- Guinean Portuguese
Guinean Portuguese (Português Guineense in Portuguese) is a Portuguese dialect spoken in
Guinea-Bissau . It is the official language and one of thenational language s of Guinea-Bissau.Portuguese was used as a communication between Portuguese settlers and different black tribes (most are Fulas, Mandingos,
Mandyako s, and Balante) before the nation became a permanent Portuguese overseas territory. Portuguese speakers were large during Portuguese rule, although mestiços and most blacks speakPortuguese Creole calledGuinea-Bissau Creole , which is a more widely spokenlingua franca of the nation. After independence, when most Portuguese left, Portuguese speakers were reduced to less than 10% because of civil war that affected education, although it remained the official language of the country. WhenCommunity of Portuguese-Speaking Countries was founded in1996 , it helped Guinea-Bissau in education aside from peace talks there. Many Portuguese and PALOP (mostlyAngola n) teachers entered to increase Portuguese fluency among blacks. In2005 , to increase Portuguese fluency more, there was an agreement between Guinean officials andInstituto Camões , which has a center first in the capital,Bissau , to open centers in other towns of the country:Canchungo ,Ongoré ,Mansoa ,Bafatá ,Gabú ,Buba ,Catió ,Bolama ,Bubaque , andQuinhamel . The Portuguese speakers increased to 14%.Guinean dialect was an Old Portuguese similar to
Brazilian Portuguese , but even it is understandable to Brazilian dialect when it is heard fromBrazil ian TV stations, government and schools require students to learn modern Standard European Portuguese, like people of Portugal,Macau ,East Timor , and the rest of PALOP do. So Guinean accent is more similar to European than Brazilian dialects. Spelling and grammar are also European.
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