work: teaching english in brazil

lets discuss a very easy way to make money in brazil.


teach english! this sounds completely cliche. but the fact of the matter is brazil needs native speaking english teachers... yesterday. most of the english teachers here in brazil are, in fact, brazilian. now... i'm not saying that they're not competent, but truth be told a lot of them only have their credentials by graduating from an english course. they have no practical experience in speaking english (like living abroad for an extended period of time... and no, that 6 months they spent in vermont didn't quite teach them everything they needed to know)


that being said, the people here are crazy about learning english from a native speaker. seriously. don't worry if you aren't the worlds best spellur or didn't get a degree in english from harvard. you'll most likely be teaching people very basic english.


what about my english teaching certs?!? sure get them. no one will care unless you are trying to get a job at an accredited institution. they only care that you are a native speaker.


i would strongly suggest, if possible, that you do private teaching. it's much more lucrative and allows you to create your own schedule. (you weren't going to work during beach hours were you?)


if you want to work for a school, apply (preferably in person), and follow their lead. if not...


soooo... how do i get my students?


first thing... you need is business cards. nothing says, "look at how fancy i am with my business cards" than, well, business cards. these can be printed cheaply and every town has someone that will do it.


second thing... you have to be social. period. go out and talk to people. tell them that you ARE an english teacher. tell them that's what you do down here. dont tell them that you are a biochemist who teaches english on the side, just that you teach english. this will pique their interest.


third thing... settle on a price. be prepared to spit it out when asked. cause they will ask you. tell them you sell lesson packages or that its X amount per hour.


fourth thing... set up the class and learn someone some english!


you will need material to teach english. you can download about a billion different lesson plans off the internet. however, i'll save you some trouble and put a link (use yer brain on which files to download... no not the babyface one, sheesh) to a book that is pretty awesome. each lesson is meant to be one hour. show up and follow the book. so easy you could do it.


NOTE: this may contain copyrighted material. consult the angel and devil on your shoulders on whether or not you should download.
http://search.4shared.com/network/search.jsp?searchmode=2&searchName=face2face


now for some pointers and other helpful tips:

• sell packages. hands down the best tip i can offer you regarding payment and charging people. lower the cost per lesson when selling lessons (think about if you were buying lessons at costco) this will also ensure the students don't give up after one lesson. be flexible with your packages as some people cant pay a ton of money.
• collect the money BEFORE your lessons. sell the package and get the money upfront.
• be on time. they probably won't. but still... they're paying you.
• have a cancellation policy and be upfront about it. people will cancel on you 10 minutes for your lesson. and you will probably be standing outside their place.
• do the lesson at their house. be careful who you have lessons with at your house. also, cafes are a good spot to meet for a lesson.
• do NOT waste time by shooting the shit. this is a BIG problem down here with students and private tutors. you can chat about big brother brasil before or after the class. they'll NEVER criticize you for sticking to teaching english.
• offer customized lessons. a lot of people just don't like english, but they need to learn it for their job. offer a lesson on restaurant english, clothing store english, etc. sometimes them learning how to say every animal in the zoo in english isn't anywhere near as helpful to them as teaching them to cut someone off at the bar in english.
• teach slang. teach slang. teach slang. this is a big problem learning any language. i'm not saying teach dirty words, but i'm also not saying don't teach dirty words. what i'm saying is if they hit the streets and don't know that "don't know" is the same thing as "dunno" they're going to have problems with comprehension. every brazilian will tell you that portuguese is full of slang that without you'd have a hard time having day to day conversations.
• put up flyers around schools.
• offer customized lessons to owners of local businesses.
• be patient... very patient.
• have fun with it.

english is hands down the easiest way to make money and go into business for yourself. you probably won't be buying a new yacht with money you make, but if dont right, you will make money.

quick note: if you are an asshat, are non-social, have no patience, have no self-confidence, like to randomly attack people, or are an asshat i wouldn't try this... at anyones home.

questions? got a tip? throw it in the comment box below.