Portuguese Language Schools in Brazil

Brazil is a massive country with a huge variety of city sizes and subcultures from region to region. Southern Brazil is better off economically and known as the industrial heart of the country, while Rio de Janeiro is the most popular city amongst foreigners, and the Northern region is home to its African-influenced culture in Recifé, Fortaleza, and Salvador da Bahia. Each region presents its own set of pros and cons for learning Portuguese in Brazil, but the most important are culture and amenities; Sao Paulo and the south are more “modern” while the northeast isn’t as developed.

Known as the flesh and blood of Brazil, Sao Paulo is a sprawling metropolis full of opportunities and high rises. From the Japanese quarter to the mega stadium of the Sao Paulo futebol club, Sao Paulo is Brazil’s version of a city that never sleeps. With a clean subway system and a population of 11.32 million, there are a lot of language schools and Portuguese profesores who are eager to teach a willing student in that clear Paulista accent. Also home to several universities, Brazilians from all over the country come to Sao Paulo, which provides a great opportunity for immersion in Portuguese from across the entirety of Brazil.

Located smack dab in the middle of the coastline of Brazil, Salvador da Bahia is one of those cities that should get a job as a travel postcard model. Heavily influenced by its colonial and African past, Salvador da Bahia is home to spicy acarajé (fried spicy shrimp pastries), samba, a variety of fresh seafood, and access to incredible beaches. The climate in Salvador is a constant balmy heat, providing students with hot days for the beach and cool evenings for Latin dancing and walking around. 

A city that’s not as well known as the rest, but as equally as charming, Florianopolis is a Brazilian city in the deep south that’s heavily influenced by its German descendents. Two picturesque and towering bridges connect the two halves of Florianopolis: the industrial half in Estreito and Coqueiros and the historic center with the always in style Beira-Mar Norte district, which is perfect for taking a stroll while trying to memorize those flashcards for language class. Ranked among the highest in Brazil in terms of quality of living, you’ll get a taste of mild luxury while living in Florianopolis, even as a student on a budget.

The main reason to learn Portuguese in Brazil is to take classes for a couple of weeks to a couple of months and learn as much as possible through immersion. Because of this, most programs live up to the name “intense,” with up to 30 hours of lessons per week. If you want to master Portuguese in Brazil, you should be prepared to take the equivalent of a year’s worth of classes.

The vast majority of intensive Portuguese courses in Brazil are taken at private, independent language schools. These schools offer customization in terms of how classes are set up, so classes vary from group settings to one-on-one or a combination of both. For example, for those who want a combination, there would be 20 hours a week of group lessons, with two hours a day of private lessons, adding up to 30 hours in total and six hours per day. Several language schools in Brazil feature culture components alongside intensive language classes. Activities can range from cooking classes to tours around the city to dancing classes.

For language learners who want purely private courses, Portuguese language classes typically aren’t more than 20 hours a week; private lessons get incredibly intensive when the focus of the professor is solely on one student.

As far as housing goes, students generally live with host families and get breakfast and dinner provided, which means more money for traveling around and practicing that Portuguese, right? Brazilian host families are hospitable and tend to cook huge heaps of food for meals, which is definitely okay since Brazilian comida is down right delicioso. Brazilian housing is usually in an apartment or house, and since electricity is expensive, air conditioning can be sparse. While some Portuguese language schools in Brazil may offer dormitories, it is strongly recommended to stay with a Brazilian host family as not only will that grant you more opportunities to practice Portuguese, but it’ll open up the student to Brazilian life outside of school.

There are two main forms of Portuguese that exist: Portuguese from Portugal, and Brazilian Portuguese. Portuguese from Portugal retains a lot of similarities with Spanish while Brazilian Portuguese has evolved since its separation with Portugal.

The biggest thing to note about Brazilian Portuguese is the lack of a tú form of a verb. Brazilian Portuguese uses você instead of tú and uses the same conjugation for you and he/she/it. It will be the equivalent in English as saying “you is” and “he/she/it is”. In Brazilian Portuguese, that translated is “você é” and “ele/ela/isto é”. 

Brazilian Portuguese employs the use of subtle words or abbreviations that hyper-familiar to native speakers. For example, when saying “I am” or estou, Brazilians will abbreviate it to tou; “you are” is shortened from está to tá. When confirming a statement, Brazilians will say “né?”, which can be used to say something like, “It’s hot out, huh?”.

As wonderful as Brazil is, there are always adventures that provide their own set of obstacles. Whether the intensity of classes, the heat, or irregular BMs (sorry, TMI?), the reward of learning Portuguese fluently in a short amount of time is more than worth it.

The most common problem that Portuguese language students in Brazil encounter is, well to be honest, the intensity of courses. Thirty hours a week of lessons can feel like the brain is doing constant push ups and running miles a minute. Just remember that doing this means fitting in several months to a year’s worth of regular language classes into only a few weeks, so fluency in one of the world’s top languages is only a short ways away. 

Another challenge that a lot of students find difficult to overcome is living with a host family. The natural reaction after a day of six hour classes is to want to come and do nothing except speak English with friends or stay in solitary confinement. However, coming home a host family requires even more speaking in Portuguese and adapting to living full time in a foreign culture, which in and of itself is exhausting. These two aspects on top of each other can be difficult, but the result of sticking it out is not only native fluency in Portuguese, but gaining another family and lifetime friendships.

Brazil is more than a sun soaked country bathed in samba, steaks, and cachaça; it’s a place that speaks an extremely beautiful and useful language that you can soon be the master of. Put enough time and energy in your learning and the benefits you’ll soon reap will stretch longer than one of Brazil’s gorgeous beaches.