A party of 10 staff and students of the University of Macau Department of Portuguese have given over 100 school pupils in southwestern China three weeks of instruction in the language, the university says.

The Macao Education and Youth Development Bureau commissioned the party to teach three-week courses at a primary school, a secondary school and a vocational technical school in Congjiang, in the province of Guizhou, according to a written statement issued by the university yesterday.

The university says the courses were meant to stir interest in the language and culture of Portugal among the pupils, who can now greet each other, and ask and answer simple questions about themselves in fluent Portuguese.

The courses are part of an effort to alleviate poverty in Congjiang agreed on by the Macao SAR Government and the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, the University of Macau says