The program of Portuguese & Luso-Brasilian Studies is pleased to announce that Christian Araujo has been awarded the inaugural Portuguese Gives You Wings award, sponsored by Azores Airlines.
This new award was open to York University students enrolled in an elementary Portuguese language class (POR1000), and rewards the academic excellence of one student with a free trip to Azores, Portugal.
Students are graded on performance in reading, writing, speaking and listening – all the skills they will be able to put to use during a trip to Portugal.
Araujo excelled in Portuguese 1000 earning a final grade of A+. He has won a free trip to the region of the Azores, Portugal, courtesy of Azores Airlines.
Araujo is currently completing a degree in political science. He is also a global ambassador for York International. His love for the Portuguese language started while on an exchange in Australia, when he met Brazilian colleagues and became interested in both the language and culture. As a native speaker of Spanish, learning Portuguese will give Araujo access to the entire Latin American continent, as well as Europe and several immigrant communities and global destinations.
“Learning Portuguese at York is not limited to what’s written in a textbook,” he said. “I learned it through a set of real interactions – such as chatting with a pen-pal in Brazil, participating in oral activities in every single class, and discussing interesting topics in the “Hora de falar Português” – that were carefully designed by the program of Portuguese & Luso-Brazilian Studies.
“Professor Inês Cardoso also played a key role in my experience,” he continued, “with her enthusiasm, dedication, professionalism, and love for the language, my colleagues and I were able to learn Portuguese in a pleasant and stimulating environment.”
Araujo will experience life in the Azores, an archipelago widely recognized by UNESCO and National Geographic, among other agencies, for its natural beauty, ecological and sustainable development and known for its açorianidade, a term coined by 20th century Azorean intellectual Vitorino Nemésio that stands for the particular identity of its inhabitants.
The Azores islands are also well-known as a hypothesis for the location of the lost continent of Atlantis.
This award is representative of the overall program efforts to provide students from first to last year with significant and meaningful opportunities to engage with the language.
The award ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 7 at 2:30pm at the First Portuguese Canadian Cultural Centre, 60 Caledonia Rd., Toronto.