A BRIEF HISTORY

Expolingua Portugal - Portuguese Fair for Languages and Cultures was first held in 1989, due to the need to create in Portugal an event that would gather all the agents involved in language learning/teaching/promoting, similarly to what was happening in most of the other European capitals.

Expolingua now holds an important role in the Portuguese cultural landscape, and on March 2009 the 19th edition of the Fair will be held.

Throughout the years we have tried to inform a vast and diverse public, and so we organised editions of Expolingua in Oporto and Macau , besides the usual venue in Lisbon .

Since 1997 Expolingua yearly hosts a special Guest of Honour, aiming to promote with greater depth a specific language and culture.

To this date the Guests of Honour have been: 1997-China and the Mandarin Language; 1998-the Portuguese Language; 1999-the Spanish Language; 2000-the French Language; 2001-the Italian Language; 2002-the Arabic Language; 2003-the Dutch Language; 2004-the German Language; 2006-the English Language; 2007-the Polish Language; 2008-the Spanish Language.

This year the Guest of Honour will be, once again, the Portuguese Language, and several initiatives will take place within this scope with the support of the Ministry of Education and the Camões Institut.