With the rapid development of economic and trade relations between China and Lusophone countries, cooperation has become more frequent in talent development and cultural exchanges. The Macao Polytechnic Institute has been engaged in Chinese-Portuguese translation teaching and research for more than a century, with the strongest team of experienced teachers and translators in China and even Asia. With the support of Dr. Alexis Tam, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macau SAR Government, MPI has further strengthened and fostered the cooperation on Portuguese teaching and research. Over the past decade, the number of higher education institutions offering bachelor’s degree programmes in Portuguese language has risen dramatically from 6 to 26. Macao higher education institutions and educational organizations have also launched various Portuguese language courses. In order to tackle the problem of a lack of Portuguese language teaching materials and the standardisation of Portuguese language teaching in higher education institutions, MPI and the University of Lisbon have jointly compiled three sets of teaching materials for students and teachers, entitled Português Global, with audio-visual discs for teaching. This textbook is specially designed for students whose native language is Chinese. In response to the demand from higher education institutions in Macao and mainland China, MPI and The Commercial Press have jointly offered Português Global and will distribute it in China. The book launch ceremony will be held on October 11 at MPI. The first printing will be available in China in mid-October in an edition of 8000 copies. The textbook is available for sale at the bookstores in China and in the three online stores: Amazon, Joybuy and Dangdang. Readers in Macao can purchase it in Seng Kwong Bookstore, Plaza Cultural Macao and The First Book Center.

Portuguese is a very influential language in the world as it is the world's fifth largest language with more than 200 million speakers. In order to enrich Portuguese language teaching materials for universities in Macao and mainland China, MPI and the University of Lisbon have jointly prepared the Português Global textbook for those people learning Portuguese in Macao and mainland China. To ensure the quality of the teaching materials, both the academic and compilation teams have been working closely with experts and professors to discuss the textbook’s content. Professor João Malaca Casteleiro, a notable linguist of the Portuguese language, is the academic adviser. He helps to make the teaching materials in line with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), in terms of the learning, teaching and assessment guidelines established by the European Commission. The typical characteristics of the learning style of Chinese students of foreign languages are also taken into consideration under the guidance of experts. After several years of efforts, the university series of Portuguese language teaching materials was completed early last year, and has now been successfully published in Macao. These three new sets of Portuguese language teaching materials complement the Chinese-Portuguese translation theory and practice textbooks and Portuguese grammar textbooks previously published by MPI, which include Encontrosem Macau, Grande Gramática Portuguesa Explicada, and Manual Prático de Morfologia da Língua Portuguesa. The textbooks play a greatly significant role in fulfilling the needs of teaching Portuguese at university level. The textbooks have received a very warm response upon their publication in Macao and have also received many buying requests from both mainland China and Macao. To this end, MPI has promptly responded to start the distribution plan of Português Global in China together with The Commercial Press.

MPI expressed that by expecting a fruitful future for the development of Sino-Portuguese trade relations, Macao should grasp this opportunity to promote Portuguese language teaching and enhance the development of cultural exchanges between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. MPI is committed to being a Portuguese teaching and research base in China according to its accumulated experience of more than a century in Chinese-Portuguese translation and its close cooperation with higher education institutions in Portuguese-speaking countries and foreign language schools in mainland China. MPI is devoted to contribute to enhancing Macao’s role as a service platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries in line with Macao’s policy initiatives. The publication of the teaching materials Português Global is one of the important achievements of Sino-Portuguese cooperation. MPI will continue to work well on the cooperation of Portuguese language teaching in different aspects. Besides nurturing local people to speak Portuguese, MPI will develop a multi-level talents development plan and will continue to organise training programmes in China for teachers of Portuguese language and for teachers of Chinese language in Portuguese-speaking countries or regions. The training programmes  serve to enhance Macao’s role as a training base of Portuguese-speaking talent in the Asia-Pacific.

The book launch ceremony of Português Global will be held on 11 October at Macao Polytechnic Institute. The first printing will be available in China for distribution in the middle of October in an edition of 8000 copies. The textbook is available for sale at bookstores in China and the three online stores Amazon, Joybuy and Dangdang. Readers in Macao can purchase it in Seng Kwong Bookstore, Plaza Cultural Macao and The First Book Center. Readers can also borrow or read the materials in Macao libraries at a later time. Should there be any query, please contact 8599 6270.

Macao Polytechnic Institute Cooperates with The Commercial Press to Publish Português Global