PROVIDENCE – The Institute for Portuguese and World Studies at Rhode Island College is the first U.S. site authorized and accredited to administer tests for Portuguese language proficiency and certification. Until now, the closest testing sites were in Mexico and Canada.
The certification is being granted via the Center for the Evaluation of Portuguese as a Foreign Language (CAPLE) program – in partnership with Portugal’s Universidade de Lisboa (the University of Lisbon) – under an agreement that is to be signed Friday, Feb. 9, at 6:30 p.m., in the Alumni Lounge at RIC’s Roberts Hall.
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The institute will be authorized to administer the tests to people older than 15 anywhere in the United States. Tests will be given at five levels, from beginner to university, based on standards set by the Council of Europe.
Institute for Portuguese and World Studies, which opened Oct. 21, is an affiliate of RIC’s Center for Public Policy. “Our mission is to serve the Portuguese and Lusophone communities living in the area, as well as anyone interested in using the Portuguese language the cultures associated with the language as a means of improving their profession,” said Joseph Levi, the institute’s director, who said a certificate of proficiency in the language would be helpful educators, medical and legal professionals, translators and people in the public sector.
Rhode Island has the nation’s largest population of people of Portuguese-speaking ancestry – about 10 percent, most of them from the Azores and Cape Verde, the institute said.
