Goa has a deep, historic relationship with the Portuguese language, but in contemporary times, the relevance, reach and quality of its teaching and learning are being questioned.
In this unfiltered conversation, a senior Portuguese teacher from Margao shares, with Gomanatak Times Digital, the harsh truths behind the language’s fading space in schools, the hollow impact of NEP reforms, and what it means when students can’t even recall their State’s year of liberation.
To begin with, do you feel students in Goa are really interested in learning Portuguese?
There is interest, but it's surface-level. With the New Education Policy (NEP), anything is up for grabs, and few are committed to learning deeply. Portuguese often becomes a checkbox, not a calling.
What are the main motivations for students who take up Portuguese today: academic need, heritage, or passport eligibility?
All three. But, if you ask me honestly, out of 10, only 2 take it up for heritage reasons. Most see it as an academic escape route or a strategic step toward a Portuguese passport.
Is the Portuguese language being widely taught and supported in Goan schools? Which boards promote it most actively?
ICSE schools offer Portuguese as an option, and some State board schools too, especially from the 8th standard onward. But, international schools? Never. They’ll always go for French. French is more “in demand,” tested by textbooks and seen as elite.
What happens to student numbers from school to college? Do they continue learning Portuguese?
That’s where the drop is massive. You’ll have 600 students answering in the 10th. By 11th, barely 250 continue. The rest shift to vocational or diploma courses where languages aren't required. And don’t even ask about how many reach the university level, it’s negligible.
So, is the number of learners increasing at all?
No, it's stagnant. And I say that with realism, not pessimism. We won’t go lower than 250 or 260, but don’t expect growth. NEP isn’t helping either — it’s encouraging superficial skills over sustained learning.
Does the NEP discourage language learning?
Completely. It promotes “choice” without providing the infrastructure. You say students can learn sitar or ektaara, but where are the teachers? So they’re forced to pick subjects they didn’t want. Same with Portuguese, there’s no real push, and definitely no support.
Let’s talk about the quality of learning. Are students actually acquiring language skills?
Absolutely not. They learn by rote. Ask them Goa’s liberation date, they know it's 19th December because it’s a holiday. Ask the year, they say 1947! They score 78 or 80 out of 80, but by college, they’ve forgotten everything. They don’t even reach B1 level proficiency.
Does learning Portuguese contribute to understanding Goan identity or heritage anymore?
Not really. That connection is lost. Portuguese isn’t being learned to understand heritage, that’s long gone. Students don’t relate to it. Even culturally, there’s no link unless it’s revived thoughtfully.
Do many Goans still speak Portuguese? In places like Margao, for example?
Speak? Sure. But it’s not proper Portuguese. It’s pidgin. A kind of “Cockney Portuguese,” if you will, mixed with Konkani, grammatically incorrect. You cringe when you hear it. I’ve recorded samples and played them in Macau. Those who heard couldn’t believe it was called Portuguese.
Which means that the spoken Portuguese we hear in some Goan households is…?
It’s a corrupted form. Not preserved, not taught properly. Just like when people say “When you came?” instead of “When did you come?” That’s the kind of syntax being passed off as acceptable. It's communication, not language.
Do you think the Portuguese language is dying in Goa?
No. It's not dying, it's being killed. We had diplomats, ambassadors visiting Goa, hearing promises from the government about promoting Portuguese. But in reality, those very people block it at the policy level. It's hypocritical.
What would you say is really killing the language?
Many things: Poor policy support, lack of trained teachers, parental pressure pushing kids toward Konkani for government jobs, and the cost. Learning Portuguese today is expensive. Who can afford Rs 4,000 to Rs 8,000 per course? Most students can’t afford that. If you’re learning it for love, great. But very few do.
Are there any meaningful exchange programmes between Goa and Portugal that help revive interest?
Yes, but again, very limited. I’ve had only two students, out of hundreds, travel to Portugal on exchange. That’s not even a fraction. Institutions like Chowgule College (Margao) offer it, but the reach is narrow.
Where does this leave the future of Portuguese in Goa?
In limbo. Until we stop pretending and start investing in genuine teaching, it will continue to exist, just barely. Not as a language of fluency, but as a checkbox skill, a symbolic link to a past we haven’t preserved properly.