Portuguese language support (PLNM)

PLNM — Português Língua Não Materna, Portuguese as a non-mother tongue — is the official school pathway for children learning Portuguese as an additional language.

It exists so that a child who does not yet speak Portuguese can learn the language while continuing their normal schooling, instead of being dropped into Portuguese-only lessons with no support. It has been part of the national curriculum since 2012, with curriculum documents for the A1, A2 and B1 levels approved in 2018. In January 2025 the DGE added a Nível Zero for absolute beginners and updated the placement tests.

You do not apply for PLNM separately. The school places your child as part of enrolment.

At enrolment, the school works out your child’s starting point using a language profile and official placement tests.

Tell the school about the languages you use at home, your child’s previous schooling, how long you have lived in Portugal, and what they can currently understand, say, read and write in Portuguese. The school uses this to build a sociolinguistic profile.

The school then uses the official DGE placement tests. They cover five components — oral production and interaction, listening, reading, writing, and structural competence — with separate versions for the first and second cycles, and for the third cycle and secondary.

They are steps on one staircase: Nível Zero, then A1, A2 and B1.

• Nível Zero is the absolute beginning, added in January 2025 for children arriving with little or no Portuguese.
• A1 and A2 (iniciação) build the everyday language a child needs to take part in school life.
• B1 (intermédio) is the working level for following ordinary schooling in Portuguese.

Placement is not a verdict on your child — it is a starting point. The school reviews it as your child progresses, and the DGE guide describes how children move up between levels.

PLNM lessons alongside normal subjects, with the support agreed at enrolment and reviewed as your child progresses.

Your child attends PLNM as a curriculum component alongside their other subjects rather than instead of them. The agreed language support, and how your child’s progress is evidenced, is recorded and reviewed with the school.

For home-educating families, language learning and support also belong in the collaboration protocol and portfolio. Learning and assessment covers how the protocol and portfolio work.

Pupils placed at A1, A2 or B1 sit the national PLNM exam in year 9.

The other cycle examinations apply to your child as they would to any pupil. The permitted adaptations can change from year to year, so check the current JNE rules each school year before registration windows open.

How assessment works across the years — portfolios, cycle exams and monitoring — is covered in Learning and assessment.

Keep your home language strong, and let Portuguese arrive through ordinary life.

Your home language is a foundation, not an obstacle — a child with a strong first language is in a good position to add another. Keep reading, talking and playing in it.

Let Portuguese come in small, regular doses through real life: the market, the playground, the neighbours, children’s television. Ask your child’s teachers what to reinforce at home, and let your child’s pace set the speed. Home does not need to become extra Portuguese lessons on top of everything else.