Public services in Portugal are changing a lot, in terms of quality, but everyone who intends to ask for information or make an application should be prepared to:

• Spend a lot of time, even to ask for and get information, waiting at the right place to get it
• Fill in a lot of application forms, most of them only in the Portuguese language
• Have a dialogue with someone who doesn’t understand one word from your mother language. With luck the interested person can find young employees who, as volunteers, can understand and make some efforts to give some information in English or French.

On the other hand, the Portuguese “Instituto Camões” organise some summer or annual courses about the Portuguese culture and language.

Everyone can consult the conditions for the courses at the Portuguese Embassies and Consulates and submit applications to be involved or go to the http://www.instituto-camoes.pt