In Macau, there are not only Chinses have\nfocused on learning Portuguese, but also other foreigners, with the Portuguese\nculture contact here, who come to Macao and begin to learn and explore this\nlanguage. <\/p>\n\n
In addition to the growing number of Portuguese language\ncourses at the higher education level, there are still many non-degree courses\navailable in Macau for who wants to learn Portuguese. The last edition of the\nPortuguese Language Summer Course at the University of Macau (UM), for example,\nbrought together more than 450 students from all over the world, including\nstudents from South Korea, Japan, the United States and even Moldavia. <\/p>\n\n
With the Portuguese language contact in Macao, learning for\nforeign students goes beyond the classroom. These are very valuable benefits\nfor students since here exist possibilities for interaction, knowledge and\ndiscoveries about Portuguese culture and Macanese culture, says Roberval\nTeixeira e Silva, a professor of UM Department of Portuguese. "What these\nAsian students meet in Macao is a possibility to interact and experience\nPortuguese-speaking cultures, especially Portuguese and Macanese culture,"\nhe says.<\/p>\n\n
He adds that: "According to his experience, in fact,\nstudents have the possibility of interacting with people from all\nPortuguese-speaking countries and regions," which attracts more students\nand it is a reason for who chooses Macao as a study destination. <\/p>\n\n
Mini courses held every summer at UM, that create\nopportunities for more students to visit Macao and study the language for a\nmonth or more. Students of different nationalities have been participated,\nwhich demonstrates the position of Macao as the centre of Portuguese language\nteaching in Asia. "There is a lot of interest from students from other\nAsian countries. Admitted students usually are Koreans, Japanese, Vietnamese,\nTimorese or Indians, for example, "says Roberval Teixeira e Silva. <\/p>\n\n
The\nprofessor also points out that there are also Japanese students who, spend one\nor two semesters in Macao to attend regular undergraduate courses with\nscholarships given in their country of origin. This is the case of Gabriel\nNaomichi, 21 years old, who says that he chose to study Portuguese in Macao\nwith aims of returning to his country with a greater cultural background and\nthen pursue a degree in Portuguese.<\/p>\n\n
The\nfact of having an entire structure in Portuguese that was essential for Gabriel\nchoosing Macao. "At my university in Japan, I only had one Portuguese\nclass per week, but here I can even have 10 classes if I want." One of the\npositive reasons of studying in the MSAR is also being able to practice the\nlanguage, which I am studying, with Portuguese speakers in the city. "I\ncan speak Portuguese with many people in Macao, which makes me have a lot of\ncontact with this language."<\/p>\n\n
Before\ncoming to Macao, Gabriel spent a short time (three weeks) in Portugal, which\nhelped him to confirm his choice of Portuguese as a working language.\n"Most of Japanese do not speak Portuguese, but I do, so I feel that I am\ndifferent with others," he adds that his goal is to apply for jobs in the\ndiplomatic field.<\/p>\n\n
Nat\u00e1lia\nJisook-Jung is a 20-year-old South Korean. She came to Macao to attend UM Summer\nCourse and was in the first year of her bachelor\u2019s degree in foreign languages\n\u200b\u200bin her native country. Her experience in Macau was well, hence Nat\u00e1lia gave\nup her studies in Korea and pursue the Portuguese learning more seriously in\nMacao. She enrolled in the Bachelor of Portuguese Studies and she has the main\nobjective to work as a translator or flight attendant when she returns to\nSeoul.<\/p>\n\n
Although\nthere are three universities in South Korean that offer the bachelor\u2019s degree\nin Portuguese, Nat\u00e1lia felt that Macao would have more intense contact with the\nlanguage. "Since there are many Portuguese speakers here, I have many\nopportunities to practice Portuguese, which was not happening in Korea. So this\nwas a very good decision, "she says. <\/p>\n\n
Choice for natives<\/b><\/p>\n\n
Miriam Akiyama was born\nin Brazil, a granddaughter of Japanese. Her family emigrated to the South\nAmerican country in the 1940s. She grew up in a small Japanese community in S\u00e3o\nPaulo State and the first words that came out of her mouth were in Japanese. Being\nbilingual given the intense contact with both the Japanese and Brazilian\ncommunities, and with much support from her family. "My parents always\ncommunicated with me in Portuguese, but it was necessary for me to express\nmyself in two languages \u200b\u200bdepending on the situation," she says.<\/p>
\nThe curiosity for the Portuguese language began only in the times in which it\nwas to study the degree in foreign languages \u200b\u200bEnglish-Portuguese in Brazil.\n"Before, the grammar and literature classes were very dull for me at\nschool," she says with a laugh. "Only when I was taking my degree\nthat I started to love the Portuguese language. When I was learning more\nEnglish, I have loved Portuguese more. "<\/p>
\nMiriam left Brazil a few years ago and moved to Japan with her family. Despite\nthe distance, the Portuguese language continued to be part of her plans, so she\nbegan to cultivate the idea of \u200b\u200benrolling in a master’s degree in linguistics,\na discipline that changed the way she looked at Portuguese. "In 2014 I came\nto Macao to attend a language conference. I gave a presentation about the\nPortuguese language in Japan, and I was impressed by the teachers that I met\nhere. Since I lived in Japan and Macao is very close to my home, I decided to\ncome here after this first contact ", explained the reasons that made her to\nbe a master student in Portuguese linguistics at the University of Macau.<\/p>
\nThe choice of Macao never doubted. "I really like Macao, especially as it\nis such a unique place in Asia. A place with Eastern and Western cultures and\nimmigrants from other countries, which makes it so unique. It’s a great place for\nthose who study and research Portuguese-based pidgins and creoles in Asia.\n"Soon, Miriam intends to return to Japan and teach one of the languages \u200b\u200bthat\nstole her heart.<\/p>