Exploring Brazilian Communities Abroad

No Te Lo Pierdas/N?o Percas is a series that offers fresh classroom activities, insights, and professional reflections for Spanish and Portuguese language teachers. Dive in to discover practical tools for engaging students, along with thought-provoking articles on the evolving landscape of language teaching.

A Classroom Activity to Enrich Portuguese Language Learning

This activity leverages a report by Brazil’s Ministério das Rela??es Exteriores on Brazilian expatriate communities to create engaging, real-world learning experiences for Portuguese students of all levels. Beginners can learn essential vocabulary related to numbers, countries, and geography while practicing basic questions and comparisons. Advanced students can dive deeper, exploring the motivations behind Brazilian migration patterns and using complex grammatical structures to discuss hypothetical scenarios and preferences. This is a great way to bring authentic cultural and linguistic content into the classroom, making the study of Portuguese more relevant and dynamic.

Teaching Tips:

Beginner Level

• Use data from the report to teach numbers, countries, and regions.
• Practice simple questions and comparisons (e.g., Quantos brasileiros vivem na Fran?a? Qual é a maior comunidade brasileira fora do Brasil?).
• Vocabulary focus: countries, numbers, and question words.

Intermediate Level

• Ask questions that require short, structured answers, like Por que muitos brasileiros vivem em determinado país?
• Introduce vocabulary related to migration, culture, and demography.

Advanced Level

• Discuss motivations and migration patterns with open-ended questions (e.g., Por que muitos brasileiros escolhem a Itália para imigrar?).
• Encourage hypothetical and reflective responses (e.g., Para onde você iria se tivesse que morar no exterior? Por quê?).
• Practice advanced grammatical structures like the subjunctive and conditional.

Whether students are practicing numbers, geography, or discussing complex migration topics, this activity provides a relevant, engaging framework to deepen their understanding of the language and culture. Try incorporating this in your classroom, and watch your students’ curiosity and confidence grow!