Is Portuguese Washing Away?
By Ginny Wong


Macau was handed over from Portugal to China for more than five years now. However, there are more and more students who still choose to study Portuguese either in universities for a bachelor's degree or in language centers for certificates.

The University of Macau (UM) is the only university which provides a degree study of Portuguese Language in Macau. This program, started in 2002, is aimed to teach non-Portuguese speakers Portuguese from a foundation. It is very competitive to be admitted into the program.

Most of the students who choose to study Portuguese are for career reasons. Chao Wa Kuan, a year two student majoring in the Portuguese Language Studies pointed out that she chose this course because she wanted to work in the civil service after her graduation.

"Actually most of my classmates who study Portuguese wish this study would make it easier for them to be a civil servant in the future," Chao said. "However, since most of them had never studied Portuguese before, it is absolutely a great difficulty for them." Chao also thinks that even though Macau is now back to Chinese rule, the Portuguese language is still one of the two official languages and this situation will last for 50 years, as it is guaranteed by the Basic Law.

Not only university students choose to study the Portuguese language. Some secondary students have also taken Portuguese classes to be well-equipped for their future. According to Tou Sio Man, a staff member of the Institute of Portuguese Center, which offers Portuguese language classes and issue official certificates of Portuguese education, said that most of their students are secondary school students and civil servants. The institute provides Portuguese certificates in 10 levels to students with different standards. With the certificate, students can be approved for the specific standard when entering the civil servant career.

"For secondary students, they come here mainly because of their parents. Their parents advise them to learn Portuguese earlier in order to build a good foundation for a brighter future. For civil servants, if they have better Portuguese, it would be a higher chance for promotion - that's what they think," Tou said, adding that many people think that Portuguese is a stepping stone towards the civil service career.

Learning Portuguese is also motivated by the closer economic trading Macau and China have with Brazil, Latin America, and Africa, some of which use Portuguese as their mother tongue.

Zhang Jing, lecturer of Portuguese Study in UM, believes that Portuguese is still playing an important role no matter in Macau or in China.

"There are two reasons to illustrate this ethos. Firstly, laws and judiciary of Macau are still based on those of Portugal. It is a fact which can hardly be changed in a moment and thus leads to the fact that speaking Portuguese is an advantage in the civil service career. Secondly, people with Portuguese and Chinese translation skills are highly required, while actually there are not too many in Macau. As we can see, the economic trading of China and Macau with the Portuguese-speaking countries such as Brazil is increasing, Portuguese is standing in a vital place in Macau," Zhang emphasized.

It is evident that learning Portuguese is now not only for one's own interest, but also, and most probably, for one's own career.

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