DILI, July 28, 2021 (TATOLI) – The Fundação Oriente resumed the face-to-face activities of the Portuguese language course at the basic and intermediate level for young Timorese.
The course was suspend due to the implementation of the sanitary fence and the state of emergency caused by the spread of the new coronavirus in Timor-Leste.
“Normally, we run the course in two editions a year. However, this year, we only have one edition due to the pandemic. We had to suspend the course during the implementation of the sanitary fence and the state of emergency”, said Fundação Oriente delegate, Joana Saraiva, to TATOLI, at the workplace, in Bairro dos Grilos.
The official also recalled that, although Fundação Oriente provides online training, not all trainees attended the training due to lack of internet access.
Joana Saraiva also recalled that the cost of registering for the basic level course is 55 US dollars and 65 US dollars for the intermediate course. The course normally runs over three or four months.
“The courses last 90 hours. The objective is to promote and disseminate the Portuguese language”, She said.
According to the delegate, although there are many interested parties, the foundation received only a few because of the maximum capacity of the rooms.
“Unfortunately, we did not receive half of the young people who applied due to lack of space. Currently We are starting the first edition of the year”, he said.
The course started this Monday with the first edition of the year. There are currently 50 trainees, 25 of which are at the basic level and the rest at the intermediate level.
The former professor of the Department of Social Communication at the National University Timor Lorosa’e also revealed that, to promote the Portuguese language, the foundation has several activities, such as film presentation, awarding Portuguese language prizes and holding book fairs in the sense of promoting reading.
“We presented the books at the fair and got a positive result. More than a thousand books were purchased at a discount. The discount money was used to pay readers,” he recalled.
Finally, the delegate recalled that the existence of the Fundação Oriente in Timor-Leste has the mission of strengthening the bonds of friendship and cultural exchange between Portugal and the countries of Asia.
Journalist: Jesuína Xavier
Editor: Zezito Silva
Translator: José Belarmino de Sa
