English in Brazil

In Latin America, Brazilians are the only ones who speak Portuguese. Even though we are surrounded by countries that have Spanish as their mother tongue, we do not have a second official language. It may be the reason why there’s no incentive to learn another language. In the second part of elementary education in public schools, English is mandatory, but it does not go beyond the basics. Unfortunately, taking an English course privately is something that does not fit the budget of most Brazilians.

My turn has come

I only had the chance to study English at a specialized school1 at the age of 26, at the end of 2016. Before, all the knowledge of English that I had was acquired in a self-taught way, with resources that were tangible to me, such as music and readings. I also learned a lot at my first job, in 2005, when I worked at a translation company. Grasping every opportunity on my path took me to the intermediate level, but it wasn’t good enough to give me confidence when speaking.

I completed the course in 18 months, moving from intermediate to advanced level.



1 Wise Up is an English school that focuses on teaching English to adults.