FORTY residents of Lethem and its environs, in Region 9 (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo), will begin a basic level course in Portuguese and 29 others, who recently graduated from the first such programme, are to start an intermediate (higher level) one this weekend.

The venue is the secondary school in the not far away other border township of Bonfim and the programmes, both of six weeks duration, are being conducted simultaneously, at weekends, by the University of Roraima in Brazil for the Guyanese, free of charge, with the aim of lowering the language barrier between the neighbouring communities.
Senior Vice-President of the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), Mr. Alfred Ramsarran disclosed that the idea of the Portuguese course for foreigners was born during discussions in Brazil, last year, involving members of the Guyana Private Sector Commission, Go-Invest, other Guyanese businessmen and the Governor of the Brazilian border State of Roraima.
Ramsarran said they agreed that the language hurdle (English versus Portuguese) has been a major bugbear in the efforts of the two communities to increase border relations in trade, sports and culture.
He explained that teaching the language was started as a determined attempt to mitigate the communication problem between the Guyanese in Lethem and the Brazilians of Bonfim.
Last July, the 29 graduates from the first ‘Portuguese for Foreigners’ language course reflected a pass rate of 52 percent.
The graduation exercise was held at the secondary school in Bonfim and the graduates were enlisted for the next level programme.
Option
Those who did not graduate have been given the option of repeating the course along with 13 others, who will make an enrolment of 40 for the second course also scheduled to begin this weekend.
The RCCI, as well as the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region 9, has been, actively, collaborating with the University of the State of Roraima since the first basic course.
Ramsarran said the RCCI and the RDC are working to set up an ‘English for Foreigners’ training course, targeting Brazilians and have identified a Guyanese teacher living in Lethem who is bilingual and can undertake the task. As a result, arrangements are well advanced for interested Brazilians to enrol.
The RCCI and RDC are also cooperating with the Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE) of the University of Guyana (UG) to ensure certification for the successful Brazilian participants in the English for Foreigners Course, he said.