The interest in the Portuguese language anchors on both political, economic and cultural reasons, and a growing interest not only in Macau, but in other Portuguese-speaking countries to actively participate and explore the development of places, and its people, having in mind its essential Portuguese-related matrix and shared history.
In Macau, it seems therefore appropriate, and important, to also consider investing and promoting Portuguese as a language for specific purposes – namely by creating courses oriented to legal language, administration, business or entrepreneurship, or by producing textbooks and vocabulary collections aiming directly at pragmatic use in every-day life. The exchange of talents, specialized know-how’s and good practices amongst Portuguese-speaking countries is therefore an important initiative to pursue, both in the cultural and academic fields. The creation of the GEG Cultural & Academic Fund, in collaboration with the Portuguese Institute in the East (or Instituto Português do Oriente), will hopefully spur initiatives towards this goal.
Instituto Português do Oriente Portuguese Institute in the East
The establishment of a “GEG Cultural & Academic Fund” is being conceived from which resources are to be deployed on projects anchored in three main public goals:
“Letras & Companhia” - Pés na Terra e Cabeça no Ar “Alphabets & Friends” – Feet on Earth and Head in the Air
“Letras & Companhia”, or “Alphabets & Friends”, presents itself as the first edition of a literary, civic and cultural festival, to be held 2-25 April 2021, aims to promote a set of initiatives that articulate, in complements to each other, two dynamics: activities to be carried out in schools in Macau in cooperation with the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, and activities that are open to the Macau community.
The implementation of these programs include:
The series of programmes can be found in the following promotional pamphlets, which can also be viewed on IPOR’s website at www.IPOR.mo.