From Asia to the Middle East: new courses mark 20 years of FLUC Language Centre
The Language Centre of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Coimbra (FLUC) celebrates two decades of activity and launches new courses for the 2025–26 academic year.
“The balance of these 20 years is extremely positive,” says Albano Figueiredo, FLUC’s director, highlighting that the Centre “has become a regional reference” and that its creation was “a very innovative initiative.”
Founded in 2005, the Centre has played a key role in promoting multilingualism and intercultural exchange, offering courses to both the university community and the general public from the age of 16. It currently offers German, Spanish, French, English, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, and Russian. For the next academic year, the programme has been expanded with the reintroduction of Arabic Language and Culture and, for the first time, Korean Language and Culture, in response to growing demand. “We aim to diversify and expand our offerings so that even more students can study other languages with us,” adds Figueiredo.
The director also highlights collaboration with the University of Coimbra Confucius Institute, which provides Mandarin teaching: “Between the Language Centre’s courses and the Confucius Institute, we now have an important variety for both study and research.”
António Rebelo, director of the Language Centre, notes that international mobility has increased demand for new skills: “In a globalised world, communicative proficiency has become an unavoidable requirement, both pedagogically and scientifically.”
Over the past two decades, more than 30,000 students have attended the Centre’s courses, taught by around a hundred teachers, mostly native speakers. More than 130 different courses at various proficiency levels have been offered, confirming the Centre as a reference in promoting multilingualism and citizenship.
The second application phase runs from 4 to 7 September. More information here.
Albano Figueiredo lembrou ainda a colaboração com o Instituto Confúcio da UC, que assegura o ensino de mandarim: “Entre a oferta do Centro de Línguas e o papel do Instituto Confúcio, dispomos hoje de uma variedade muito importante para o estudo e também para a investigação.”
Já o diretor do Centro de Línguas, António Rebelo, lembra que a mobilidade internacional veio reforçar a procura por novas competências: “Num contexto de globalização dos saberes, a proficiência comunicacional tornou-se uma exigência incontornável, tanto do ponto de vista pedagógico como científico”.
Ao longo de duas décadas, mais de 30 mil estudantes frequentaram os cursos do Centro, lecionados por cerca de uma centena de docentes, na sua maioria falantes nativos. Foram já realizados mais de 130 cursos distintos em diferentes níveis de proficiência, confirmando o Centro como uma referência na promoção do multilinguismo e da cidadania.
A segunda fase de candidaturas decorre de 4 a 7 de setembro. Mais informações aqui.