The three weeks of classes focus primarily on oral communication, ranging from conversational to more formal settings. This will include grammar and vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, appropriate terms of address, strategies for language learning in-country, pronunciation correction if required, and language for meetings and presentations. Lessons will mostly be conducted monolingually in Tetum. During this period, it is intended that students will live with Tetum-speaking families in Dili.

During the one-week rural practicum, students will travel to rural areas with students from the Dili Institute of Technology, travelling on local transport, and staying with host families. They will have the opportunity for a wide range of local experiences, depending on their own interests and the local environment. This could include visiting farms, schools, clinics, churches, youth groups, and historical sites. They could listen to good story-tellers, learn to cook traditional dishes, participate in house-building, or attend local ceremonies if any are available.

The basic text for the course is Tetun Language Course by Catharina Williams-van Klinken, Dili: Peace Corps East Timor, 2003. The course covers grammar, vocabulary and interactional practice relating to the following topics, activities and situations: health, causing, birth and death, emotions, dates and invitations, taking care of yourself, farewells, education., work, building, making appointments, meetings and administration.

Hull, Geoffrey, Mai Kolia Tetun. Sydney: Caritas Australia & Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, 1999