DILI, 06 may 2024 (TATOLI) – World Portuguese Language Day is celebrated every year on may 5th. To mark the occasion, the Department of Portuguese and the Portuguese Language Centre of the National University of Timor Lorosa’e (UNTL) organized a number of fun and scientific activities.
The Director of the Department of Portuguese, Eugénia das Neves, highlighted the importance of marking the language of Camões and the culture of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries since it has a large number of speakers and is also one of the official languages of Timor-Leste.
The Dean of the Faculty of Education, Arts, and Humanities at UNTL, Teodoro Soares, also highlighted the importance of celebrating World Portuguese Language Day, as it is one of the official languages and was also the language most used during Timor-Leste’s struggle for independence.
Adelcisa Alves Pereira, a student of the Department of Portuguese, congratulated all the Portuguese-speaking countries and said she was “very happy” to have the opportunity to celebrate the Portuguese language and take part in the various activities.
“We know that Portuguese is one of our official languages, so all the activities organized are important for us to learn about the history of this language,” she explained.
The date of 5 May was officially established in 2009 by the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) – an intergovernmental organization that has been in official partnership with UNESCO since 2000, and which brings together peoples with the Portuguese language as one of the foundations of their specific identity – to celebrate the Portuguese language and Lusophone cultures.
In 2019, the 40th session of UNESCO’s General Conference decided to proclaim 5 May of each year as “World Portuguese Language Day”.
The Portuguese language is not only one of the most widespread languages in the world, with more than 265 million speakers spread through all continents, but it is also the most widely spoken language in the southern hemisphere. Portuguese remains, today, a major language of international communication and a language with a strong geographical projection, destined to increase, according to UNESCO.
Journalist: Jose Belarmino de Sa
Editor: Filomeno Martins
