Today [Wednesday 21 October], the Portuguese ambassador to London, Mr António Santana Carlos, will visit the University’s Department of Hispanic, Portuguese & Latin American Studies (HiPLA), where he will meet staff and final-year students.
The University has a long tradition of teaching Portuguese, and currently benefits from an annual grant of €6,000 from the Portuguese government to support the teaching of Portuguese in HiPLA.
The Department, which performed very well in the recent National Student Survey survey, was one of the first in the UK to institute an MA programme in Portuguese in 1992 and now has a Portuguese pathway in the new MA in modern languages. There are currently 95 students enrolled on BA programmes in Portuguese, and two research students.
For their third year abroad, students of Portuguese can study in Portugal through Erasmus exchange programmes. The University of Oporto, one of Bristol’s twin cities, is a popular destination, as is Lisbon, where a new Erasmus programme is in place, and the historic city of Évora.
Many students go to Brazil, where the University has an exchange programme with the Federal University of Santa Catarina. In recent years, some students have spent time in Bristol’s Mozambican twin city, Beira, in collaboration with the Bristol-Beira Group and the Bristol International Twinning Association. In Beira, apart from using their language skills, students are involved in various development projects.
Claire Bertaud, now a fourth-year student of Italian and Portuguese, who spent part of last year in Beira, describes her experience:
‘I was very keen to volunteer with the Beira-to-Bristol twinning in Mozambique. Working with children in different schools, organising art and creative activities was a very rewarding and eye-opening experience, an opportunity to learn about the country, the richness of its culture, as well as the difficulties it faces, and the positive projects that are growing, such as reforestation.
Five months in Beira went very fast, but it was long enough to see and participate in the daily life of local people and to engage with the way things are there. I was moved from the start by the friendliness and humanity of everyone I met there. All in all, it was an unforgettable and very rich experience.’
Claire is pictured here celebrating Dia da Crianca Africana (The National Day of the African Child) with children from Amai Mussananhi, a women's support group.
Student Gareth Jones, who has just returned from a year in the Portuguese city of Évora recounts his time there:
'During my year abroad in Portugal I fell in love with the varied landscapes, the generosity of her people and her gorgeous gastronomy.
From grandiose palácios, to quaint aldeias, mystical fado, and delectable pastéis de nata, Portugal catered for all my senses. I am now left with a distinct feeling of saudade. A longing for the country with which I fell in love.'