Saturday, July 11, 2015

PORTUGUESE INFLUENCE CONTINUES IN TIMOR-LESTE

Highlighting yet  again  the still strong  Portuguese  influence  in the    former  colony of  East Timor is  the  fact  that  the  Government Palace ,  Dili, was  the venue  this  weekend  for  the  launch of the   second civil  forum of   the  Community of  Portuguese  Speaking Countries (CPLP).

The event  was  opened by a band from a Portuguese school and will include Timorese, Portuguese, Brazilian  and  African music .  Other cultural events such as  movies, a  book  launch  and  fair , concerts  and  conferences  will  be  held .

Language clinics for Timorese  journalists  to  learn  Portuguese were  launched  last year  and  a  new training cycle  was  resumed  this  month. The lingua franca of East Timor is Tetum, official signs  in Portuguese and Tetum. Some young Timorese are  reportedly suspicious  and  hostile  to  the  reinstalment  of  Portuguese   influence .