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The Portuguese language is more
than a tool for communication. It is a bridge between worlds, a bond among
peoples, and a living heritage that carries centuries of history, emotion,
poetry, and resilience. Born from Vulgar Latin, shaped by invasions,
intermixing, and cultural encounters, our language is a flower that sprouted
from the fertile soil of Latium and bloomed across seas, forests, deserts, and
mountains. To speak Portuguese is to carry within oneself an ancestral memory
that echoes the voices of empires, quilombos, villages, and dreams.
Its origins trace back
to the Roman Empire, when Vulgar Latin—the everyday language of the
people—began spreading throughout the Iberian Peninsula. But with the fall of
Rome and the arrival of Germanic tribes, Latin began to fragment, giving rise
to the Romance languages. Galician-Portuguese emerged around the 9th century,
gradually developing its own forms, unique expressions, and a rhythm that set
it apart from other Iberian languages. It became a language of poets, like King
Dinis, and troubadours who used it to celebrate nature, love, and daily life.
Portuguese crossed the
oceans aboard caravels, blending with indigenous, African, and Asian languages.
This fusion gave rise to a plural, colorful, and deeply rich language. In
Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Timor-Leste, and Brazil, Portuguese reinvented
itself. Today, over 265 million people speak it, and it is the official
language in nine countries. It is, therefore, a living, vibrant, and
ever-evolving language. In each corner of the world where it is spoken,
Portuguese acquires new accents, vocabularies, and expressions that further
enrich this intangible cultural heritage.
Recent research from
universities such as Lisbon, São Paulo, Coimbra, and Harvard shows that
bilingualism and a strong grasp of one’s mother tongue promote greater
development of brain areas responsible for memory, creativity, and empathy.
Neuroscience confirms that children who grow up in language-rich environments
develop more complex and resilient neural connections. Speaking Portuguese
well—understanding its roots and structures—is not only a cultural exercise but
also brain nourishment, a feast for thought.
But how can we spark
love for the Portuguese language in new generations? How can we make it come
alive for digital hearts living between screens and apps? This is where
creative methodologies come into play. Educator and researcher Antônio Carlos
dos Santos has developed innovative pedagogical strategies that combine
language, body, and art: MAT (Mindset, Action, and Theater), ThM (Theater
Movement), and TBMB (Mané Beiçudo Puppet Theater). These methods have been
successfully applied in schools across Brazil, showing that language learning
can be playful, expressive, and deeply transformative.
MAT, for example,
invites students to dramatize literary texts, poetry, and scenes from daily
life using Portuguese as a tool for creation. In doing so, they not only learn
grammar and vocabulary but also feel the musicality, emotional weight, and
power of the spoken word. A student who performs an excerpt from Os Lusíadas
or a poem by Cecília Meireles experiences the language in its fullness. This
practice activates brain regions related to emotion and long-term memory,
strengthening learning.
ThM proposes physical
activities that transform linguistic content into movement. When a child
explores the meaning of a word through gestures, rhythms, and dramatizations,
they are not merely learning the word but embodying its meaning. This method is
inspired by findings in neuroeducation and sensory theater. Words like
“lightness,” “courage,” or “tenderness” gain physical form, and learning
becomes emotional and lasting.
TBMB, in turn, brings
the enchantment of oral tradition to the stage. With puppets created by the
students themselves, children perform stories written or adapted in Portuguese,
focusing on themes from their own reality. A child who creates a puppet named
“João from the Sertão” and has him speak about drought, faith, and hope is, in
fact, reconstructing Brazil’s ancestral orality and learning to value their
linguistic identity. TBMB shows that Portuguese is not just in books, but in a
grandmother’s voice, in circle songs, in indigenous legends, and lullabies.
These practices become
even more relevant when we consider the alarming data on literacy and reading
comprehension in Brazil. According to the National Institute for Educational
Studies and Research (INEP), millions of students struggle to interpret simple
texts. The challenge is not just to teach grammar rules, but to make the
language pulse, move, and inspire. Antônio Carlos dos Santos’ methodology
addresses this very need: to rekindle the magic of learning, to connect words
to life, and to make the study of language a poetic and transformative act.
To celebrate the
Portuguese language is also to honor the power of writers like Machado de
Assis, Clarice Lispector, Mia Couto, José Eduardo Agualusa, Fernando Pessoa,
José Saramago, and many others who reinvented the language with brilliance.
Their works are living testimonies of the word’s ability to convey beauty,
courage, and depth. They show that Portuguese can be philosophical, lyrical,
political, mystical, and above all, human.
For all these reasons,
it is time to revere our language as a living organism. To teach Portuguese is
to teach how to think, to feel, to imagine, and to resist. It is to give
children and young people not just a code, but a key to the world. May we care
for this flower of Latium with affection, creativity, and awareness. Because,
as the poet Olavo Bilac once said, “the Portuguese language is a sweet, soft
idiom that, when well spoken, sounds like music to the ears.” Let us be the
gardeners of this flower—helping it bloom in every school, every home, and
every heart.
Access the books by Antônio Carlos dos Santos on amazon.com or amazon.com.br
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