The Portuguese began their colonial expansion early in the fifteenth century: by 1417 they had arrived in Africa. They settled islands and coastal areas in Upper Guinea in Africa by 1462, islands in the Gulf of Guinea by 1500, reached India by 1510, Malaysia by 1516, Indonesia by the 1520s, and Macau by 1555. As colonization progressed, the Portuguese introduced one or more varieties of their language in their settlements and trading posts, and over time these varieties of Portuguese have evolved lexically and structurally. Spoken varieties of Portuguese in Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, and East Timor have developed different patterns that are often consistent with patterns found in naturalistic second language acquisition. They also display unmistakable evidence of substrate influence. In addition, many highly restructured varieties, the Portuguese-based creoles, developed throughout Portugal’s colonial empire, some of which are still spoken today in Africa and Asia. Apart from the substrate influence apparent in the creoles, they have also developed many features unique to them as independent linguistic systems. In this contribution, the expansion of Portugal’s colonial empire and the evolution of all these Portuguese varieties will be presented and discussed.

This chapter provides an overview of teaching methods and second language acquisition theories, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of particular methods in revitalization contexts. Revitalizers must consider community desires and resources, as well as traditional worldviews and lifeways in choosing appropriate approaches. 8 case studies present practical applications of specific teaching methods: grammar-translation and a radically input-based approach in Potawatomi; reclaiming domains and ‘language nesting’ in Lushootseed; Accelerated Second Language Acquisition (ASLA), reclaiming domains and the master-apprentice method in Tolowa Deeni’; how Sámi language and culture can meaningfully shape education in the classroom; homeschooling activities and strategies for elementary age learners in Tolowa Dee-ni’; and how teachers with limited fluency teach language-rich lessons within their own level of proficiency in Chinuk Wawa, where immersion models are unrealistic. The capsules exemplify immersion programmes, culture place-based learning and other approaches in 8 languages: Hawai’ian, Kristang, Wym, Lemko, Chinuk Wawa, Sámi, Cherokee and Anishinaabemowin.