Students perform Portuguese folk dance
The 30th Portuguese Language Summer Course, organised by the University of Macau (UM) Department of Portuguese, ended with great success today (5 August). This year’s course attracted approximately 400 students from around the world. During the three-week intensive training, participants spent time with over a dozen experienced Portuguese instructors every day and communicated with the instructors in Portuguese. Some participants said the course not only helped them learn more about the Portuguese language and the cultures of Portuguese-speaking countries, but also boosted their confidence when communicating in English. Launched in 1986, the Portuguese Language Summer Course aims to train bilingual students and to promote the Portuguese language and culture, through well-designed courses conducted by experienced instructors, tailor-made to suit the different levels of different students. This year’s course attracted students from the United Kingdom, the United States, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, East Timor, Australia, mainland China, Macao, Hong Kong, and other parts of the world. According to the course coordinator, Prof Ana Nunes, this year’s course was focused on improving the participants’ knowledge of the history and culture of Macao. In addition to the four levels offered in the previous years, namely the beginner’s level, the basic level, the intermediate level, and the advanced level, this year’s course also introduced a new level, the superior level. A class in translation between Chinese and Portuguese was also offered for the first time. Various activities, including visits to local museums and the Historical Centre of Macao, Portuguese folk dance, and choral singing, were organised to help participants learn more about the linguistic, historical, and cultural aspects of Macao and Portugal. Prof Nunes said this year saw the highest satisfaction rate among the participants. At the closing ceremony, students showcased what they had learned from the course, with some delivering a speech in Portuguese and others giving dance and singing performances. Jose Campos, in the beginner’s level class, is a Chinese Portuguese who grew up in a Chinese environment. ‘I participated in the course with the hope of learning the Portuguese language and culture,’ she said. Another participant, Pasky Ho from Hong Kong who was in the intermediate level class, said the course provides a perfect platform to learn the Portuguese language. ‘Earlier I visited Brazil and that experience made me develop a strong interest in the Portuguese language. We don’t really have the kind of language environment in Hong Kong that is conducive to learning Portuguese, so I chose the Portuguese department at UM for further studies,’ he says. ‘The Portuguese Language Summer Course offered by UM is very famous,’ says Amado from East Timor. ‘The course provides a very good opportunity to learn more about the cultures of Macao and Portugal. I’ll definitely recommend this course to my friends.’ Over the past 30 years, the Portuguese Language Summer Course has trained many bilingual professionals for Macao and many other regions and countries. This year’s course received support from government departments, including the Tertiary Education Services Office and the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, as well as private institutions.
