The University of Macau (UM) said in a statement yesterday that a video conference that discussed preparation work for the First International Forum on Chinese and Portuguese Languages was held recently.
According to the statement, which did not say when exactly the conference was held, over 30 Portuguese and Chinese language teachers and librarians from more than 10 universities in Portuguese-speaking countries and mainland China attended the event.
The statement noted that the conference participants included faculty members, students, and scholars from member universities of the Academic Library Alliance between the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and the Portuguese-speaking Countries (ABAMAPLP) and the Academic Library Alliance for Portuguese Language Resources between the MSAR and mainland China (ABAMACHINA). The alliance includes Peking University, Shanghai International Studies University, University of Lisbon and University of São Paulo, among others.
The statement quoted UM Vice Rector Rui Martins as saying that the video conference was the first cooperation event between both alliances. He said in a speech that the conference was a “meaningful step” in deepening cooperation between the alliances in the “consolidation of Portuguese language resources and to promote teaching and research in the Portuguese and Chinese languages”.
The statement pointed out that the conference was held in three parallel sessions: Teaching Portuguese as a Foreign Language, hosted by UM Department of Portuguese Visiting Professor Maria Grosso and Associate Professor Ana Nunes; Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language under the New Situation: Current Situation and Countermeasures, hosted by UM Confucius Institute Deputy Director Chen Zhong; and the Portuguese Language Resource Platform of the Academic Libraries Alliance, hosted by UM Department of Portuguese Assistant Professor Zhang Jing.
The conference was conducted in Chinese and Portuguese with simultaneous interpretation, according to the statement.
This undated handout photo provided by the University of Macau (UM) yesterday shows participants in the recently held video conference about teaching Portuguese and Chinese as foreign languages.
