Raising bilingual children and maintaining their heritage language is a combined work between family, community and school (Moroni & Gomes, 2018). Raízes Brasileiras is a Brazilian community language school, directed by Dr Lilian Fleuri. The school is formed by Brazilian-Australian-multicultural bilingual families, who live in QLD/Australia. All families enrolled are committed in building a Portuguese-only speaking community to immerse their children in.
The Brazilian community in QLD is growing fast and rapidly becoming part of the multicultural mosaic of the Australian culture. Brazilians mainly come to Australia to study and chose to immigrate because they easily identify with the Australian environment and lifestyle. Brazilians represent a great source of highly qualified multilingual professionals. Every Brazilian in Australia has something to teach the children of their own community. The benefits from this knowledge exchange is endless. Children learn that Portuguese is spoken in Australia, and that their mothers and/or fathers are not the only people to speak "that way". They realize that there is actually a little Brazil within Australia and that things they live at home are actually connected to a wider world. Home language and home culture makes even more sense when they are connected to the outside world.
Raizes Brasileiras articulates an educational Brazilian community to offer authentic learning opportunities, exclusively in Portuguese. In addition to the community articulation, Raizes designs a school curricula, based in ACARA (The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority), an annual teaching program, and learning materials. The lessons are designed to be delivered with the participation of the school community.
Community Language Schools (CLS) in Australia are mainly maintained by families' fees, and also counts on receiving community support through sponsorship, donations, and grants to keep fees affordable. As the language source comes from our own community, CLSs rely on their local community human resources to offer authentic learning experiences to all children.
To keep articulating the community, Raizes Brasileiras needs help and resources. Teachers, and professionals of several areas are welcome to volunteer or offer they services as a contractors to Raizes' children. Business and Non-for-profit associations work in partnership to make parental fees affordable, and guarantee access to as many children as possible. Grant applicants are welcome to volunteer and help us get what our professionals need to keep committed and delivering a serious and professional bilingual program for all Australian children.