A Portuguesa

Olá my dear friends,

For some time I have been wanting to share with you our national anthem, A Portuguesa (The Portuguese [song]) and I have found a video that not only have the melody, but also the lyrics and even subtitles, which save me some hard work. Great!

But first let’s talk a little about its history. A Portuguesa was composed by Alfredo Keil and written by Henrique Lopes de Mendonça in 1890 as a song of patriotic nature in response to the British ultimatum to Portugal concerning the “Pink Map”, a document representing Portugal's claim of sovereignty of the land between Angola and Mozambique, which is currently Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.  Portugal conceded that ultimatum, causing serious damage to the prestige of the Portuguese monarchy, and subsequent encouragement of Republicanism.

A Portuguesa was later adopted as the national anthem of the newborn Portuguese Republic in 1911, replacing O Hino da Carta (The Charter Anthem), the anthem of the deposed constitutional monarchy.

Now I leave you with the “real thing”, our national anthem, A Portuguesa.

From Portugal,

with love

The Português

Olá my dear friends,

After telling you a bit about Portugal, I thought it would be good to let you know about our language, which Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes once called "the sweet and gracious language".

Portuguese is the official language of Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Portuguese has co-official status in Macau in East Asia, East Timor in Southeast Asia and in Equatorial Guinea in Central Africa; out of the expansion of the language in colonial times, Portuguese speakers are also found in Goa, Daman and Diu in India. These are called Lusophone countries, as well as someone who speaks the Portuguese language is called a lusophone, either as a native, as an additional language, or as a learner. As an adjective, it means "Portuguese-speaking". The word itself is derived from the name of the ancient province of Lusitania, which covered most of modern-day Portugal. Portuguese is also termed "the language of Camões", after one of Portugal's greatest literary figures, Luís Vaz de Camões.

How about start being a lusophone? Check out the video and learn some Portuguese words.

P.S. Did you know that, besides Portuguese, Portugal has another official language? Its called Mirandese and is spoken in a small area of northeastern Portugal.

From Portugal,

with love