in Brazil. I have already shared before on antimoon but my first job in Brazil was because I spoke fluent German and then I got a scholarship to study in Japan because of the language. I wonder if knowing French would have opened so many doors for me...

Cheers!!
French reality check   Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:43 pm GMT
Careful J.C. You're opinions are usually respected here, but french-extremists will attack you if you keep saying things that don't praise their language. Ha!

<< even the school "Instituto Rio Branco", that forms Diplomats in Brazil abolished French as a mandatory language and one must know ENGLISH plus another language that can be chosen from among German, Japanese, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese >>

This was interesting. French lovers always claim that French is an important or necessary diplomatic language. Your post here is a good example to the contrary. French is no more important then the other regional languages. English is the only true international language.

<< You cannot ignore French Literature and art if you have a basic education. >>

What a bunch or arrogant bullshit. Yes, France has had an important impact in the arts, but that doesn't mean it is the only one or that it is superior to others. I have more than a "basic education" and I've never needed to know French. Students don't need to speak French to understand a painting or artist or to read literature when it is translated. France is not the only country with these things to study, so why would it be more necessary to learn French over others?

<< Must economic aspects be the most relevant everywhere?" >>

If we are talking about practical usefulness in the real world, then yes.
Klingon   Thu Feb 12, 2009 9:04 pm GMT
Italian is much more studied in Brazil than French. Many Italo-Brazilians want to claim their Italian passport, and for this, course of Italian is often needed.
Furthermore, there are many tv series on Italian immigration to Brazil, and some of them even introduced forms like ''è vero'' (it's true).

French influence in Brazil is present only in some words or phrases, like Papai Noel (St. Klaus) or Reveillon (New Year's Eve).
zatsu   Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:47 pm GMT
French influence goes well beyond the words "Noel" or "reveillon", and that isn't just in Brazil...
But anyway, having lived in both Brazil and Portugal, I believe French isn't any useful in Brazil: people don't study the language at all (nor its influences) and aren't even that interested in it, plus most of the media entering the country is dubbed.
IMHO, the contact with the French language for the majority of the population is close to 0%, so I'd be very surprise if it helped much...

As for Portugal, it's clearly the opposite. French music/ movies aren't that fashionable these days anymore, but it's a language taught in school and most people know some basic French. As a matter of fact, many people know more of French than of English and, of course, also the sounds are more similar...
Julien   Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:53 pm GMT
<<Guest Thu Feb 12, 2009 5:30 pm GMT
The fucking frog is insulting the Brazilians saying they are uneducate just because they don't learn his stupid language. This way you pretend to promote French? hahaha.>>

oh! a french basher! are you a neocon ? do you love G.W.Bush ?