Language Background of Consultant

Our main consultant, and the author of the story, is Mr. Anacleto da Costa Ribeiro. Here is a brief description of his language background.

Anacleto was born in Baucau (East Timor) and lived there until about the age of seven. In his family, Tetun Praça was spoken in the home.

Anacleto and his family then moved to Ermera (East Timor) where he attended primary school This school was a Portuguese-medium school. This is where Anacleto began learning Portuguese. Anacleto attended church in Ermera and the language of the church services was Tetun Terik.

At about the age of eleven, Anacleto and his family moved to Dili where he continued his schooling at another Portuguese-medium secondary school. In this school, he learned English as a second language for a year. During his secondary schooling, East Timor became part of Indonesia. As a result, the language of instruction at his school changed from Portuguese to Bahasa Indonesia. He no longer studied any Portuguese, but continued with English. At church, services were held in Tetun Terik, Portuguese, and Bahasa Indonesia. In his final years, preparing for university, Anacleto also studied some French and German, as well as Arab Malayu script.

Anacleto moved to Bali to study at the university. The languages used there were Bahasa Indonesia and English.

Anacleto returned to East Timor after completing his studies in Bali and later he moved to New Zealand to further his studies, where the language of instruction is English.

In New Zealand, Anacleto uses Tetun, English, and Portuguese with his family.

[This information was supplied by the consultant and has been added to this website with his approval. JN]