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Ela estuda dança na escola.

Ela estuda dança na escola.
She studies dance at school.
From Lesson 180:A cultura e o desporto (a canção, empatar)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about Ela estuda dança na escola.

In English we say "at school", so why does the Portuguese sentence use na escola instead of just em escola?
In Portuguese, you usually need to include the definite article (the word for "the") when talking about institutions or specific places such as school. The word na is a contraction of the preposition em (in/at) and the feminine article a (the). So, literally, this translates to "at the school".
If Portuguese uses articles so often, why is there no article before dança? Shouldn't it be a dança?
When you talk about an academic subject or a skill you are learning in a general sense, you usually leave out the article. Because she is studying the general subject of dance, Ela estuda dança sounds much more natural than Ela estuda a dança.
What does the little hook under the "c" in dança do?
That mark is called a cedilla (cedilha). It is placed under a "c" before the vowels a, o, or u to force it to make a soft "s" sound. Without it, the "c" before an "a" would make a hard "k" sound.
If I wanted to say "You study dance" formally, would I use a different verb form?
No, it would look exactly the same! The verb estuda is the present tense form for ela (she), ele (he), and the formal "you" (você). To say "You study dance" to someone formally, you would simply say Você estuda dança.

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