Bermuda College head Duranda Greene has placed her support behind Vasco Da Gama’s push for having Portuguese lessons taught there.Efforts to institute a class into the college curriculum were given a massive boost when scores of people attended a meeting hosted by the Portuguese culture club.Dr Greene said she was personally in favour of the classes. She also noted that it was probable that the offered class would be “conversational Portuguese”, and piloted first as a non-credit course through the “outreach” arm of the College — the Division of Professional and Career Education (PACE).She attended Wednesday's meeting that included attorneys Larry Mussenden and Rick Woolridge among the more than 60 people who backed the idea that the language should be made more accessible.An additional 30 phone calls were made to the club backing the initiative.Vasco Da Gama president Andrea Moniz-DeSouza feels the response justified the club’s request to have Portuguese lessons taught at the College.“The meeting was a success, I was stunned at one point when we had to get out more chairs as we were not expecting so many people,” she said. “People of all ages, races and all walks of life came to this meeting, including attorneys and other dignitaries in the community.“The general consensus was that a programme of this sort was much needed and should have been implemented years ago.”Those present said it was even more important to offer the lessons in light of the role Portuguese people have played in Bermuda’s history.Mrs Moniz-DeSouza added: “We also had members of the Youth Parliament - the President, the Premier, the Opposition Leader and the Minister of Cultural Affairs - there to notify the crowd that they had taken a vote and that the vote had gone in favour of not only this initiative but also that Portuguese should be taught in schools.“They each said some words which were followed by applause from the crowd.”The request for lessons followed an incident where a retailer couldn’t understand a Portuguese national.Another employee of the store then accidentally declared into her microphone: “I hate serving those kind of people.”The comment was heard throughout the store.The club is now hoping that language courses will increase the pool of Portuguese speakers so that such incidents don’t take place again.“The decision made at the meeting was that there was clearly an interest in the programme and the numbers to substantiate it were there and that Bermuda College, in collaboration with Vasco Da Gama Club, were going to do all they could to take this initiative forward,” Ms Moniz-DeSouza said.“I was very happy with the turnout and extremely encouraged.”At least 20 persons must register in order to run the courseThe club already runs afer-school and Saturday morning Portuguese lessons for children ages six to 12.Contact Vasco Da Gama Club by e-mail, vasco@logic.bm, or by phone, 292-7196.