A NEW AND VIGOROUS INTEREST exists today in United States schools in the study of Portuguese and of Brazil. The accent has shifted both literally and figuratively. Until recent years Portuguese was studied largely by students of philology for the purpose of comparing it with other Romance languages. At present the language is approached by students as a key to the understanding of Brazil and its culture. Peninsular Portuguese has given way in the classroom to the carioca and paulista, or even the nordestino forms, in pronunciation and intonation, as well as vocabulary.The interest in the Portuguese language in general and Brazil in particular has a long and honored history in the United States. The importance of the study of Portuguese has been emphasized by United States leaders since the early days.
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