Job Discussion Forums

[BooshGirl]

Hi!

I'm coming to Rio in a couple of weeks and hoping to get a job teaching English. I taught in Vietnam for a while where they expected teachers to dress pretty smartly - shirt and tie, no jeans etc and am wondering what the situation is in Brazil?

Are most of the schools fairly relaxed about what teachers wear or should i bring smart clothes with me?

Any advice would be appreciated,

Ta. x

[adamkalin]

Hi BooshGirl,

I havent taught in Vietnam, but from what I know of South East Asia teachers there do have a certain image to maintain. Its not quite like that here in Rio.

Firstly, you are unlikely to work for a school here. Much more likely that you will be working in companies through an agency. They would expect you to look presentable, but not businesslike. Jeans are acceptable, as long as they look decent (no snazzy rips or stained designs or whatever).

As a personal example, my typical 'work' outfit consists of my dark jeans, a polo shirt and decent shoes. I did bring a shirt and tie, but Ive never worn them! (good idea to have a nice shirt just in case though!). In a nutshell, make yourself look decent, but theres no need to go over the top with suits or anything!

Also a couple of things worth bearing in mind: 1) clothes here can be expensive, but you can get good deals if you shop around, there are plenty of malls- so bring a selection to suit for the period you want to stay, which brings me onto 2) 'winter' (if you can call it that!) is finished now, and the temperatures will rise back up to roasting- so light work clothes (i.e. trousers and tops) are definitely a good idea, as you will get your sweat on! 3) It is tropical, so it does rain, and rain hard- definitely bring waterproofs and an umbrella!

Good decision to come though, its an amazing place. Have fun packing and let us know if you need any more info!

[BooshGirl]

Hi Adam,

How are you?

You've been so useful in answering all my questions, thank you so much!! Where a bouts in Rio are you living? Did you say you had a room/ house sorted now?

I'm due to fly over in 2 weeks, getting quite nervous now but can't wait!!

Oooh something else i wanted to ask, if you're working for a company through an agency are you expected to supply your own teaching resources or are there usually things available there that you can use like books/ photocopies etc? Again, concerned about the amount of room in my bag!!

How have you found your students so far, are you enjoying it?

Georgia x

[adamkalin]

Hi Georgia,

No problem, I remember what it was like trying to find out everything I wanted to know before I came to Brazil (because there certainly are a lot of unknowns!), but unfortunately this forum was really quiet back then- so I dont mind doing my bit to help!

I now live in Botafogo, which is the area just north of copacabana, where Im renting a decent room and I have everything I need, so life is comfortable . Im considering moving to a cheaper part of town, but lack of time and my limited portuguese (not to mention the sheer hassle of doing it!) has meant that I havnt put a lot of effort into that at the moment.

Yes, the agencies should give you everything you need in terms of copies of student books and teachers books. The actual books themselves are expensive here, so the agencies tend to make nicely bound photocopies the whole book and give you that- but thats good enough for me! They will probably provide the same for the student, or encourage them to buy the actual book- but either way you wont need to buy anything for the students themselves.

In terms of printouts/photocopies that depends on the agencies you will work for, one of mine lets me do all that for free, the other doesnt so its a mixed bag. But its nothing to worry about, you'll have what you need to get by. Unfortunately printing stuff at internet cafe's and the like is quite expensive, so gone are the days when I used to make lots of nice coloured cards for pelmanisms like on my CELTA course- I dont have the time or the money for that now!

So basically only bring what you think you might need to help you- for example I brought my own copies of a grammar reference book and a teaching methodology book, which I dip into sometimes, but not all that often. I considered buying some students books to use for private classes before I left but I never got around to it- and so far Ive never needed it either, so Im glad I didnt. All the core stuff should be provided for you.

One or two of my students are challenging because of their level, but most of them are great, friendly and light-hearted people, so I do enjoy it. I certainly beats being the office slave that I used to be!

Good luck getting everything together, I remember that process for going through the checklist very well!