Young members of the Portuguese community are beginning to take back their culture by attending Portuguese language school.

The Portuguese school, currently operated out of Mount Saint Agnes, aims to ?keep the language alive in Bermuda,? according to teacher Marco Lima.

Mr. Lima continued, saying ?sometimes it is not enough what parents teach at home, (the youth) often loose it?.

Student Fabio Santos agreed with his teacher saying: ?It has taught me two languages Portuguese and English. I learned more than my mom teaching me because the teacher is more specific.?

Most of the students were comfortable speaking the language, yet found a little difficulty in reading and pronunciations.

The school concentrates on areas of learning such as reading and comprehension skills, in addition to overall strengthening the Portuguese culture.

?I get to learn more things about our culture and how important it is to know our language,? said Spice Valley Middle School student Carolina Arruda.

Classes run for students such as Fabio and Carolina, six days a week, and on average ten students ranging in ages six to 17 will attend classes.

This school does not replace regular day school, but does often compliment it.

Ms Arruda agreed that improving her knowledge of the Portuguese language also helped her with her Spanish classes, saying: ?I have Spanish classes in my regular school, and it is similar to Portuguese.?

This evening at 4.30 p.m. the Portuguese language school will be awarding certificates to students at Mount Saint Agnes.

The special awards ceremony takes place on Portugal?s National Day, a day that Fabio Santos calls ?a special event?.

?It is a time to celebrate how far we?ve come in our culture. It helps us to realise how successful we?ve become? said Carolina Arruda, when asked about what Portugal National Day meant to her.