Camões, I.P.

What Camões offers online

Camões, I.P., the Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, works across development cooperation, Portuguese language teaching, culture and research, as its own menu sets out. Its eLearning service is a product for learners and teachers: an online platform for studying Portuguese, along with university-level specialization courses and continuing training for teachers. In the institute's words, "Camões, I.P. offers eLearning services for different language areas, with the use of an online platform for learning the Portuguese language anywhere in the world."

The online offer has four parts: general Portuguese as a Foreign Language courses in three tutoring tiers, Portuguese for the Workplace, advanced specialization courses run with universities, and continuous training courses for teachers. Each is aimed at a different reader, from a beginner studying alone to a working teacher who needs accredited training.

Portuguese as a Foreign Language, in three tiers

The general courses come in three versions that differ mainly in how much contact a learner has with a tutor. All run over twelve weeks.

Self-learning. The page says this course helps students "develop their oral and written comprehension skills without any need for personal tutoring." Learners get self-correction tools and full access to all the exercises and other course features, and study at their own pace over the twelve weeks. It suits disciplined learners who want structure without fixed appointments.

Basic. The Basic course works on four skills: oral comprehension, written comprehension, speaking and writing. Alongside the exercises and the auto-correction tool, students get six 30-minute personal tutoring sessions via Skype, in small groups of up to three students, spread across the 12-week course, and a tutor assesses six pieces of their written work. This is the middle path: mostly self-study, with regular contact with a tutor and a few fellow learners.

Premium. The Premium course covers the same four skills and adds the most tutoring. Students get twelve 30-minute one-on-one tutoring sessions via Skype, once a week throughout the 12 weeks, and the tutor assesses twelve pieces of written work. The page describes it as "designed for students looking for a more intensive learning experience with the addition of personal tutoring."

The practical difference is speaking time. Self-learning has no tutor at all, while Basic and Premium add live Skype sessions and marked writing, so a learner who wants to practice speaking should choose one of the tutored tiers. The page links to a list of the courses currently available.

Portuguese for the Workplace

The Portuguese for the Workplace courses are aimed at "people who want to develop their communication skills for professional reasons." Their method rests on real-life work scenarios, using company documents and business activities so that students get used to the language of different work situations. Four courses are listed:

• Business Portuguese
• Legal Portuguese
• Portuguese for Journalism
• Portuguese for Tourism and Hospitality

These suit professionals who need the vocabulary and register of a particular field, such as a lawyer dealing with Portuguese contracts, a journalist covering a Portuguese-speaking country, or someone working with Portuguese-speaking guests in tourism.

Advanced specialization courses

For learners whose Portuguese is already strong, Camões runs specialization courses in partnership with Portuguese and international universities. The eLearning page states that these are accredited with ECTS (European Credits Transfer System) and lists three areas:

• Culture and history
• Translation
• Cooperation and development

The page says the courses are "mainly designed for graduates and undergraduate students living in Portugal or abroad" and that they "require a proficient command of Portuguese." In other words, they are university-level courses taught in Portuguese, not language courses. The development cooperation strand ties back to the institute's other main role, cooperation.

Continuous training for teachers

The fourth strand is continuous training for teachers, which the page says rests on accreditation and on quality. On accreditation, the eLearning page states that the courses are accredited by the Conselho Científico-Pedagógico para a Formação Contínua (CCPFC), which it describes as responsible for accrediting training entities and continuous training programs for teachers and for monitoring the evaluation process of the continuous training system, under the Portuguese legal framework for teachers' continuous training. On quality, Camões works through partnerships with higher education organizations, experts and leading researchers in various fields.

Courses are currently available in two fields. Education covers the concepts, methods and development of specific communication skills, namely reading and writing. Linguistics focuses on critical areas in linguistics and language learning.

Beyond the eLearning platform

The eLearning service sits inside a much larger Portuguese language program. The institute's Learning Portuguese section also covers children and young learners, adults, Portuguese for special purposes, on-site learning, courses in Portugal, Portuguese teaching in primary and secondary schools abroad, higher education through academic chairs, Portuguese language centers and lectureships, and grants for foreign and Portuguese citizens. Coordination of Portuguese teaching abroad has its own pages for Germany, Spain and Andorra, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and there is a section on textbooks. A certification section lists level tests from A1 to C1 and certification for Portuguese as a Foreign Language.

The institute's "Camões around the world" pages list countries across Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia and Oceania. A Virtual Centre adds education activities, thematic content, virtual exhibitions and the Referencial Camões PLE, and a digital library and digital archive sit among the online services.

Getting help

The eLearning page links to a frequently asked questions page, a regulation document (in Portuguese) and a "Talk to us" contact page. Much of the institute's site is in Portuguese, while the eLearning page itself is available in English.

Who it suits

Camões suits learners of Portuguese who want a structured online course and who can pick their level of support. The three tiers make the choice clear: self-learning for independent comprehension work, Basic for small-group speaking and marked writing, and Premium for weekly one-on-one tutoring. Professionals with a specific need will find business, legal, journalism and tourism courses, and advanced speakers can take ECTS-accredited specialization courses in culture and history, translation, or cooperation and development.

Portuguese teachers are a second audience. The CCPFC-accredited training in education and linguistics is built for teachers who need recognized continuing training. Learners comparing options should note that the advanced courses require proficient Portuguese, and that the general courses run for a fixed twelve weeks.