By having the largest number of entries so far, Portuguese surpassed the other languages that make up NEWL, namely Russian, Korean and Arabic.
The Portuguese exam of the ‘National Examinations in World Languages’ (NEWL), which grants credits for access to North American higher education, registered a record number of students enrolled and is already the leading language in this segment, according to official sources.
Speaking to Lusa, the coordinator of Portuguese education in the United States of America (USA), João Caixinha, said that 577 students had already registered to take the exam, so the number should still increase, since Registrations last until the end of the month.
“Registrations opened on March 1 and in nine days we had this excellent news from the ‘American Councils for International Education,’ which is the organization that developed these exams in several languages (…) with a ‘College Board’ program, which grants access to higher education in the United States. And indeed, Portuguese, at this moment, is the leading language in these NEWL exams”, explained Caixinha.
By having the largest number of entries so far, Portuguese surpassed the other languages that make up NEWL, namely Russian, Korean and Arabic.
Last year, around 300 students registered for this Portuguese test in the United States.
According to João Caixinha, the large turnout registered this year is the result of the work and investment made in recent years by entities ranging from the Camões Institute to the Lusoamerican Foundation for Development (FLAD), through the diplomatic network and consular in the USA, and by the Portuguese Teaching Coordination team (CEPE-EE. USA).
“It is not a project that started now. So start bearing fruit now. And we see that because there is greater interest from public schools, from school districts, from various areas of the country. We are not just talking about the New England region, we are also talking about California, for example. Only one of the schools, in Tulare, has 134 students registered for this exam, which is unprecedented,” she stressed.
Another North American state where participation is being significant is Utah, where a memorandum of understanding was signed with the Camões Institute to reinforce the teaching of the Portuguese language and where some 2,600 students are already learning the language, according to João Box.
The NEWL exams assess the language skills -reading comprehension, listening comprehension, writing and oral production- of students from the 9th grade -when they can take the exam to test their skills and knowledge-, until the 12th year, when you can use the exam to earn higher education access credits.
The NEWL Portuguese exam is scheduled for April 26 and the registration fee is 97 dollars (about 91 euros).
For students who cannot take the exam on that date, there will be a second call on April 28 and 29, increasing the registration price to 142 dollars (134 euros).
As in previous editions, the exam can also be taken abroad, at a cost of 140 dollars (131 euros).
Portuguese students or students of Portuguese descent who take the NEWL Portuguese exam will be eligible for the 87 scholarships awarded by Camões and FLAD, totaling 8,000 euros.
“The 2023 edition of the exam will be carried out in person in schools (…), in conjunction with school districts and with the quality assurance of the ‘College Board’. This edition will have a greater participation of students from Portuguese community schools (parallel regime) and a large percentage of students who learn our language in North American schools (Portuguese integrated regime), where strong Portuguese-speaking communities also reside”, indicated CEPE-Estados United in a statement.
Source: Observadora
