Education | Portuguese summer course attracts nearly 400 participants

The 30th edition of the Portuguese Language Summer Course of the University of Macau commenced yesterday with 388 participants, over a hundred students more than in last year’s edition.
This year, the program is divided into five language-teaching levels, from basic to advanced levels and has also launched a Portuguese-Chinese translation course.
According to one of the program coordinators, Ricardo Moutinho, two new activities will be included in the three-week event such as the study of Macau’s history and a “Fitness activity.”
“Students have the opportunity to learn new [vocations] that they will have not learned inside the classroom,” he told the Times.
“They will have opportunities to develop not only in the institution’s space but [also in] other spaces, where they can develop [speaking and listening] capacities in Portuguese.”
Aside from lectures, students would also be involved in extra-curricular activities and cultural visits to sites in Macau.
The 30th edition of the summer course attracted students from Macau, mainland China, Australia, the United Kingdom, the U.S., South Korea, Thailand and East Timor.
Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Hong Gang Jin, said the program also aims to develop skills and abilities such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity.
“Learning in different formats, lectures, small group activities, hands on projects […] are the best way to learn a foreign language, as well as to develop global skills,” she added.
Meanwhile, Pasko Ho, a participant of the course told the Times that the program would offer him more knowledge about the university and Lusophone countries.
“I’m going to study at UM this coming August so that’s why I want to come here,” said Ho. “I think there are a lot of different students from other countries […] and I could [also] learn from them.”
Although several students attend the course to speak the language proficiently, some students are just keen on being immersed in Portuguese culture while learning the language at the institution. Lynzy Valles