East-Timor, which became independent on May 20th, 2002, was the only former Portuguese colony to adopt two Official Languages - Portuguese and Tetum, the current communication language of the Timorese. currently it is being studied in order to create the necessary instruments to its normalisation and fixation (for example, the publication of dictionaries). These days, the knowledge of the Tetum language is absolutely fundamental to communicate with the majority of the Timorese population.

CIDAC has followed the evolution of the Timorese situation since 1974, having thus created and promoted strong working links with two Portuguese associations: The Commission for the Rights of the Maubere People (1981-2002) - focused on the solidarity with the East Timor people during the period of the illegal Indonesian occupation of the territory, and the Centre for the Timorese Citizenship (1996-2002) to support the Timorese Community living in Portugal. In the year 2000 CIDAC started co-operation actions with Timorese organisations (only in 1999 were Portuguese citizens allowed in East-Timor, since after the Indonesian invasion in 1975 Portugal ceased to maintain diplomatic relations with Indonesia).

More than twenty years of experience in the field of the Portuguese Language Training together with a solid knowledge of the Timorese reality, CIDAC iniciated in March 2003 a Programme of the Tetum Language Training aimed for development agents, technicians and diplomats of several countries.

The course focuses on cultural, social as well as political and economical fields based on active and participated training methodologies and on the communication needs of the trainees.

The courses are normally intensive and start on mondays:

- individual courses (duration is variable according to students' needs)

- group courses (from 2 up to 6 participants)

- Courses for children (between the ages of 6 and 16)

CIDAC has a reservation service for purposes of accommodation and babysitting as a means to support the organisations and the trainees who hold contracts for the Courses at CIDAC.

Check here for Tetum Course regulations and prices.

For further information on language tranining, please contact us at the following e-mail address: formacao@cidac.pt