Mar '24 • 📣 News & announcements 📣
Foreigners "falar-med" by new Portuguese language & culture initiative
Waves of concern and anxiety are rippling through Portugal’s expat and immigrant community, following the emergence of rumours about a compulsory Portuguese language and culture policy for foreigners.
Thought to be one of the first policies to emerge from the new coalition government, it’s understood that all migrants will be encouraged to learn to speak Portuguese and understand the national culture at a much faster rate than has been previously acceptable.
A key initiative that has already ruffled foreigners’ feathers is the idea that all conversations that take place on Sundays must be in Portuguese and that only Portuguese food will be consumed across the country as well as in the two autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores.
As news of the idea spread across X, formerly Twitter, sometimes now known as ‘TwiX’, in the last week, a delegation of troubled foreign ambassadors were thought to be seeking an audience with the President, ‘Marcelo’, and new Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro, to question the unfairness and sudden nature of the idea.
“I complained immediately to my embassy,” said John Smith, a Manchester United fan who preferred that his original nationality remain off the record, especially in light of the anticipated and mandatory ‘support a Portuguese football club’ scheme. “I can’t go from refusing to speak Portuguese all the time, to having to speak this very difficult language for a whole day, every week, even in my own home!”
“What’s more, if I am forced to eat bacalhau instead of roast beef and drink coffee instead of tea, as well as driving closer to other road users on Sundays, I may have to think about moving to Spain or France, where shouting in English has always got me through.”
Architect of the new and radical proposals Nuno Wei, a government advisor of mixed Portuguese and Chinese heritage responded by saying: “It’s time foreigners made a bit more of an effort and bit the bullet, or ‘bit the bacalhau’, as we prefer to say at our cultural and creative think-tank and co-working, digital nomad hub - Luso Takes it All.
“Our team has worked long and hard on this and have been paid a lot of EU money, which comes with certain expectations. We feel the Sunday ‘DominGO Portuguese’ native-language-only initiative will be hard at first, but will have great benefits for all involved in the long run, particularly with the sardine grill training skills and Fado appreciation courses that are also in the pipeline.”
“If successful, we can look forward to further days of the week being entirely Portuguese,” he added, “with incomers learning how to eat and stay up later in the evenings. Although being catholic will remain a grey area, in line with national norms and expectations.
As sales of Portuguese language books and courses up and down the country seem to be going through the roof, (or if you are reading this on Sunday: “através do telhado”), it’s understood that even CHEGA! insiders have been surprised by the idea and have called it “extreme”.
Anyone wishing to ‘bite the bacalhau’ ahead of the expected rush and learn more about Portuguese language and culture, because it’s the right thing to do, can find out more at www.dominGOportuguese.com
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Foreigners "falar-med" by new Portuguese language & culture initiative
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