Learn Portuguese! Aprender Portugûes!
Mar e Floresta offers a fun-filled opportunity for kids interested in exploring the richness of the Portuguese language and culture. Here you won’t be stuck sitting in a classroom doing grammar exercises and memorizing vocabulary. Instead, you’ll be actively engaged in living the Portuguese language through its two primary cultures, Portuguese and Brazilian.
Upon arrival you will need to show your passaporte as you walk through alfândega (customs) and enter a world where you will be surrounded by the sounds, sights and flavors of the Lusophone (Portuguese speaking) world. You will choose a new Portuguese name and, since Portugal is a member of the EU, you will be required to exchange your dollars for Euros to spend at the local loja (store). You’ll then find your cabin – either Casa Lisboa or Casa Brazília – and settle into your new Portuguese environment as your friendly conselheiros (counselors) help you learn the words and phrases you need to say bom dia (good day) to your new cabin mates, ask them where they’re from and go in search of the bandejão (dining hall) or Sala Mia Cuoto (activity room).
At Mar e Floresta, there’s always something to do, and it will always be something both fun and educational! After all, it’s all about living the language.
Thanks largely to the 200 million inhabitants of Brazil, Portuguese is now the 6th most widely spoken language in the world. And it’s all owing to the maritime-oriented Portuguese who began exploring and colonizing Africa, Asia and South America in the 15th century. Derived from the Latin spoken by the Romans who conquered the western Iberian peninsula (which they called Lusitania) in the 1st century BC, modern Portuguese is therefore a Romance language and hence similar in both grammar and vocabulary to French, Italian, and especially Spanish.