Croatia to open Croatian language department in Brazil

ZAGREB, 3 Sept (Hina) – A Croatian language and literature department is expected to open soon at the Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil, becoming the fifth such programme in South America.

“The Faculty of Education at the University of São Paulo has offered to host a Croatian language department. We have welcomed this initiative, and the final operational steps for the opening are under way,” Croatia’s Ministry of Science, Education and Youth told Hina.

Croatia currently has two language departments in Argentina (Buenos Aires and Rosario) and two in Chile (Punta Arenas and Santiago).

This will be the first in Brazil, where an estimated 100,000 Croats and their descendants live, according to two local Croatian associations.

In March, a gathering of the Croatian diaspora in South America was held in São Paulo, where government representatives suggested the department might open at the private Mckenzie University, where Croatian language professor Maja Kvaternik teaches.

Croatia’s Minister of Science and Education, Radovan Fuchs, paid an official visit to São Paulo from 10 to 14 August, attending an Inter-American Development Bank conference on education. He also visited the Universidade de São Paulo.

The ministry said the university specialises in languages and education, with a particular focus on teaching methodology, including research in diaspora communities.

It added that the infrastructure and tradition of the university’s Centre for Studies and Research in Language Learning support language and culture courses as well as research cooperation with universities interested in Croatian-related topics.

“These conditions, along with the fact that it is a public and tuition-free university, help attract students,” the ministry noted.