English in Brazil/ Inglês no Brasil

Inglês Americano -- som [ɾ] video A

2013-01-20T21:19:00.001-08:00

Inglês americano som [ƐӀŊk] e [ƐӀŊg]

2013-01-14T16:52:00.001-08:00

The language of International Business

2012-11-15T17:50:00.002-08:00

One of the driving forces that made English the most influential language in the world is Business. English has been, still is and will continue to be the language of business -- including International Business. It would be inconceivable, or counter-productive at best, to even attend any decent MBA (Master of Business Administration) in International Business without proficiency in the English language, let alone the possibility of graduation and the chance to land a job in the field.

Brazil ranks poorly when it comes to proficiency and fluency in English. Brazil is behind most countries in South America when it comes to English proficiency. This means the country and its people must change the way they have historically looked at English language learning. As I have mentioned in previous posts, there are many things that can be done. Individual awareness of this fact, and adding English Language studies to the list of priorities is a good start. But, real change will come when leaders realize this and decide to embrace a program for change and success. First, Brazil needs to create programs to bring in qualified teachers, while also creating programs for children to enroll in successful English courses at a young age and continuing on until they acquire proficiency. Young adults must be able to enroll in English courses that will help them build real fluency and proficiency. This is just a start.

The Youtube Phenomenon O Fenômeno Youtube

2012-11-09T16:29:00.001-08:00

The Youtube Phenomenon (From Daniel Penn’s BLOG – English in Brazil.

Nowadays there is an incredible amount of English lessons posted on Youtube. Some are good, some are horrible, some are mediocre, and some are excellent. Use your own judgment. The beauty of it is that these are free. Just a couple of decades ago no one would have ever dreamed of being able to simply go on Youtube and watch free English lessons, make comments, ask questions, and subscribe to the channels.

This is one example of how modern technology has created incredible opportunities for people to study a subject that they find interesting at their convenience.

O Fenômeno Youtube

Hoje em dia tem uma quantidade incrível de lições grátis de inglês no Youtube. Algumas são boas, algumas são horríveis; outras medíocres, e outras excelentes. Use seu próprio julgamento. O bom é que essas aulas são grátis. Tão somente umas duas décadas atrás ninguém teria nem sequer sonhado da possibilidade de entrar no Youtube e assistir a aulas de inglês grátis, poder fazer comentarios, fazer perguntas, e subscrever-se ao canal.

Esse é um exemplo de como a tecnologia moderna tem criado oportunidade incriveis para que as pessoas podem estudar coisas que acham interssante de acordo com seu proprio horario.

Lesson Videos -- English for Brazilians (In Portuguese)

2012-08-14T11:17:00.004-07:00

Youtube VÍDEOS/LIÇÕES DE INGLÊS PARA BRASILEIROS/PORTUGUÊS

The following videos are on Youtube. My channel is: saxyguy1000

Favor ver meus videos no Youtube. Meu canal e: seybuy1000

ENGLISH LESSON VIDEOS FOR BRAZILIANS/PORTUGUESE SPEAKERS (In Portuguese)

Ingles Americano -- Os sons das vogais:
American English -- The Vowel Sounds:

Inglês Americano -- sons das Vogais Part 1

MVI_1377.MOV

Ingles Americano -- Os Sons das vogais -- Part 2:
American English -- The vowel sounds Part 2:

Inglês Americano -- Sons das Vogais Part 2 (in

Ingles Americano -- Os sons das vogais Part 3:

American English -- The vowel sounds PArt 3:

Inglês Americano -- Os sons das Vogais -- Part 3MVI

SONS DE CONSOANTES:

SOUNDS OF CONSONANTS:

O SOM DO [ l ] NO FINAL, MEDIAL ANTES DE OUTRAS CONSOANTES: (PARA BRASILEIROS)

THE [ l ] SOUND -- INITIAL AND MEDIAL BEFORE OTHER CONSONANTS (FOR BRAZILIANS)

Inglês Americano -- O som do / l / final e medial antes de

Inglês Americano -- O sons do TH [θ] e [ð]. MVI 1902

Ingles Americano -- Som do [s] inicial antes de...

Ingles Americano -- Contraste entre vogais longas e curtas

English versus French? Inglês versus Francês?

2011-11-21T11:18:00.001-08:00

In the 1500's the native people of Brazil (many different Indian tribes) dealt with their first foreign language -- the Portuguese language brought in by the Jesuits. Over three centuries (beginning in the 19th century) later the Portuguese royal court promoted French as the second language to be taught in schools. French had the sound of royalty; it had class and snob appeal -- it was also considered "the language of diplomacy". French as a second language flourished until the fifities.

English as a second language became popular during world war two as the

United States

grew economically and politically, both at home and abroad. Industrialization, international tourism, multinational corporations, international law and treaties, aviation, medicine, wars and occupations, along with many other factors contributed to the proliferation of English, especially American English. With the beginning of the INTERNET age and the passing into the 21st. century English established even more its stronghold as the world language.

Português:

Inglês versus Francês?

Por volta de 1500 os povos nativos do Brasil (várias tribos de índios) se depararam com sua primeira língua estranjeira – a língua portuguesa trazida pelos jesuítas. Depois de mais de três céculos (começo do século 19) a Corte Real Portuguesa promoveu o francês como a segunda língua a ser ensinada nas escolas. A língua francesa tinha aspectos real, de classe, e de esnobismo. Além disso era considerada “a língua da diplomacía”. O francês como segunda língua teve seu apogeu até a década de cinquenta.

O inglês como segunda língua ficou popular durante a segunda guerra mundial, com o crescimento econômico e político dos Estdos Unidos, tanto internamente como no exterior. A industrialização, o turismo internacional, empresas multinacionais, o direito e tratados internacionais, aviação, medicina, guerras e ocupações, entre muitos outros fatores, contribuiram para a proliferação do inglês, sobretudo o inglês americano. Com o início da era da INTERNET e a passagem ao século 21 o inglês arraigou-se ainda mais como a língua mundial.

English word borrowing is fragmented in Brazil

2011-11-10T11:25:00.001-08:00

It’s interesting to see how hundreds and probably thousands of English words become part of life in Brazil, occurring within everyday speech and in written Portuguese as well. The problem is that these words are not assimilated fully, as far as meaning and usage. These partially borrowed and partially assimilated words have some function, but they are dissociated and fragmented, as they don’t have the rest of English words either preceding them or following them within sentences. For example, the word okay is used in its abbreviated form only – “ok”.

In typical collocation, when one is speaking English it would be “it’s okay”, “Would that be okay?” etc. When used in Brazil it is uasually “Tá ok?” (Is it okay?) and the miss-pronunciation in “Portenglish” is “[ɔkay] (aw-kay) and not pronounced [ou-kay]. Notice that in this case the word okay has common usage in Portuguese, but only in a fragmented way; the verb (be) has never been borrowed in

Brazil

, so it cannot go along with it in a sentence.

The verb check is used all the time, in a “Portunglish” and fragmented way. The infinitive form (to check) is made to conform to a “Portunglish” verb form ending in ar. It becomes “checar” [∫ekar] (shecar). This partially borrowed “verb” can actually be conjugated in Portuguese, with added Portuguese endings to conform to the personal pronouns: Eu checo (I check), você/tu/ele/ela checa (you,she, it check[s]), nós checamos (we check), eles/elas/vocês checam (they/you check).

Português:

O empréstimo de palavras inglesas no Brasil é fragmentado

É interessante ver como centenas e provavelmente milhares de palavras inglesas se tornam parte da vida brasileira fazendo parte do português falado e escrito. O problema é que essas palavras não são assimiladas de maneira completa no sentido de uso e significado. Essas palavras parcialmente emprestadas e parcialmente assimiladas têm uma certa função, mas são dissociadas e fragmentadas – elas não contém as outras palavras inglesas prescedentes ou seguintes dentro das sentenças. Por exemplo, a palavra okay (pronunciada “óquei” em português) é usada somente (na escrita) de forma abreviada “ok”.

Em colocações típicas, ao falar inglês seria “it’s okay”, “would it be okay”? etc. Quando usado no Brasil normalmente fica “tá ok?” (Is it okay?) e a pronunciação imprópria em “Portunglês” é [ɔkei] (óquei). Note que nesse caso a palavra “okay” tem o mesmo uso em português, mas somente de maneira fragmentada; o verbo be (ser/estar) nunca tem sido emprestado no Brasil, assim ele não pode aparecer colocado (em sintaxe) junto com a palavra “okay” em português.

O verbo “check” é usado frequentemente de maneira aportuguesada e fragmentada. A forma infinitiva (to check) é adaptada para conformar com a terminação ar do infinitivo. Ele se torna “checar” [∫ekar] (na realidade pronunciado “checá”). Esse verbo parcialmente emprestdao pode até ser conjugado em poruguês, com a adição das terminações portuguesas para conformar com os pronomes pessoais: Eu checo, você/tu/ele/ela checa, nós checamos, eles/elas/vocês checam.

Why do other languages borrow from English?

2011-11-05T11:49:00.000-07:00

Years ago I frowned when I first heard someone say that English was the most efficient language in the world. I remember when I heard my Junior College English teacher say that English had the largest vocabulary in the world. "How could that be?" I thought. Well, one reason is that English has borrowed from other languages, especially from Old French. The other is that English has been an avenue of delivery of ideas, concepts, science, research in many areas, aviation, international affairs, international law, international commerce and business, etc. The driving force behind the success of the English language was not a result of any superiority of terms of its grammar or beauty, nor was it ever a result of any superiority of the people who spoke it as their native language. It had nothing to do with any false concept such as "language of the King". For that matter, Portuguese, Spanish, French, for example, were at some point all "language of the king" as well. In fact, the English grammar was developed by people who did not speak English as their native language. These were Latin people who developed a grammar so that they could better learn and use English. This is the main reason that English grammar is full of Latin rules.

As all languages, English is also a peasant language -- it's full of terms used by everyday simple people. For example, "goose bumps", "cowlick", "cherry pick", "to be put on the back burner", etc. English, like any other language is a living, real people's language; it's simple, real, and extremely efficient. Contrary to all Latin-derivative languages, English does not have an Academy. English is driven by its own merits and success -- Typically a word enters the lexicon by usage -- plain and simple. Words usually find their way into the dictionaries by writers, and not by some group of "academicians" deciding what words are real and how they have to be spelled in order to become a legitimate word. Evidenced and testament to this is the fact the basically the whole world is willing to adopt English words into the vocabulary of their own languages. I will use as an example the Portuguese and the Spanish languages. Brazil is a huge nation with almost 200 Million inhabitants -- As mentioned previously Brazilian Portuguese is full of English words, adapted and assimilated linguistically to one degree or another. Mexico is the largest Spanish speaking country in the world, with a population of more than 113 million people as of 2010. Mexican Spanish is also full of English words. The northern states of Mexico is famous for the so called "Espangles".

Evidently the success of the English language is a phenomenon -- in the same way that it has been humble enough to borrow from other languages, it has been kind enough to lend and to enrich other languages. Language is a tool, an avenue of delivery of ideas. Part of the success of English has been the tremendous success and generosity of the United States in the global arena and the willingness to share ideas, research, inventions, innovation, and business. One single example is the phenomenon of the Internet, which originally started as the Intranet and was a tool developed and used for national defense. As we all know, the Internet has changed the world in an unprecedented way. The fact that other countries, such as Brazil and Mexico, are willing to accept English words into their everyday language is testament to the influence of English.

WATCH MY VIDEOS/ Assistam meus Videos
If you're a beginner student watch my Youtube video "Greetings and Farewells":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkuesZcHsgA&list=HL1320519869&feature=mh_lolz

The Sounds of American English Vowels Part 1/ Os Sons das Vogais Ing. Americano (In Portuguese) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzQX2IgThK0&list=HL1320555329&feature=mh_lolz

English and Language Borrowing

2011-10-31T10:04:00.000-07:00

English has exerted an unprecedented amount of influence over other languages worldwide. English has also borrowed from other languages. For example, in the beginning days of the formation of England the language was heavily influenced by Latin, mainly through Old French.

The growth of England and the United Kingdom during and after the industrial revolution set English up to yet another path of influence with the unprecedented growth and success of the United States. As industrialization and technology spread to other continents and non-English speaking countries they started to adopt many English words. Most of these words found their way into other languages and are adapted to assimilate linguistically into the host language. Brazil is no exception. In fact, the more a country imports technology and industrialization, the more they tend to borrow from English.

In Brazil the word for billboard is "Outdoor" (pronounced "Ouchydoor"). The word for pick-nick is "peekineeky". "Hot dog" is "hotchydoggy". "Tennis shoes" is "tenis" and bascketball is "basquetchy". The list goes on and on. Note that the Portuguese language borrows heavily from English, but English does not borrow from the Portuguese language. With the exception of the word "dodo" (came from the Portuguese word doudo) and I can't think of any Portuguese word that became part of the English everyday vocabulary. Most Americans are aware of "piranha" (pirana), carnauba wax, and caipirinha, but these are names, not words.

The Language of Globalization

2011-10-27T11:25:00.000-07:00

In the 80's few people from the middle class who lived in big cities could afford a membership to a so called "Video club" (Clube do Video). Just like renting from an American Blockbuster in a small scale, one would could rent a video and take home for day or so. Up until the 90's a phone line was a high commodity and very few people could have a residential telephone. Of course, cell phones were unheard of. Small tech schools where one could learn basic computer skills were just starting to very slowly become popular. What does all this have to do with the English language? Everything!

Luckily for the people of Brazil, things have been changing and continue to change; Brazil has a very bright future. Nowadays many more people have computers and access to the Internet, not to mention telephone lines. Schools are better equipped with multimedia applications, better and faster ways to deliver the material. More TV stations and more possibilities for people to get channels in English, although this is another area that needs a lot of improvement. But don't take me wrong -- this is just the beginning.

In Brazil, one sign that the country is improving economically is English. Let me explain what I mean: I am not saying that Brazil cannot improve without English. Obviously Brazil is a linguistically very efficient country with Portuguese as its language. The use of English in Brazil is a tell-tale sign that the country is becoming economically better off and its people more empowered. It represents the spread and more access to technology, more successful relations with other world nations, more export and, more political influence regionally and abroad.

My Youtube English Lesson Video - Begionning Level (Greetings and Farewells):
Click here if you want to learn English:
Pressione se voce precisa aprender ingles:
Oprima si quieres aprender Ingles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkuesZcHsgA

ESL Schools and the Franchise Growth

2011-10-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

The list of ESL schools in Brazil is huge -- most of these are very small, but some have grown exponentially. The number of schools belonging to a franchise keeps going up as well. In 1950 the first Language School franchise was born in Sao Paulo under the name of "Instituto de Idiomas Yazigi" and the brand name "House of English". In 1954 it became Yazigi Internexus, and is currently part of the group Multi, which oversees Wizard and Skill, with at least 420 units. http://www.wizard.com.br/en/About-Wizard

Another big name in the language franchise market is FISK, which started its first unit in 1962. Today it boasts some 894 schools in Brazil and approximately 107 abroad.http://www.memesgestao.com.br/jportal/portal.jsf?post=36807

The Economy Grows the ESL Industry Grows

2011-10-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

As Brazil becomes wealthier with higher income per capita the middle class expands -- with it the affordability of English classes and courses is going up as well. Schools are trying hard to supply more and better trained teachers to satisfy the growing demand. Typically schools only have two choices when it comes to native speakers -- either hire someone who is in the country on a ninety-day tourist visa or sponsor http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0503/teaching_english_in_brazil.shtml them, which is usually not easy.

Obviously schools must hire the large majority of teachers from what's available -- the pool of Brazilian teachers who speak English as a second language. Most often with a heavy accent and no native fluency in the language. This is not to say there aren't excellent non-native ESL teachers in Brazil, but by and large the country lacks teachers with native or near-native fluency.

What can be done? Cutting the government red-tape and creating a more friendly avenue (extended work visa or a teacher guest-worker program) to allow more native speakers into the country would be a huge improvement. This is crucial.
Secondly, (in defense of the Brazilian teacher) creating a way to send more Brazilian teachers to live and experience the language abroad is also crucial and would certainly help -- this involves money and political influence coming from somewhere when it comes to getting a visa to travel to English speaking countries, such as the USA. It is extremely difficult for a Brazilian to get even a tourist visa to enter the USA, let alone an extended visa as a trainee teacher. But the USA is not the only possibility as there are other viable countries out there.
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0503/teaching_english_in_brazil.shtml
http://linkbacklink.blogspot.com

Dependency on books and grammar / Dependência de gramática e livros

2011-10-16T17:35:00.000-07:00

Even in this age of growing Internet popularity the average student in Brazil is still dependent on books to learn English; the famous verbs "to be" and "to have" along with other parts of the speech are still being hammered on prior to any natural contact with the language. This is understandable given the fact that Brazil is a country of continental proportions and is surrounded by the Atlantic ocean on the east and surrounded by Spanish speaking nations in all other directions, except for Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana to the North. prea/
www.teachingvillage.org/2010/04/22/teaching-english_in-brazil-by-henruck-opea/

Portugues:

Dependência de gramática e livros

Mesmo nessa época do crescimento da popularidade da INTERNET em que vivemos, geralmente o aluno brasileiro ainda continua dependendo de livros para aprender inglês; o famoso verbo “bo be” e “to have”, juntos com outros aspectos da gramática ainda continuam a ser enfatizados antes de qualquer contacto natural com a língua. Isso dá para entender, visto que o Brasil é um país de proporção continental e está cercado pelo oceano Atlântico ao leste e por países onde se fala espanhol em todas outras direções, com excessão da Guiana, Suriname e a Guiné Francesa ao norte.

www.teachingvillage.org/2010/04/22/teaching-english_in-brazil-by-henruck-opea/

What kind of English?

2011-10-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

Historically it has been a mixture of American and British English with the obvious influence of the Brazilian-Portuguese accent. For obvious reasons American English influence continues to grow, although as far as everyday spoken English Brazil remains isolated with most of the students who have some fluency in English living in big cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Tourist visiting the country are mostly Spanish speakers and there is a very small population of native English speakers -- Contrary to Costa Rica, Mexico, and many other countries Brazil has done very little or nothing to attract the pool of American retirees from the baby-boomer generation.

Português:

Historicamente tem sido uma mistura do inglês Americano e britânico, obviamente com a influência do sotaque do português brasileiro. Por razões óbvias, a influência do inglês americano continua a crescer, apesar de que quando se trata do inglês falado do dia-a-dia o Brasil continua isolado, com a maioria dos alunos com algum nível de fluência em inglês residindo nas cidades grandes, como Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo. A maioria dos turistas que visitam o país é composta de espanhol-parlantes, e existe uma população muito pequena de estranjeiros que fala inglês como língua nativa. Ao contrário de Costa Rica, Mexico, e muitos outros países, o Brasil não tem feito nada ou tem feito muito pouco para atrair o grupo de americanos aposentadas da geração de “baby-boomer”.

English words, signs and schools are everywhere

2011-10-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

Any English speaker will be amazed to see English words written on sings, advertisement, billboards or names of businesses everywhere. Quite often they are misspelled, improperly translated or just don't fit the message they're trying to convey. For example, a school might have a banner that says "Free Conversation", but the real message is "Open Conversation", and not free of charge.
English schools are everywhere, especially in big cities -- these are small business enterprises, and some are part of a franchise. http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0503/teaching_english_in_brazil.shtml These schools are the heart beat of the ESL industry in Brazil.

PORTUGUES:

Quen fala inglês como língua natal fica sempre surpreso ao ver palavras inglesas nas placas, comerciais, ou nomes de estabelecimentos comerciais para todo lado.

Em muitos casos esses contém erros ortográficos, são mal traduzidos, ou simplesmente não se encaixam com a mensagem . Por exemplo, uma escola pode ter uma faixa que diz “Free Conversation”, quando a a verdadeira mensagem é “Open Conversation”, e não “grátis”.

Têm escolas de inglês para todo lado, principalmente nas cidades grandes – normalmente elas são pequenas empresas, e algumas são franquias. Essas escolas formam o pulso da indústria do inglês como segunda língua no Brasil.

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0503/teaching_english_in_brazil.shtml

Mastery of English is communication skills for the world

2011-10-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

In the early 70's Brazil developed the ethanol engine -- this came about during extreme financial difficulty and the horrible oil crisis. After years of hyperinflation Brazil was able to become completely self-sufficient in oil and to top it all off they found a huge oil field. The country has become the energy powerhouse of South America.

In July 7, 2007, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro became one of the new seven (man-made) wonders of the world. Lately Brazil has hosted several international events, such as the Pan-American games, many international soccer major events, in addition to the upcoming world cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016. English will be the common language that will be used by the world visitors.

Even though Portuguese is a beautiful language spoken by about as many people as Spanish, the reality is that it is not spoken by nearly as many countries -- Spanish is quickly becoming the second most popular language after English, especially in the Americas. It behoves Brazil to recognize the need to create a multi-pronged program to improve the teaching of English. English could be part of early school curricula, ideally starting at first grade all the way through high school. English could also be taught as part of many trade school programs. Most likely this is something attainable as people who are currently learning English already do it in a privatized way. As the economy keeps improving people will have more money for education and companies could help subsidize some of these programs.http://www.eslemployment.com/articles/teaching-english-in-brazil-376.html

Português:

O domínio do ingles é capacidade de comunicação para o mundo

No início da década de 70 o Brasil desenvolveu o motor a álcohol – isso ocorreu durante dificuldades financeiras extremas, com a horrível crisis do petróleo. Depois de anos de hiper-inflação o Brasil conseguiu ficar completamente auto-suficiente com relação ao petróleo, e por cima de tudo descobriu uma grande mina de petróleo. O Brasil se tornou a potência de energía da America Latina.

Em 7 de julho de 2007, a estátua do Cristo Redentor no Rio de Janeiro se tornou uma das novas sete maravilhas do mundo (feitas pelas mãos humanas). Nos últimos anos o Brasil tem sido o anfitrião de vários eventos mundiais, como os Jogos Pan-americanos, eventos internacionais de futebol, além da COPA mundial vindoura de 2014 e os Jogos Olímpicos de verão de 2016. O inglês será a língua usada pelos visitantes de todo o mundo.

Apesar de que o português é uma bela língua falada por aproximadamente o mesmo número de pessoas que o espanhol, a realidade é que ele é falado em muito menos países. O espanhol está rapidamente se tornando a segunda língua (estranjeira) mais falada do mundo depois do inglês, especialmente nas Americas. Seria para o benefício do Brasil o reconhecimento da necessidade de criar um programa de várias frentes para melhorar o ensino do inglês. A língua inglesa poderia fazer parte do currículo dos primeiros anos de escola, idealmente começando desde a primeira série primária até a última série do ensino médio (colegial). Além disso o inglês poderia ser ensinado como parte dos programas de muitas escolas profissionalizantes. Essas coisas são provavelmente bem possíveis, já que quem aprende inglês hoje o fáz pelo setor privado. De acordo com o crescimento da economia as pessoas terão mais poder aquisitivo para a educação, e as empresas poderiam ajudar a subsidiar esses programas.http://www.eslemployment.com/articles/teaching-english-in-brazil-376.html

Everything to gain by boosting the ESL industry.

2011-10-09T16:45:00.000-07:00

Brazil is a country that has everything to gain from promoting English as a second language. You might read that English is "everywhere in Brazil". This is not the case when you compare to the developed nations -- look at Germany, for example, where most people are fluent in English as a second language -- They have remained German and obviously they have kept their own language. From the developing countries of the Americas we have Mexico, who has a much larger percentage of its population with more command of English compared to Brazil. As mentioned before, the geographical location and the dependence on American tourism contributes to this. Sure there is English in Brazil, but far from enough. When you look at the recent development that has brought Brazil from being the ninth largest world economy to the seventh, and with predictions for jumping up to being the fifth in 2011, more comprehensive English learning conditions to more Brazilians can only help to empower them and to empower the country in the global arena.

Brazilians want to learn English, and the schools want to hire native speakers. The problem is that teachers have a hard time obtaining a visa and the competition favors going to other countries to teach English. One way to boost the industry of English Education as a Second Language is for the government to create a more friendly guest-work program to bring in more native English speaking teachers. This would probably be the first step.

If you find this topic interesting please join this blog.

How Popular is English in ""Brazil?

2011-10-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

In the old days Latin was the "other" language taught in middle school and college. Later, and up until the 70's French was the favored foreign language taught in middle school and high school. As Brazil progressed into industrialization and modernization, French was replaced by English to fulfill the curricula requirement for "Modern Foreign Language". Students would typically have English classes from the fifth to eighth grade. These were not at conversational level by any means. Typically there was a beginner level book containing grammar and parts of speech for each grade. The teachers typically did not speak English and normally had a college (undergraduate) degree in Liberal Arts ("Letras") with some emphasis on English. So, the contact with the English language by the student was through a teacher who did not speak English; the student then learned some grammar of a language they did not speak. This very unrealistic method/practice is still common in Brazil -- the first attempt to study English is by first trying to learn the grammar without having acquired a decent vocabulary, listening skills, pronunciation skills, or oral comprehension. How can one learn grammar of a language they don't speak or understand? How can someone teach a language they don't speak themselves?

In Brazil if someone wants to learn to speak English they they have to enroll in one of the many private English schools spread throughout the country. These are usually small businesses that hire teachers based on their own criteria. In many cases the teacher never left Brazil and has little or no experience with the language in a natural setting. Normally they have acquired some fluency and speak with a heavy accent. In some cases the teacher is a young person who was fortunate enough to have been able to live abroad in some kind of student exchange during high school. These courses are expensive and only a small percentage of the population can afford. Obviously the more expensive of these schools have video programs and sometimes are lucky enough to be able to hire native speakers -- there isn't an abundance of native speakers of English with a work permit living and teaching English in Brazil.

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English in Brazil/ Ingles no Brasil: Brazil is behind as far English as a Second Langua...

2011-10-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

English in Brazil/ Ingles no Brasil: Brazil is behind as far English as a Second Langua...: Brazil is a huge country that has experienced unprecedented growth in many areas, especially its economy. However, it is way behind when it...

English Education Lacks Promotion in Brazil

2011-10-06T11:13:00.000-07:00

No country can escape the fact that English is the "Lingua Franca" of the world. There are many reasons why English is the leading language of the world -- too many to mention here, but I can mention a few. For example, English is the business/trade language of the world. By and large most countries use English in transactions with other countries across the globe. English is the language of Tourism, the leading language of Diplomacy, Medicine, Electronics, Aviation, etc. In essence, English is a language that has a leading role not only as an bridge in communication among countries, but it has also served and still serves as an avenue of communication and dissemination of a a subject matter or an industry, such as aviation, for example. Why is it that English is the language of aviation? Aviation needed a common language to be used in an organized manner among aviation personnel from different countries -- besides the historical and economical factors surrounding the development of aviation, English has always landed itself as the most suitable.

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Brazil is behind as far English as a Second Language / O Brasil esta atrasado quando se fala de aprender ingles como segunda lingua

2011-10-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

Brazil is a huge country that has experienced unprecedented growth in many areas, especially its economy. However, it is way behind when it comes to English as a second language. Please note that this article is not about politics.
Obviously Brazil has functioned and is functioning well linguistically -- as a matter of fact, I always like to say that Brazil has a great language (Portuguese) and is linguistically sound. I always like to point out that in Brazil everyone speaks Portuguese and there are no subcultures that speak any other language other than Portuguese as a first language. I also would like to mention that in the past major immigrant populations such as Italian, German and Japanese quickly learned Portuguese and never tried to make their language the official or first language. So, one might pose the question "Why does Brazil need to learn English?". This question could spur a long debate with all kinds of opposing views -- the intent of this article is not to decide if Brazil needs English.
http://noticias.r7.com/vestibular-e-concursos/noticias/ingles-de-brasileiros-e-ruim-diz-presquisa-20110401.html
The fact is that as far as the use of English as a second language, Brazil is behind. I few years ago I heard someone say that there were more people learning English in China than in the United States. At first it sounded ironic, but it quickly made sense. Obviously China has a much larger population, and as part of their rise as a world major power they need to learn English -- obviously they cannot use Chinese to conduct trade with their world partners. In some ways Brazil could be compared to China -- for example, Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, occupies a central portion of the entire South America, and is also emerging as a world major power. Like China, Brazil needs English to communicate in the world arena, especially with its trade partners. It is counterproductive to rely on translators and interpreters.

Even though Portuguese is a major world language spoken by approximately the same amount of people as Spanish, Portuguese is the official language of much fewer countries compared to Spanish. When it comes to the language of tourism, Brazil has had a less pressing need to use English than, let's say, Mexico. Let's not forget that Mexico enjoys a great location when it comes to tourism -- it is very close to the United States and its tourism has always been dependent mainly on American Population, whereas Brazil is surrounded by Spanish speaking nations and is far away from English speaking countries. In addition, the United States has over thirty millions of Hispanic Americans who are also fluent in Spanish.
http://noticias.r7.com/vestibular-e-concursos/noticias/ingles-de-brasileiros-e-ruim-diz-presquisa-20110401.html

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