October 23, 2009
College of Professional Studies and St.
John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Host Panel on
Portuguese Language in a Global Economy
Taking advantage of St. John’s University’s focus on global issues,
51 University students and faculty attended a panel discussion on
Portugal's language and the global economy on October 13, 2009.
Hosted by the College of Professional Studies’ Division of Mass
Communication and St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’
Department of Languages and Literatures, the event held at the
University’s Queens campus addressed the economic and cultural
advantages of being multilingual and learning Portuguese, which is
the world’s eighth most spoken language with 260 million
speakers.
The panel presentation, “Portugal and Portuguese Language in a
Global Economy” included Dr. Manuel Silva Pereira, of Portugal’s
United Nations Mission; Luis Martins, an attorney, and graduate of
St. John’s University School of Law; and John Macedo, Professor of
Portuguese language at St. John’s University.
Dr. Manuel Silva Pereira said of language instruction, “Languages
open the world to us; by learning more languages we develop greater
understanding of the people around the world.”
Students interested in studying Portuguese at St. John’s should
contact the
Department of Languages and Literatures in St. John’s College
of Liberal Arts and Sciences at (718) 990-5262.