EDUCATION | Over 200 students join UM’s Portuguese Summer Course

The 29th edition of the University of Macau’s Portuguese Language and Culture Summer Course gathered 274 students this year, the university has revealed in a press release.
The three-week program was held for the first time at UM’s new campus in Hengqin. Participants lived with Portuguese teachers on campus, providing them with first-hand experience of life in UM’s residential colleges at the same time.
The course’s closing ceremony was held last Friday, and saw participants gather to present a song and dance performance, demonstrating their Portuguese language skills.
The university reported that from among the participants, an American student said that the course included a variety of interesting activities, such as Portuguese folk dancing, and visits to local museums, which enhanced their understanding of the Portuguese language and culture, while learning more about Macau’s history.
UM said that it has been striving to enhance graduates’ proficiency in both Chinese and Portuguese for over two decades. It added that the course achieved fruitful outcomes thanks to the quality of its curriculum, and the university’s multi-cultural learning atmosphere.
The course was launched in 1986, and gathers participants from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Ethiopia, the United States, Hong Kong and Macau. The program covers four levels, namely beginners, basic, intermediate, and advanced.
The university said that over the past ten years about 3,000 students have participated in the program. This year’s course was supported by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau.