Job Discussion Forums

[praisebuddha]

wow this brazil site is sure dead! hopefully it's because once in brazil you wouldn't want to be sitting in front of a computer but rather be outside exploring, chatting with the locals and sipping a beer.

anyways i am going to brazil this december (i know that is during summer break) since that is when my friends have free time to show me their country. once we finish traveling in feb., i will move into one of my friends family house with him, his mother and sister in the city of belo horitzonte. i plan on just sota "free lancing" as far as teaching english goes. i hope to gets students through word of mouth from my friends at the university and just hanging up flyers around the city and schools, does anyone have any type of advice for my trip around the country (things that are must see) or for working, what to bring from the states that is cheaper there or things that i would not think of or anything in general.......any type of discussion or postings on this forumn would be a breath of fresh air.

obrigado and beijo!

[PKB]

Yes, it is dead, which is why I was hoping to find a more active forum on teaching English in Brazil below, but so far the other forums seem just as sparse. From what I gather Brazilian labor policies just are not condusive to accomodating foreign workers. It is a shame, because it would be an interesting place to teach, and it is my understanding that they could certainly benefit from a major influx of English teachers. If your friends in Brazil have given any useful information about working informally, please let us know. Thanks.

[AndyRoofman]

You may and should know that when you arrive in Brazil, you are given a ninety day tourist card. My understanding is, unlike in Argentina and Chile where you can merely border hop when your tourist card expires, the Brazilian gvt only permits you to make two 90 day trips to the country in a one year period- meaning it will be very difficult to you to freelance there even if you have appropriate contacts.

Thought you should know this before you go in December.

Also, although I only briefly visited Brazil as part of my 2003 world expedition, I gleaned that English speaking people there spoke a very American form of English- an Aussie may find school/college hard harder to come by.

Hope I was of some help.

[fragganika]

Oh, lemme tell ya... I love BR for its cultural variety and fun, "don't worry abaht it" attitude, but the Brazi-english I had to put up with is one of the reasons I got fluent in Portuguese. The funny thing is, a lot of people were so embarassed at not understanding my very standard, mainstream American accent, that they excused themselves by saying it was easier to understand British and Aussie ones. Then, my mom came to visit. She's off the boat Polish (as am I, but I'm assimilated and a freaky whiz at languages, whilst not good at much else ) and two long time English teachers had an argument with me, because they were certain my mother's "clear and easy" English was a British accent!!! Yikes

But check it out... do IICA if you're up for being patient with kinda loopy explanations (due to the unnecessary attempts to cover up the not THAT embarassingly medium english skillz)... cause besides being disorganized, they won't do you wrong.

If you just wanna travel, I'd say get a non-US passport... I've got EU citizenship so I don't need a visa (haha, i thought i'd rub it in.. ) but if you can't, I'd be careful on working illegally, cause people do get into trouble with that... the Brazis rat you out, man!

[praisebuddha]

yeah thanks for the replies everyone, more than i expected! about IICA do you have any personnal experience with it? i would consider it but only if i could provide my own housing arrangements if i am in a city which i have friends to live with (belo horizonte, sao paolo, curitiba, porta alegra). also i read that you don't have a choice in where you are placed? so if i would be in a very small city far from interesting places i would really have to weigh all of my options?! thanks in advance for any further replies.

cheers

[fragganika]

if your friends can give you some yellow pages-type listing of franchise english schools in those cities, and if you were able to arrange a placement yourself with one of them, then IICA would be more than accomodating b/c it's less work for them. also, you get paid more if you choose the non-placement deal. the schools are mostly franchises (i call them the REAL McDonalds and Burger Kings of Brazil)... Some names:
Wizard Idiomas, FISK, CCAA, Skill... there are others I can't remember off the top of my head. Basically, they should be responsive to you (provided it wouldn't be an embarassment for them to have you... i.e. some schools' teachers are actually horrible speakers of english...)... but if they are responsive, it's because native speakers are scarce and usually want a higher salary than IICA placements.

[PKB]

How do the English schools hire teachers? They hire freelance native English speakers under the table? Or mostly use Brazilians as teachers? Because everything I've read makes it sound like it is incredibly hard to find a legitimate route to and English teaching position.

Also because this part of the forum is so sparse, are there better sites to find information about teaching in Brazil or TEFL certs in Brazil?

[malcoml]

Brazil has some very strange rules in regards to employment and benefits. You will find in a lot of industry 80% of people are employed off the books.

[rookieoftheyear]

i don't think i want your kiss....but thought i should add what little i can to contribute to the minimal responses you've recieved. Before i left Vancouver, i was a step away from living in china. now, i am teaching in Minas Gerais, Brazil, near the Sao Paulo border. The city I live in is small but a lot of fun. Approx. 100,000 people and about 4 hour (8 by bus) to the beach in Sao Paulo. the director of a language school here posted a job on the eslcafe board, which i responded to. i got lucky and was chosen among 150 applicants. i teach around 33 hours a week - and enjoy myself, the people and the cervejas the rest of time. before i started this job i never knew a situation like this was possible. but i lucked out and fell flat on my face into the perfect job. as for freelancing i could probably find work by word of mouth, but the income would be insufficient to live on (in my humble opinion). however, 50% of brazil lives on 250 reais per month, so maybe you can find a nice flavella. grab your havianas, and see you in brasil! ps. forgive any spealling mistakes, its late.

[Nate]

[fragganika]

Mineiros have a rep for being laid back and easy going. Congrats on the job!

I just wanted to add to the job seeker's confusion by saying the following about hiring practicies:

It is truly a luck of the draw, as people have been saying... but there are soooo many english language schools in Brazil that you should be able to find something.

It's illegal to hire someone on a tourist visa, of course! But you don't have to tell them that you are on one, because most of the time, as mentioned above, they'll wanna keep you off the books. The reason they want to do it off the books for everyone is that if you get fired or lose your job, the law says the employer has to pay a severance (this is true of all jobs in brazil, irregardless of prestige) based on your average salary.

It's a caveat emptor type of situation, too, on what kind of work environment you'll get. In general, if you work in SP, be seriously ready to work as a servant. Because SP is the econ center and an immense labor force floods its gates, employers there are rude, suspicious, and not understanding of their employees (even when it's in the employer's interest to do otherwise!).It's like it's ingrained deep in their subconscious, so don't expect them to get it when you get sick or need a break... But then, in MG, where people are a lot more relaxed, you might get a different treatment.

If you've got friends in Brazil, I'd suggest you seriously ask them for the helping hand in choosing your steps. Some people, if you look on this website, have had horrific experiences and others have had truly blissful ones. Brazil's pockets of lawlessness are not so much demarcated by physical boundaries, and you might not even realize that some things are totally the opposite of what you know until it's too late and you've been burned.

[pin]

hi,,im thinking of going to brasil to teach also as i have frds in SP. does anyone know the likelihood of reputable schools paying for my flight out and hopefully back (im in the UK) or am i dreaming?

cheers

[PKB]

Thanks for posting some Brazil information, for such a large country it seems there is relatively little information about TEFL certification courses and teach opportunities.

[portochuck]

I have been living in Brazil for 2yrs or so, and my visa is "permanente." I married a Brazilian...(I married her before I moved here....at that time I wished she had wanted to move to the USA....But I am very happy here.)

When I first started to talk to schools I didnt know what to do. The first school I taught at was "CCAA" this school is one of many wellknow schools.(Teaching there is very easy) They never ask me why I was in Brazil, or if I was here legal. They just ask, "Are you going to be here atleast 3months? After that they said, "can you start Sat.?"

I have met many native english speakers working here, some on t-visas, and a few of them have been here more than 6months. So it is possible to stay here past your 90days......but you dont want the headach if you get cought. Its not hard to find a job here....just study Portuguese, thats something I wished I had done more of when I first moved here...I missed many opportunities because my Portuguese is not perfect.

Hope this helps

[parrots]

hello everyone,



thanks for all your messages about your experiences in brazil!!
i will be arriving in rio this wednesday and looking for work for about 6 months so i am trying to research my butt off before i go so that i can get settled easier when i arrive.

i am a 28 year old canadian girl, and i've taught english in korea, germany and indonesia.

i'm trying to decide if i should base myself in rio or in salvador. some of the main appeals of brazil for me are: surfing, capoeira, afro brazilian and samba dance classes and warm weather, so i am basing my choice on that stuff as well as pay and availability of jobs.

do the usually make you sign a contract in brazil?

is it hard to get private teaching gigs? what is the best way to find private teaching job opportunites in salvador or rio?

which city has higher rent costs for apartments, and what is the average price to rent a room in a house or shared apartment?

any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
thanks so much!