Portugal and the Portuguese in the United States

by Lauren K. Fulco, 2003

 

http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/country/portugal.html

 

 

Contents:

 

Portugal

 

The Land of Portugal

Portugal is a small country located on the western edge of the continent of Europe. Portugal's ten provinces and two island territories of Madeira and the Azores encompass approximately 35,550 square miles (Blauer & Laure, 2002). The estimated current population in Portugal as of July 2002 is 10,084,245 people (The World Factbook).

 

Climate

The weather in Portugal is primarily warm and comfortable for most of the year. Rainfall usually occurs from October through March. The Atlantic Ocean has a major influence on the climate in Portugal . It has a cooling effect in the hot summer and a warming effect during the winter. This is due to the length of time that it takes for the ocean water to heat up and cool down. As you travel inland, the ocean’s influence on the climate grows weaker. Therefore, summers are hotter and winters are colder in the interior sections of Portugal (Champion, 1995). Finally, the mountains of Portugal otherwise known as Tras-os-Monte, endure extremely cold winters (Blauer & Laure, 2002).

 

Economy in Portugal

The three areas of agriculture, fishing, and forestry employ nearly half of the workers in Portugal . Approximately, sixty percent of the land in Portugal is farmed; however, the majority of the farming that is done is on a small scale.  For example, a farmer may only grow enough food for his family. The extra food will be sold at a local market. Farmers grow mainly corn, wheat, potatoes, vegetables, sunflowers, rice, and olives. With Portugal 's long, beautiful coastline, it is clear that fishing is a crucial component to Portugal 's economy. About 30,000 men are employed as fisherman in Portugal .  Sardines, cod, and tuna are the three major types of fish sought after by fisherman. Finally, Portugal is the world’s major producer of cork, coming from some 500,000 acres of cork forests. The cork trade brings in more than 200 million dollars a year (Heale, 1995).

 

Educational System in Portugal

The quality of education in Portugal is considered poor when compared to other European countries. Preschool in Portugal is optional. However, it is mandatory that all Portuguese children complete nine years of elementary education. Parents can opt to send their children to either a free state school or a private school for a fee. Following elementary school, the majority of students continue on to secondary school. Many will eventually drop out to go to work. For those students that complete three years of secondary school, they have the option of continuing their education at one of Portugal’s eighteen universities or one of its regional technical colleges (Jensen & Ngcheong-Lum, 2001)

 

Religion

The Roman Catholic Church is highly respected by the people of Portugal.  Religion is the foundation of most family gatherings and holidays. Unlike the past, today the people of Portugal experience complete freedom of worship, meaning religions other than Roman Catholicism are tolerated.  Even though the Roman Catholics make up the majority in Portugal , Jews, Protestants, and Muslims also exist (Heale, 1995).

 

·         To find more information on the country of Portugal check out the website…

http:// www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/po.html

 

·         To read more about the educational system in Portugal go to the website http://www.des.min-edu.pt/estia/edu/genindex.html

 

Portuguese Immigrants in the United States

 

Throughout the past one hundred and fifty years, there have been two reported waves of Portuguese immigrants entering the United States of America. These Portuguese immigrants have settled and developed close-knit communities in Southern New England, California, and Hawaii.

 

First Wave of Immigration to the United States

The first recorded group of Portuguese immigrants arrived in the United States in 1820. The majority of these immigrants were Azorean men who worked on American whaling ships. Many of these men viewed America as way of avoiding the eight years of military service that was mandated of all men in Portugal . After they became settled in America , they sent for their families. In the 1870’s, the number of Portuguese immigrants continued to increase. The reasons many gave for leaving Portugal and coming to the United States include: to escape the slow economic advancement, to escape poverty, and to escape the rising taxes. Portuguese immigrants came to America hoping for a higher standard of living (Portuguese Immigration).

 

Second Wave of Immigration to the United States

Portuguese immigration to the United States of America continued to increase throughout the early 1900’s. It was reported that 69,149 Portuguese immigrants came to the United States from 1900-1910. Almost 90,000 Portuguese immigrated to the United States between 1911 and 1920. The Cape Verde drought in 1904 and the revolution in 1910 were primary causes for many Portuguese individuals and families to leave their homeland (Portuguese Immigration).

 
Portuguese Immigration to the United States by Decade
1820-1977
Decade
 
# of Immigrants
 
Decade
 
# of Immigrants
 
1820-1830
 
35
 
1901-1910
 
69,149
 
1831-1840
 
829
 
1911-1920
 
89,732
 
1841-1850
 
550
 
1921-1930
 
29,994
 
1851-1860
 
1,055
 
1931-1940
 
3,329
 
1861-1870
 
2,658
 
1941-1950
 
7,423
 
1871-1880
 
14,082
 
1951-1960
 
19,588
 
1881-1890
 
16,978
 
1961-1970
 
76,065
 
1891-1890
 
27,508
 
1971-1977
 
75,717
 
 
 
 
 
 
TOTAL
 
 
436,837
 
Source: Francis M. Rogers, “Portuguese” & Lionel Holmes and Joseph 
D’Alessandro, Portuguese in the Sacramento Area.25 
 
*Statistics provided above make no distinction for Azoreans, Madeirans, Cape Verdeans, and mainlanders; all were considered “Portuguese.”
*In 1975, Cape Verdeans declared independence.  Therefore, they are not counted as Portuguese immigrants after 1975.
 
Portuguese Population in the United States by State
1870-1978
 
State
 
1870
 
1900
 
1930
 
1960
 
1978
 
California
 
3,435
 
15,583
 
99,194
 
97,489
 
21,261
 
Connecticut
 
221
 
655
 
4,701
 
9,930
 
8,737
 
Hawaii
 
-
 
7,668
 
19,121
 
9,325
 
117
 
Massachusetts
 
2,555
 
17,885
 
105,076
 
95,328
 
46,792
 
New Jersey
 
-
 
62
 
5,099
 
8,933
 
16,487
 
New York
 
334
 
823
 
7,758
 
11,497
 
7,455
 
Rhode Island
 
189
 
2,865
 
29,097
 
29,155
 
16,351
 
All Others
 
1,015
 
2,558
 
8,680
 
15,745
 
5,247
 
TOTAL
 
7,649
 
48,099
 
278,726
 
277,402
 
122,330
 
Source: Jerry R. Williams, And Yet They Come.38 
 
*Statistics provided above make no distinction for Azoreans, Madeirans, Cape Verdeans and mainlanders, all were considered “Portuguese”.
*In 1975, Cape Verdeans declared independence.  Therefore, they are not counted as Portuguese immigrants after 1975.
 

To find more information on the Portuguese immigration to the United States refer to the following websites…

http://wwwlibrary.csustan.edu/bsantos/immigr.html

http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/portam/

http://www.needham.mec.edu/High_School/cur/kane98/kane_p3_immig/

Portugal/Portugal.html

 

Language

 

Prevalence of Portuguese Speakers

Between 170 and 210 million people speak Portuguese throughout the world today. Portuguese is the official language of seven countries.  (See Table and Maps below.) Therefore, Portuguese is the third most widely spoken European language in the world following only English and Spanish (The Portuguese Language, n.d.).

 

Prevalence of Portuguese Speakers in the World

 

Country

# of Speakers

1.  Angola

10.3 million

2.  Brazil

151 million

3.  Cabo Verde

346,000

4.  Guinea-Bissau

1 million

5.  Mozambique

15.3 million

6.  Portugal

9.9 million

7.  Sao Tome and Principe Islands

126,000

Source:  http://www.linguaportuguesa.ufrn.br/english.html

 

Maps Showing Prevalence of Portuguese Speakers in the World

 

 

                                                      

                Africa                       Europe                            South America

 

Source: http://www.linguaportuguesa.ufrn.br/english.html

 

Characteristics of Portuguese

    Portuguese was derived from the Latin that was spoken by early Roman settlers (Jensen & Ngcheong-Lum, 2001).

    The written form of Portuguese looks very similar to French or Spanish, but spoken Portuguese sounds like Romanian (Jensen & Ngcheong-Lum, 2001).

    Certain letters have different pronunciations in the Portuguese language than we would expect. For example:  the letter “s” is usually pronounced “sh”.  The town of Cascais is really pronounced Kashkaish (Blauer, 2002).

    There is a nasal sound to some vowels in Portuguese. For example:  The Portuguese word for “no” is spelled “não”, but is pronounced like the English word, “now” (Blauer, 2002).  

 

Contrasts with English

Portuguese shares much of its structure with other Romance languages but differs from English in many ways.  For example:

 

1.      Portuguese has six verb endings. These verb endings tell you who is carrying out the action and at what point in time.

2.      Nouns and adjectives also change their endings according to gender and number.

3.      In Portuguese, adjectives are placed after the word it is describing.

Example:  English phrase – the black cat; Portuguese phrase – the cat black (Tyson-Ward, 2002)

 

Language Use in Portugal and in the United States

  A Portuguese woman who immigrated to the United States from Portugal at the age of five discusses her experiences with language use:

 

While living in Portugal , Portuguese was the only language spoken at home, in my neighborhood, at my church, and at the school I attended there. However, after moving to the United States of America , my family continued to speak Portuguese at home.  There was a mixture of Portuguese and English spoken in the neighborhood in which I lived in Massachusetts .

 

  When one bilingual Portuguese and English speaking woman was asked about her current use of the Portuguese language in the United States she explained:

 

It all depends on the conversation or the situation, but I will usually speak to my mother and grandmother in Portuguese over the phone and in person.

 

A Portuguese-speaking woman reminisces about growing up in the U.S. speaking both languages by saying:

 

While growing up, especially in my pre-teen years, I always just wanted to blend in with my peers.  In order to do this, I had to learn and use English.  If I didn’t I felt as though I was different.

 

A Portuguese woman remembers her school experience in the United States by explaining:

 

When I was growing up, I had the scaffolding.  I had the support when I needed it.  My teachers geared the lessons to meet the individual needs of all of the students in the class.  Providing this support made me feel successful in school.

 

& Tips for Teachers &

 

·         In Portugal, the Portuguese dialect varies from region to region.  Therefore, it is important for teachers of Portuguese-speaking students to be understanding and respectful of the different Portuguese dialects that the students may have. Do not assume that all of the students will clearly understand their classmates and their teacher. 

 

 

Culture

 

    Family:  The family has always remained the foundation in the Portuguese lifestyle. The extended family including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins have always nurtured the youngest family members.  In addition, Portuguese family members live close whenever possible and young Portuguese people usually live at home longer than normal for economic reasons (Tyson-Ward, 2002). 

 

    Role of Women:   Today, more Portuguese women work while married than ever before. Women are also the mainstay of the family. A possible reason for this is that while men went off to fight overseas, the women were left to keep the household running in a smooth manner (Tyson-Ward, 2002).

 

    Role of Men: The Portuguese man has always been the provider and role-model for the family. Men have great interest in family life and are the disciplinarians of the household (Tyson-Ward, 2002).

 

    Holidays:   Few Portuguese families have the money to plan exotic vacations. Instead, most Portuguese remain in their own country for holidays. The Portuguese enjoy visiting with family and friends, resting, eating well, going to the beach, and looking after their bodies on holidays. In addition, August is traditionally the month when everyone plans a summer vacation (Tyson-Ward, 2002).

 

    Literature:   Famous Portuguese literature dates back to the twelfth century and includes writing about the history of the country. The Lusiads written by Luís Vaz de CamÕes in 1572 is Portugal ’s most famous piece of literary work. Today, Portuguese writers have begun focusing on rural life and political topics in their writing (Jensen & Ngcheong-Lum, 2001).

 

    Architecture:   Low, rectangular designs with intricately decorated surfaces are common features of Portuguese architecture (Jensen & Ngcheong-Lum, 2001).

 

    Music and Dance:   Instruments that commonly accompany Portuguese folk music include bagpipes, harmonicas, flutes, drums, and accordions.  Portugal has a vivid mix of dance styles that come from the different regions and former colonies (Jensen & Ngcheong-Lum, 2001).

 

My mother and grandmother feel very strongly that my brother, sister, and I remember our heritage and continue to remember and speak the language. (Portuguese speaking woman)

 

When a Portuguese woman was asked about how she feels about being bilingual in the United States she explained:

 

I love it! I think it is one of my unique qualities.  It’s something that makes me different from everyone else.  I have no regrets about being bilingual.

 

Links to more information:

·         To read more information on the language of Portuguese check out the website http://www.linguaportuguese.ufrn.br/english.html

·         To find more information on Portuguese architecture, literature, and music visit the website http://www3.sympatico.ca/geoles/

 

Children’s Literature and Other Materials

 

Children’s Fiction, Grades 1-6

Balet, Jan.  (1965). Joanjo.  New York : Delacorte Press.

Balet, Jan.  (1966). The gift: A Portuguese Christmas tale.  New York: Delacorte Press.

Feinstein, A.  (1972).  Folk tales from Portugal .  New York :  A. S. Barnes and Company.

Stone, F.  (1994).  Manuel the Portuguese fisherman.  Littleton, MA: Sundance.

 

Children’s Nonfiction, Grades 1-6