The President of the Republic of Cape Verde believes that the best way to learn Portuguese is to study the Cape Verdean language in parallel, championing the consensus for it to become official in the African archipelago.
“Constitution of the Republic [de Cabo Verde] speaks two official languages. The official language is Portuguese and it is necessary to create conditions for the full officialization of the Cape Verdean language,” said José Maria Neves in an interview with Lusa during his last visit to Portugal.
José Maria Neves, who took part in the 50th anniversary ceremonies on April 25 in Lisbon, believes the best way to learn Portuguese, whose World Day is celebrated on Sunday, is to “develop the Cape Verdean language.” .
“The Portuguese language is our heritage, we must do everything to learn the Portuguese language in the best possible way,” he said.
And he defended Cape Verde’s bilingual education system: “Every day we speak Cape Verdean, it is our mother tongue; the entire election campaign is conducted in the native language; You can make speeches in parliament.” in both languages, and there is already experience that clearly shows that children learn Portuguese much better if they also learn Cape Verdean at the same time.”
“The education system should be bilingual and people should learn both languages at the same time, learn Cape Verdean as a mother tongue and Portuguese as a second language and leave the education system fluent in Cape Verdean” – Verdiana and Portuguese and, English and French if possible,” he said.
José Maria Neves emphasized: “This multitude enriches the country, it does not harm the country; The fact that we have these two languages - Cape Verdean and Portuguese – is a sign of enrichment.”
“Both [línguas] are the heritage of Cape Verde and the Portuguese language, thanks to the totality of its speakers, is a great wealth for Cape Verde and we must properly protect the Portuguese language.”
The head of state recalled the pilot experience that showed the effectiveness of such bilingual education.
“As Prime Minister [2001 — 2016], I myself visited several schools that were on trial and was able to make comparisons. Children with bilingual education spoke much better Portuguese at the end of basic education than those who were taught literacy only in Portuguese,” he said.
Answering the question about what is missing for the official legalization of the Cape Verdean language, José Maria Neves noted “consensus between the main political players.”
“Not everyone agrees, there is resistance, there is opposition. There are people who think that the Cape Verdean language should not be taught, there are people who think that the Cape Verdean language is detrimental to the teaching of Portuguese, there are people who think that we speak Portuguese poorly because we insist on to speak Cape Verdean,” he said.
And he continued: “The experts, those who understand this issue – the Portuguese and the Cape Verdeans – believe that we should move towards a bilingual system, speaking both languages.”
José Maria Neves said that all you have to do is come to Cape Verde and visit a preschool school.
“When we arrive and start speaking Portuguese, there is a barrier. Children are at home, talking to their parents, neighbors, friends, playing in Cape Verdean, coming to school and having to learn Portuguese. So there is a barrier (…). If we switch to the Cape Verdean language, the children will have another resourcefulness, another joy,” he said.
According to the president, progress is impossible without understanding, without the “consensus necessary for this.”
Full officialization of the Cape Verdean language requires “an amendment to the Constitution, and this requires two-thirds of Parliament, and this is impossible.”
In 2019, the 40th General Assembly of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared 5 May as World Portuguese Language Day.
Since then, the anniversary has been celebrated and shared by more than 260 million Portuguese speakers on five continents, recognizing the Portuguese language as one of the main languages of communication throughout the world.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.