Teaching English in Recife, Brazil

Hi Márcia,



On behalf of the entire Expat-blog Team, welcome on board.

I invite you to place your (free) ad in our JOBS  classifieds section by clicking on JOBS in the green banner at the top of the page.

It will get the same exposure there and will remain current as opposed to here in the open forum where it will continue to move toward the back pages as new topics are posted.

We really prefer that members do not post any kind of advertising in the forums.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

Oi Márcia, tudo bem? : ) I would send you a private message but it doesn't look like I have that option for some reason. My name is Joselicé. : ) I was adopted from Brazil when I was three and I have been living in the US ever since. It has always been my dream to go back to Brazil, to eat, breathe and live the culture, to volunteer at the orphanage I was adopted from, and to take care of children so initially I have been looking for au pair or nanny jobs, unfortunately to no avail. I have also considered teaching English in Brazil so I am interested in hearing from you and learning more about what is required to teach English in Brazil as well as the overall experience. Thank you so much and have a boa noite! : )

Tchau! : )

Joselicé

Hi Joselicé,

The reason you can't send private messages yet is because you need to participate a bit in the forums to activate your PMs it's part of the Anti-SPAM system. The more you participate the bigger your mailbox gets too.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

Tá, brigada Mr. Woodward, I appreciate it. : )

Tchau! : )

Joselicé

Hi, I'm actually interested... I spend some time every year in Recife and am interested in coming for at least a year (if whatever job I get provides a work permit). I speak fairly decent Portuguese but teaching English seems like an obvious job choice. I also have experience teaching music. I will be there in January (the 3 weeks before carnaval) and would look to move and begin working in September of 2015.

Thanks!
Cat

While it is always easy to find jobs teaching English, the schools will not help in any way toward obtaining a VITEM-V Work Visa. They either rely on people who already have that visa or those with VITUR Tourist Visas willing to break the law and work under the table. They hire on "Service Provider" contracts so they can say you're not an employee when you get caught, and that they don't know your visa status while paying slave wages.

If you want to stay for more than the 180 days per year that the VITUR provides, then you'll really need to find a job with a company that will help you get the VITEM-V. This is not an easy task since Brazilian law requires employers to prove they've exhausted all efforts of putting a qualified Brazilian in any job vacancy before they can fill it with a foreign national.

Cheers,
James

Hi Joselicé! Thanks for write us.
We would be pleased to give you more information about teaching English in Recife. That's what my husband Andy has been doing since he moved from U.S.. You can write me in private if you prefer at my personal e mail: [email protected]. Then I can give you more information about Inglês.comAmericano, our small English School we begun last year as well as answer any other question you may have.
Abraço,
Márcia

Hi Cat! You are right, teaching English is a natural job choice for Americans who move to Brazil. It happened to my husband Andy too. He has been teaching English here in Recife for about 5 years and it has been a pleasant experience for him. Actually, we have been looking for partners in our small English Course we begun last year. It is called Inglês.comAmericano. Send me a message at my personal e mail: [email protected] and I'll give you all the information about it. Thanks, Márcia

Actually I believe that only the expat who created their own langages school can make a living of it (then this is more question of business skills than language).
It is very tough to live decently just by giving private lessons or being teacher in a school.
This is important to highligh that because a lot of expat candidates (especially the ones from english speaking countries) think that they will be able to make a decent living by giving language lessons; this is totally unrealistic.

I'm afraid this is very true... It happened to Andy in the first place. Once he moved from U.S.he tried to be a teacher at some English Courses here in Recife. Then he realized he would have to work several hours per week and still would be under paid. Things have been different as the owner of his own business. Now, as he has many students he is looking for a partner to share some of his classes and maybe to have some more free time for himself. 

No it's definitely not something I'd want to rely on singlehandedly... or for the rest of my life... I have a friend who owns a pousada so I would have somewhere to live and maybe some work through him (or I'd work for him for free rent) and generally outside of carnaval week and aside from rent, my expenses in Olinda are a couple hundred dollars a month, tops. I take the bus everywhere unless it's very late at night, and I spend nearly all of my free time in rehearsals (I play maracatu) or practicing. I don't really blow a lot of money on stuff. So I would not expect an "American" salary, but the cost of living is way less than it is here.

I do have friends who have way overstayed their visas to no ultimate negative effect (they paid a fee and then waited a few months and came back), but it would be really cool to not have to do that. I've also been thinking about going back to school, but I know that to get a student visa you need something like $40K in the bank to prove you can support yourself.

TheFuturist, if you are after the "Brazilian experience", great, you will have it.
Just be sure, that you have got a few savings for the rough time. To pay for medicale care (i can happen) and a few trips arround.

Hi Cat! We are located in Casa Forte, in the North part of Recife. Have you heard of it? It would be nice if you could come and visit us during your stay in January. It would give you an opportunity to see our set up. Here is my e mail: [email protected]. Hope to meet you soon. Bye, bye

Hi Marcia, My husband and i been living in Recife for the past 2 years, He is really interested in teaching but he doesn't speak much portuguese. He is from Pennsylvania, we are both americans but i have dual nationality. Looking forward to hear from you.

Taty

Hi Taty! Do you live nearby? Would you and your husband like to come and visit us at our office? Then both of you could have a better idea of what Inglês.comAmericano is. My husband Andy is the owner and he's looking for an American partner. He intend to begin new groups of classes this February, 2015. Please write me at [email protected] for schedule a better day and time, okay? Oh! He is also on Facebook as Inglês.comAmericano. 

Hi Marcia,

I've been to Brazil twice in the past year, including a week in Recife.  I'm back in Tucson, Arizona now, but am interested in returning.  I'm attracted to the idea of teaching English, because I'm also a musician, very much into Brazilian music, and if I could get a foothold as a teacher and thus get a permanent visa, I would be able to pursue music there, too.  I've taught myself Portuguese, have a B.Sc. degree (zoology).  Please send me more info.  Thanks!   -- Keith W.

Hi wkeith,

I don't wish to throw a wet blanket on your dreams, but teaching English anywhere other than at a private university in Brazil is going to qualify you for a VITEM-V Work Visa. Public universities only hire Brazilian citizens so they're out of reach to us expats. The VITEM-V requires a work contract signed with a Brazilian company.

VIPER Permanent Visas are only granted for the following reasons:

1. Marriage to a Brazilian citizen or permanent resident;
2. Stable relationship (already existing for min. one year) with a Brazilian citizen, or permanent resident;
3. Parent of a Brazilian child (must be in your custody or under your financial support);
4. Family reunion;
5. Investor visa (min. investment R$150 thousand and business plan required);
6. Retirement (must be able to bring in an income of USD $2,000 per month;
7.  MERCOSUL Agreement with other South American member nations; and
8. Refugee.

Cheers,
James       Expat-blog Experts Team

Thanks for the info James.  I figured the reality would be something like that but hadn't researched it yet.  I was also unaware that a work visa and a permanent one are two different things.  But I stumbled upon  good news about my tourist visa.  I was under the impression that it expired in one year.  But according to a post of yours (8/28/12)  it's valid for ten years.  Yay!

Just wanted to say also, that it's evident that you put a lot of work into keeping the Brazil expat site a hi-quality, legit resource.  It feels like a real community, and we site-users are fortunate for your candid commentaries and shared knowledge.  Happy Holidays!

Thanks for your wonderful comments, and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too.

Yes, indeed it does consume a lot of my time and effort, but it is very gratifying.

Cheers,
James

Good afternoon,

My name is Leonard R Alexandre, I lived in the United States for 40 years from the age of 10 until my recent return to Brasil in January of 2015.

I served in the United States Marine Corps and I am an Honorably Discharged Veteran. I was a law enforcement Officer for 22 years in the Sacramento, California region. I recently retired and I am now back in Brasil trying to reacquaint myself with my native country.

I have taught several topics at Police Academies and special Anti Drug programs at Elementary Schools.

During my tenure in Law Enforcement, I was one of three Public Information Officers for my agency.
Since I have not been to Brasil in forty years, my Portuguese is very limited to none.

I have Dual Citizenship status in The United States and Brazil.

I am interested in receiving additional information pertaining to your posting. Thank you in advance for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Leonard R Alexandre
[email protected]

Hi Leonard,

Since you're a Brazilian citizen, why would you waste your time with a low paying job such as teaching English as anything other than a temporary stop-gap measure. You can apply for all kinds of public service jobs as a Brazilian citizen that simply are completely out of reach to us expats.

My sincere advice to you is to get into an intensive course and pick up as much of the language as you can, as fast as you possibly can. Every penny you spend and every hour you study is going to be the best investment in your future that you have ever made. Trust me!

With your law enforcement experience you should have no problems finding a really top notch job in the public service, other than the language skills.

Cheers,
James     Expat-blog Experts Team

Thank you for the advice James, I am looking forward to whatever advise may be available to me.

hi Marcia, I am writing because I am interested in living and teaching English in Recife, Brazil. I have experience in teaching and I am a native English speaker from America. Please let me know if you have any advice on how I can get a job teaching English in Recife. I greatly appreciate your time in advance !

best wishes,

Kim

Bardamu wrote:

Actually I believe that only the expat who created their own langages school can make a living of it (then this is more question of business skills than language).
It is very tough to live decently just by giving private lessons or being teacher in a school.
This is important to highligh that because a lot of expat candidates (especially the ones from english speaking countries) think that they will be able to make a decent living by giving language lessons; this is totally unrealistic.

While I agree with Bardamu that it's not easy for just anyone to make a living giving private English lessons, it IS possible. One just has to have the right connections and skill set - simply being fluent in English is NOT enough. I know of at least two English teachers - one is Brazilian and one is American - who are doing quite well with private lessons. The Brazilian teacher has been teaching English to Brazilians for 3 years now and her schedule is full, so she can be selective about who she decides to take on. I believe her hourly rate is about R$ 80-100 per hour and she teaches mostly conversational English to Brazilian professionals. The American teacher, who is a permanent resident of Brazil, got her start in April of this year by teaching one student at a private American school in her city, and her reputation spread word of mouth so quickly that within 3 months, her schedule was full and now, she has a waiting list 10 students long even though she is not cheap (she charges R$ 150/hour). She solely tutors the children of expats who attend this school - she teaches TOEFL prep, SAT prep and also tutors them in various  school subjects such as English, World History, Math, and Biology. In fact, the American teacher is currently pulling in more than R$ 15,000 per month. I know both of these teachers very well, so I know that it's quite possible to make a living doing what they do, but it won't be easy for just anyone.

Just a bit of information to expats thinking of setting up their own language schools in Brazil, just like everything else in this country it is buried under mountains of bureaucracy.

In fact, in order to be an acredited school, an expat who only has permanent residency cannot be the registered owner. The owner must be a Brazilian citizen. An expat who has not naturalized can be a junior partner, but the majority share must be in the name of a Brazilian citizen. While that wouldn't pose a great problem for someone with a Brazilian spouse or child, you should be extremely careful in entering into such an endeavour if your partner is not someone closely related to you. If they're going to be the major share partner, then make sure they've put up the corresponding share of the overall investment.

Cheers,
James    Expat-blog Experts Team

Hi, I know this is a very old post but are there still opportunities available to teach english? I'm from England rather than the U.S but I can pull off an American accent if required. I moved to Recife a couple of weeks ago but my family have been here since December and we're currently living in Boa Viagem,

Thanks
Dom

Hi my name is Shaun.
I am moving to Brazil very soon where my wife is from and interested in finding a job. I wonder if teaching English is an option and do you have any info that might help?
Regards
Shaun

Hi James,

Well, it's a massive relief to see you writing on here! Somebody said you'd died but I'm over the moon to see that you're still alive and well! Seriously, you can't imagine how happy I am to see that! Nobody deserves to be dead, it serves no purpose! Could I please ask you some advice as you seem to know a lot?

Thanks
Dom

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=576436

James is no longer with us Gringodom- time to face facts

Hello,
I just completed my TESOL certification.  Please send me more information regarding requirements, description and process.

Thank you

Hello,

I know this post is 4 years old, but I am wondering if there are still teaching opportunities?  I was born in the USA and lived here all my life, but I have spent a month in Brazil (2 weeks in Recife) and would like to move to Recife and teach English for awhile.  I am TEFL/TESOL certified and currently teach English twice a week for 2 hours to a mixed group of students.  I would greatly appreciate any information about job opportunities in Recife! 

Thank you,

Teaching english in Brazil

What's the salary and hours like for teaching English in Brazil?

You should make a few searches on this forum. There are not much foreigners who have a full time teaching job in a school.  I believe a majority give private lessons and have a few hours per week in a private schools (without much rights...the school can cancel classes without notices for example).  You need to more have "entrepreneur skills than teaching skills...so a good salesman/contact, networking and good portuguese help more than english level and certificates.
FYI, brazilians teachers in a private school earn between R$2000 and R$5000 (being very good).

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