Number of students learning Portuguese in Macau: 5,000+

The numbers come from an article in Portuguese here. Macau's small population makes this quite easy to put into perspective: the population of the city is 568,000 and Portuguese speakers (people that speak Portuguese at home) are said to make up 0.6% of the population, so about 3400 people. The article is full of numbers from various language programs that on the whole confuse me, but looks like 5000+ students is about right. These are just some of them.

More than 5,000 students in Macau are currently learning Portuguese as a regular or extracurricular subject in local schools, according to data provided by the Education and Youth Services to the agency Lusa. In the current year, a total of 2,144 students through nine official schools in Macau have Portuguese integrated into the curriculum. Another 1,641 students attend Portuguese language courses as a regular discipline or suplement in 16 private schools, taught in Chinese or English, while 520 students go to two special schools where education is given in Portuguese: the Escola Portuguesa de Macau and o Jardim de Infância D. José da Costa Nunes.

The Escola Portuguese also offers Portuguese language course in three levels to 158 students with other mother tongues.

Three secondary schools have 582 students studying Portuguese under funding for the creation of Portuguese language courses at schools, with a duration of at least three years.

The Portuguese language is also part of the offering of the special education program given by the Macau government, with 77 courses of Portuguese 'validated' by the Education and Youth Services agency with 998 graduates in 2012.

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Lusophone investment in Inner Mongolia thanks to the Macau Forum

This article in Portuguese today is interesting not because of the amount of prospective trade between Lusophone countries and Inner Mongolia but the fact that it is happening thanks to Macau, showing an area where trade will be able to occur thanks to the presence of Macau that certainly not would have been as easy, or even possible, without it.

Interior Mongolia and the Forum for Economic Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macau) are exploring types of cooperation between Lusophone companies and the Chinese region, according to Chinese media today.

Interior Mongolia was the scene of an "introductory conference" between 13 and 15 July to establish and reinforce commercial relations with Portuguese-speaking countries, which make up the Macau Forum.

"This is the first time that many representatives of Portuguese-speaking countries have come to Inner Mongolia. They discovered that Inner Mongolia has high-quality products, and also agricultural products of high quality. This is also an area in which Inner Mongolia can cooperate with Portuguese-speaking countries" said Rita Santos, deputy secretary general of the Macau Forum to CRI.

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Macau establishes permanent secretariat for relations with Angola

From here in Portuguese:

The special administrative region of China and former Portuguese colony Macau established a permanent secretariat for closer economic and commercial ties between Angola and China, also serving as a platform linking the two countries.

Rita Santos, the deputy secretary-general of the Forum for Economic and Comercial Cooperation between China and Portuguese-language countries, said on Friday that Macau maintains good relations with Angola in various fields, and through the secretariat the region will serve as a platform for closer economic, commercial and cultural links. He also said that Angola is a country that is making large strides toward development. Also that "There is an Angolan community in Macau, as well as a friendship associates between the two peoples with a cultural week that we carry out every year."

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Macau looking for Portuguese people to work

From here in Portuguese:

Macau is looking for Portuguese citizens to work. The multicultural territory continues to give priorities to local citizens, but there are multiple opportunities for foreigners, especially for those who want to escape the crisis or who are unemployed.

They are looking for lawyers due to having laws equal to those in Portugal, but not just this: they also need architects, engineers, specialized technicians and professionals in tourism.

The territory also has a great deal of construction, associated particularly with the hotel and tourist industry.

Perhaps more interesting though are the comments below the article, which can be seen here: pretty much all people looking for work. This is a typical one:

Estou interessado em ir trabalhar para Macau. Como faço para enviar curriculo. Tenho 25 anos e sou formado em restauraçao.

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Macau to train professionals from Angola

Here's another article in Portuguese on China's wise use of Macau as a gateway to the Lusophone world, Angola in particular.

Angolan technicians in the sector of hotels and tourism will participate in a program of technical-professional training organized by the Macau Forum. The information was released yesterday in Beijing by the Secretary-General of the forum, Chang Hexi.

The movement of Angolan technicians to Macau is the result of a support program destined for Portuguese-language countries and driven by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao...The program contains human resources training and the promotion of commercial and economic investment, on the basis of a relationship between rommercial agents, associations and companies from both countries. At the end of this month, according to Chang Hexi, a fund estimated at a billion dollars will be announced by the Chinese central government. The line of credit will be designed to support Chinese companies that work in Portuguese-speaking countries.

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Polytechnical Institute of Leiria launches new Chinese course

From here in Portuguese today. Just as interesting as the launching of a new course is the person chosen to head it: a professor from Macau. Someone from Macau really is the obvious choice for something of this nature, and the more opportunities and projects like this there are the more China will wish to keep developing it as their gateway to the Lusophone world.

The Polytechnical Institute of Leiria (IPL, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria) will begin in March a Mandarin course aimed at graduates of the institution in the areas of engineering, technology and management.

It is a joint initiative of two educational institutions of the IPL, which aims to respond to the increasing development of economic relations between Portugal and China.

The creator of the new course will be Yu Xiang, professor at the Macau Polytechnical Institute.

Founded 30 years ago, the IPL currently represents about 95% of higher education in the district of Leiria and includes a community of more than 12,000 students, around 900 teachers and over 300 technical and administrative staff.

Mentioned in the article as well, the IPL's current option for Chinese seems to be this course, a diploma in translating and interpreting Portuguese and Chinese.

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Interest in Chinese increasing among businesspeople in Portugal

From here in Portuguese a week ago:

Interest in the Chinese language and culture is greatly increasing in Portugal, particularly among businesspeople, said the dean of the University of Lisbon (António Sampaio da Nóvoa) to the Lusa news agency.

"We are opening intensive courses for businesspeople [because] the demand is impressive." he said when asked about the activity of the Confucius Institute at the UL, established four years ago in partnership with the Tianjin Institute of Foreign Studies.

The Confucius Institute at the UL is the second of its kind in Portugal, after the one established at the University of Minho, in Braga.

About 300 students now attend the Confucius Institute at the UL.

António Sampaio da Nóvoa began on Wednesday a one-week visit to China, accompanied by officials from the UL and the Macau Polytechnic Institute.

The visit coincides with the rapid growth of Portuguese courses in the Chinese continent, a phenomenon associated with the development of economic and commercial relations between China and Portuguese-language countries, particularly Angola and Brazil.

Not counting Macau, a decade ago the who of China only had two universities with degrees in Portuguese; today there are five in Beijing alone.

I would add Portugal to Angola and Brazil now, considering the amount of Chinese investment pouring in at the moment. For example from here:

The acquisition of 21.5 percent of power company Energias de Portugal (EdP) by China Three Gorges (CTG), at the end of last year, was a special moment for business relations and may be followed by the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) taking a static in Portugal’s national power grid, Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN).

Also this and this article on more or less the same subject.

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Beijing University of International Business and Economics opens Centre of Portuguese Language Country Studies

From here today in Portuguese:

A ceremony today (16 January) at the University of International Business and Economics
in Beijing marked the inauguration of the Centre of Portuguese Language Country Studies.

The centre is the first non-governmental and non-profit institution in China directed exclusively to academic studies of Portuguese-language studies. The initiative's objective is to promote cooperation between China and Lusophone countries.

With the support of officials, specialists and business people connected to Portuguese-language countries, the centre will attempt to be a think tank for questions and analyses of specific themes.

And a bit from here which mentions Macau:

The aim is to "promote friendship, cooperation and exchange between China and Lusophone countries, with the best support of specialists and scholars from the interior of China and taking advantage of Macau as a platform", the institution announced in a statement.

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Macau to act as a currency hub between China and Portuguese language countries

At least I think that's what this means. The sentence in bold is unclear to me - does it mean that a country that buys X amount of Chinese yuan is now able to use that X amount of money to buy bonds and whatnot?

In any case, the fact that Macau is to be China's gateway to the Lusophone world in yet another aspect is the most interesting part for me.

The news is coming soon, says the Monetary Authority of Macau. The Chinese central bank has indicated that it wants to use the local financial sector for conversion into yuan of accounts that Portuguese language countries have.

In November, the People's Bank of China reported that it intended to have Macau as a platform to standardize accounting trade and investment between China and Portuguese language countries.

Beijing currently has established 14 so-called swap agreements for the yuan, with Hong Kong and Macau as the first signatories, as well as other nations in Southwest Asia, Iceland, Argentina and Belarus.

The understandings permit banks and investment agencies of signatory countries and regions to work with the volume of trade in yuan invested in the inter-bank continental market (possam realizar com o volume de trocas em yuan investimento no mercado inter-bancário do Continente). There are currently ten types of securities open to investment from outside, including treasury bonds and others issued by Chinese state banks.

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More on Macau's role as a bridge between China and Lusophone countries

Another article on Macau and its role as a bridge between China and Portuguese-speaking countries:

Lusophone countries are working to bring in more Chinese investment through initiatives by Macau in a forum in Nanchang, the capital of the province of Jiangxi...Macao has been closely linked with Portuguese-speaking countries, namely Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and East Timor, in economy and trade, due to being able to provide services to companies in the Chinese mainland to obtain advantages in the markets of these countries...In the 12th five-year plan, the Chinese central government established a policy of developing Macau to accelerate the construction of a better platform for commercial cooperation between the two sides. Since 2003 Macau has organized three ministerial conferences for economic and commercial trade between China and Lusophone countries, making the city the permanent secretariat of the forum. The latest data show that the volume of trade between China and Lusophone countries rose 27% annually to $62.9 billion between January and July 2011.

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All about the Diocese of Macau

The front page article on the Portuguese Wikipedia at the moment is this one:

It's about the (Roman Catholic) Diocese of Macau, and given that it goes into way more detail than the English version it's worth reading (or using Google Translate to read) for anyone interested in Macau, and Portuguese in Macau in particular.

It has a lot of numbers and other information:

"In 2004, the Diocese of Macau had approximately 18,000 to 27,500 Catholics. In 2008, the number grew to 28,700 - about 5.3% of the total population...the liturgy is usually celebrated in Chinese, Portuguese and English...according to article 34 of the Basic Law of the Special Administrative Region of Macau, "the residents of Macau enjoy freedom of religious belief and the freedom to pray, to promote religious activities in public and to participate in them...(article 128) the government of Macau does not interfere in internal subjects of religious organizations, nor their maintenance or the development of relations of religious organizations and their believers with believers outside Macau..."

and so on. Well worth the time it takes to read.

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New Portuguese textbook in Macau marks the first Portuguese textbook after Macau's return to China

More Portuguese language news today...

The Portuguese Institute of the Orient (IPOR, O Instituto Português do Oriente) put the first of ten Portuguese textbooks on sale today that follow the Portuguese orthographic accord. The director Rui Rocha said that the new manual "was tested for over a year in the classroom", a procedure that will be adopted in the next school year for the second and third volumes. "Eleven years after the transfer of power from Portuguese to China, we believe it to be important to have manuals that are adapted to the reality found in Macau and the cultural reality of those the books are for - that is, to students of Chinese origin that make up 99% of our students." The old manuals date to 1995 and 1996, when Macau was still a Portuguese overseas territory.

The IPOR now has around 2,100 students learning Portuguese in the various courses it offers, many of which are linked to the government of Macau - the security forces, and the Centre for Legal and Judicial Training, for example. Students of tourism also often choose to learn Portuguese.

IPOR's site is more interesting than most, and has a video here called "eight reasons to learn Portuguese" (8 Razões para Aprender Português). It's in Cantonese so I can't understand it, but I can read the subtitles...except the martial arts guy, because I don't really understand his point. Translation below.

8 Razões para Aprender Português from Waaa! Studio on Vimeo.

Guy with book: Eu falo português (I speak Portuguese) - because because Portuguese is the 5th largest language in the world with 250 million users throughout the world.

Two girls exercising: Eu falo português - because Portuguese is the third largest European language, after English and Spanish.

Girl in white uniform: Eu falo português - because Portuguese is the language of the 5th-largest country in the world, Brazil, and Africa's 7th-largest country, Angola.

Guy with cellphone: Eu falo português - because Portuguese is an economic bridge between the People's Republic of China, Macau, the EU and the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries).

Kid with mom: Eu falo português - because Portuguese helps in learning other Latin (Romance) languages, like Spanish, French and Italian.

Martial arts guy: Eu falo português - because Portuguese is the official language of seven peaceful world countries. (or Portugal the 7th-most peaceful country? That doesn't make sense)

Couple eating tarts: Nós falamos português (we speak Portuguese) - because Portuguese, like Chinese, is an official language in Macau.

Dancing guys: Eu falo português - because Portuguese is an international language that extends over five continents.

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Trade between China and Portuguese language countries grows 45.07% from January 2010 to January 2011

An article from here in Portuguese:

Trade between China and Portuguese language countries grew by 45.07% in January compared to the same month one year prior (2010), to 8.31 billion dollars, according to data from the Chinese Department of Customs in Macau.

Over the year, China imported $5.41 billion from the eight Portuguese language countries and sold goods worth $2.9 billion.

Brazil was the largest trading partner of the Portuguese language countries with bilateral commerce reaching $5.98 billion, with Brazil acquiring $2.31 billion worth of goods from China and selling $3.67 billion to China.

Angola was in second place with trade reaching $1.91 billion (6.1% less than in January 2010), and Portugal was in third place with trade between China totaling $338 million.

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The Macau Yearbook 2008 now out in Portuguese

Região Administrativa Especial de Macau da República Popular da China

Even though Portuguese isn't used much as an everyday language in Macau anymore, at least it still puts out a certain amount of content in the language such as this 702-page yearbook every year:

The 702-page Portuguese-language edition of “The Macau Yearbook 2008” will be available for sale from today. It is an annual publication compiled and edited by the Government Information Bureau of Macau (GCS).

...

The Macau Yearbook has been published since 2002 and is available in three languages namely Chinese, Portuguese and English. The English edition for 2008 is in the process of printing and will be available for sale shortly.

So what sort of info does it have?

Consisting of sixteen chapters, the Overview of the MSAR presents information on the political system, administrative system, legal system, judicial system, external relations, economy, gaming industry, tourism, public order, education, culture, sport, health, social welfare, media, communications, information technology, land, infrastructure, housing, public utilities, transport, geography, environment, population, religion, customs and history.

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