The Inside View: Teaching in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

As World Cup fever starts to pick up, we thought it was appropriate to speak with a teacher who has spent some time teaching in Brazil! This month TeacherPort interviews Justin West who has previously taught English in Belo Horizonte while training Capoeira and practicing Portuguese! 

Hi Justin! Thanks for chatting with TeacherPort. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I was born in Washington, DC and grew up in Annapolis, MD.  I studied Math at UMBC in Baltimore, MD.  After graduating I started working in DC for an engineering firm.  After a year of working in DC I started training Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art.  After a year of training I went to Brazil for the first time, for a total of 4months, to train Capoeira.  When I returned from Brazil I started my masters program in math education and graduated with my MS in 2011.  After graduation I moved to Brasil in the pursuit of Capoeira training and found a job teaching English.

How did you end up teaching in Brazil and what did your job entail?
I moved to Brazil to train Capoeira and better my Portuguese.  As a trained math teacher I was unable to obtain a math teaching job due to lack of work visa.  However, I was able to teach English and obtained positions at various English schools.

I worked for several different English schools.  One called The Best, was far from what its name entailed, and my tenure there was short.  I worked in 2 branches of Number One English school in Belo Horizonte, MG.  It was a very nice experience.  They offered training in their methodology and offered great assistance to new teachers.

What were the best things about teaching in Belo Horizonte?
The school was very nice and modern.  And as a franchise, after training, you can move throughout Brazil teaching.  Most of the staff that teaches are Brasilian but they all tend to be rather fluent.

The city of Belo Horizonte was also a great experience.  Though there is no ocean there, there are plenty of activities and things to do.  Great night life and easy transportation options.  Also you get the feel of a large city without much of the violence associated with Rio and Sao Paulo.  Also a nice city for a tourist to blend in without feeling like a tourist.

  

Were there any downsides?
Downsides of the franchise school is that sometimes their methodology doesn’t allow for much variation.  Depending on the school coordinator.  I was allowed some freedom.

A downside of Belo Horizonte is the traffic but thats pretty normal of Brasil.  The other thing is food options.  Coming from the DC/Baltimore area there is no lack of cheap food options: Italian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, etc. In Belo Horizonte there were few options and when a restaurant is found they tend to be expensive.

Any insider tips for future teachers who might decide to teach in Belo Horizonte?
One tip would be to find a hobby or continue a hobby, but to practice it with a group of locals.  A big flaw I noticed about many American ex-pats is that they tend to find each other and not branch out too much, and with this they miss out on a lot of excellent cultural opportunities.  In Capoeira I am constantly surrounded by Brasilians and other ex-pats from South America so I get to practice my Portuguese, Spanish, and learn a lot about other cultures.

Thanks for sharing your experience of teaching in Belo Horizonte with us Justin! 

If you are interested in teaching overseas, check out TeacherPort for a range of international teaching jobs for qualified teachers and new university graduates!

The Inside View: Teaching in Santiago, Chile

This week TeacherPort speaks with Noah Franske about his time teaching in Santiago, Chile. A math teacher by trade, Noah has been spending some time in South America teaching English and we’re thrilled to have him share his insight on the TeacherPort Blog!

Hi Noah! Thanks for chatting with TeacherPort. Can you start off by telling us a bit about yourself?
Hi!  I grew up near Minneapolis, MN USA.  After attending public school my whole life, I went to the University of Notre Dame to get my degree in Math and Computer Science.  I had shrugged off those who encouraged me to teach, but Notre Dame has a 2 year program called the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) that grants both a teaching license and an M.Ed, so I went to Florida to teach high school math for two years to try it out.

       

How did you end up teaching in Santiago? What did your job entail?
ACE has an offshoot program called ChACE (Chile Alliance for Catholic Education).  It’s an 18 month program that begins with a summer at Notre Dame with a crash course in teaching English, then moves to Quito, Ecuador for intensive Spanish classes, and ends with 15 months of English teaching in Santiago, Chile and travelling around South America.

We just wrapped up the school year at San Nicolás Diácono school on the North side of the city.  There are seven of us down here with the program.  Four are at St. George, and we have one each at the three Diácono schools.  All are Catholic Pre K-12 schools.  They started me off with mostly middle school English classes with a few high schoolers mixed in.  It was a struggle.  Chilean kids definitely aren’t wired like students in the states.  But we hit a groove and things were working really well come second semester.  Then everything went crazy when our preschool teacher left two months earlier than expected for maternity leave.  I walked into work one day and the boss told me I was moving permanently to preschool.  Ok?  It was such a great blessing though, I found out how much I love working with kids and we all learned a lot from each other.

What would you say are the best things about the city?
Santiago is HUGE and there is something for everybody.  The mountains are very accessible which was great for an outdoorsy person like myself.  The history is fascinating, the people are friendly, the night life is awesome, and Chile is still very much a developing country so it kind of feels like we’re involved in its formation.

   

What are the downsides?
Public transportation will take you virtually everywhere, but it can be very crowded.  Things can be a little pricey depending on where you are, especially food and cabs.  The distribution of wealth can be striking, and the caste system is often flaunted.  Low-level workers wear distinctive uniforms and are looked down upon.  The rich (and even the middle class) often have Peruvian or Bolivian servants, that was something I had to get used to.  The smog is also really bad.

Do you have any insider tips for future teachers who might decide to teach in Santiago?
Travel as much as possible.  Santiago is a great jumping off point to get anywhere.  All of Chile is beautiful, especially the lakes region and everything to its south.  The surrounding countries also hold breathtaking treasures from the ancient Machu Picchu to the modern Buenos Aires and Rio.  The coastline stretching from Los Vilos to the north down to Pichilemu to the South is awesome, I especially enjoyed Los Molles.  If you go, the terraced rocks in Puquen and a dive with the penguins and sea lions are must-dos.  In the city, as far as food goes, be sure to get fried reineta at the central market, pastel de choclo at galindo in bellavista, and hit up la burguesia in providencia if you’re craving a burger.  My favorite museum is museo de memorias, my favorite place to go out is bellavista, and my favorite hike is in parque aguas de ramon.  Go skiing/snowboarding if you can at least once and appreciate the colors created by the sun and smog as you look down on the city.  For more details than you ever wanted, check out my blog, A Teacher’s Travels: noahfranske.blogspot.com

Thanks for taking the time to share your insights on teaching in Santiago, Noah!!

If you’re interested in teaching overseas, check out TeacherPort for a range of international teaching jobs for qualified teachers and new university graduates!