Questions about Teaching English in Brazil ?

Question

So im thinking about teaching english in Brazil...i want to know from people that have done it...how hard is it, how much work do you do? If you are not really an Education or Teacher major can you teach it to students? I know some portuguese...i am just curious about the experiences of other Americans teaching in Brazil...what was the good and bad of it ?

Answer 1

Listen I have been to Brasil and stayed for 3 months and am now planning to go back again in July. You don't need any proper documents to do it either. The pay yes it sucks if you work for one of the schools there. I suggest renting a space down there such as I am going to do with my fiance that lives there and charge about $50 reis per head per month which will be the only way to make any good money there. The food is dirt cheap there especially if you buy it in some restaurants by the kilo it gets really cheap. The cost of living is also dirt cheap. The only things of course that are outrageously high is anything that is imported into the country in largly being electronics. Which is why there are so many Brasilians buying  from here in the states when they get a chance to.

Brasil is a very beautiful country with old values to it. Its nothing at all like the states where you need a permit for this a license for that a degree for something else. I know people there that dont even speak portuguese from the states that teach english. So this should give you some idea of what it will be like.

Ahh and one thing i do hate about it there though is the movies of course have subtitles , i hate that but all in all its a great place to visit.

Answer 2

Hello :*) I'm brazilian and I used to teach English, well, I used to teach only basic to intermediate levels, since I didn't do so well on my TOEFL, but since you're a native speaker, things will be easier for you, make sure you get some experience in teaching, sometimes even though you may have a lot to pass on to someone else you need to get to know how to...Bring your resume and your background, if you don't have a teacher major, you'd have to teach in language schools, I'll give you some major names that you could look into over there: Yazigi, Wizard, Fisk, CNA, CCAA, Wisdom...there are many and once you get there, you won't have trouble in find one, no matter what state you go to, I used to live in Natal (Northeast) and I worked for some of these schools, but I'd like to tell you Yazigi is far the best for both teachers and students, they have a great trainning group, teachers meet every week, you'll have to do some tests before get the job and some interviews, they have the best teachers group, they only hire real good teachers, there may be some differences among the school branches but this is pretty much it, they pay well, actually they were the one school  I ever worked at that paid more, well, I can't tell you how much per hour, I never paid attention to that, most jobs in Brazil pays you per month so people don't really pay attention to that, but depending on much good you are, they'll give better oportunities, like maybe working as teacher and coordinator for example, there you can choose how many classrooms you want to teach... you could visit the web page and get into it a little www.yazigi.com.br

hope it helps :*)

Answer 3

I taught English in Sao Paulo for a few years, but I was strictly freelance, never working for an English school, and it was just a part-time job for me to make some extra cash.

I had a tough time getting started (the Internet was still in its infancy in Brazil), but once I got a few private students, they were great at networking for me, and in the end, I had way more students than time.

You have to be able to support yourself for the first two months, without relying on your English-class income. I'm not sure what the going rate is for private lessons, but I know that 5 years ago in Sao Paulo, you could charge R$ 60 to $ 75 an hour for private lessons. At today's exchange rate, that'd be around US$ 30-38 an hour.

The problem, of course, is having to travel from one student's house to another, and trying to schedule classes and keep students from cancelling them at the last minute. I used to make my students commit to a minimum number of classes per month, which they could rearrange, but they always had to pay for.

If you do it seriously, you could probably teach 6 hours of private lessons a day, which would require about 9 hours of time, due to travel between houses. But you'd probably burn out fairly quickly.

For me, teaching English was great, because I only did it about 10 hours a week, and the rest of the time I worked on other freelance consulting projects (I'm an economist). In the end, I really liked my students, and they provided me with good insight into life in Sao Paulo.

Boa sorte!

Answer 4

We have a lot of English's schools here. Cultura Inglesa, CNA, Brasas etc. Eu sei que sempre é uma boa oportunidade para nós treinarmos inglês não só com Brasileiros mas com nativos.

Answer 5

If you are a self starter you can make a living. Get yourself a bit of ESL training.  Learn the theory part, many forget about that and think it is unnecessary.

It is best if you specialize.  For example, what is your present work?  If you are in business, even the fringes of business like selling in a department store, you will have more to offer.  Then, get out your business book and learn the lingo.  Find a "teaching business English book".  If you are presently in the medical field, this is also great.  Get out some books and refresh the lingo.  do you see what I am getting at here?

Take an on-line course for teaching English.  They can be cheap and better than nothing.  Your ability with Portuguese will help you and you will learn more Portuguese once you arrive here.

Contact language schools here, (yes I live and teach in Brazil).  Talk to them about being hired but don't let that discourage you.  If you are prepared with a specialty area you can immediately strike out on your own and find clients by making contact with locals.

You can expect to earn $25-50USD per class. If your expectations about lifestyle are not too high you can make a living.  Good luck! my website www.rosemarybrasil.blogspot.com

Answer 6

Have lot of friends who tried to teach english in Sao Paulo city. Its not enough to live on. Most who did it had a main wage earner in the family and the english teaching was a second income. Yes you can teach without any formal teaching qualifications. Just that the pay is poor, there are plenty doing exactly the same, and very hard to live off it. If you would like to experience living and working in Brazil try to get a job with a multinational company and get posted here. Then you enjoy some good relocation benefits and earn well.