If you come to work in Brazil as an English teacher you can expect to have a schedule that is unlike any work schedule that you’ve had before. English teachers in Brazil work around the schedule of their clients, so it tends to be a job with unusual hours.
In order to better prepare you for working in Brazil as an English teacher, today I am going to introduce you to three archetypal English teachers. Each of these English teachers represents a certain demographic that I find common here in Belo Horizonte. Lets take a look at the mindset that each one of them has and the work schedule they choose as a result.
Full Time Frank
Full Time Frank is saving up to buy a house and teaches English 36 hours a week.
The first English teacher archetype we’ll look at is Full Time Frank. Full time Frank is a 32-year old Londoner who moved to Brazil two years with his wife. He wasn’t very happy with his job back home, so he decided to move to Brazil with his then girlfriend when she got a good job offer in Belo Horizonte.
Once he got to Belo Horizonte it became apparent that he could make good money working as an English teacher. Because he is married to a Brazilian woman he easily obtained a permanent visa. Frank and his wife are planning on starting a family and buying a house, so Frank decides to take on a lot of teaching hours.
Frank teaches 36 hours a week, most of them at a school which pays him R$30 an hour, but he also teaches some private classes for R$50 an hour.
His income breaks down like this: 26 hours x R$30 = R$780 + 10 hours x R$50 = R$1280 x 4 weeks = R$5120 per month.
Exchange rate at the time of writing is around $1 = R$2
Monday/Wednesday
6:30 Wakes up, does morning routine and eats breakfast
7:00 Waits for the bus. The school where Frank teaches his first class is 8 minutes away.
7:30-8:30 Teaches class at school
8:30-9:30 Teaches another class at same school
9:30-11 Prepare for classes
11:00-12:00 Take a bus 15 minutes away to the company where he teaches in house. Grabs lunch at a nearby restaurant.
12:00-13:00 Teaches class
13:00-14:00 Teaches class to another student at same company
14:00-17:30 Goes home, takes a quick nap and prepares for classes before heading back to school.
18:00-19:00 Teaches class at same school
19:00-20:00 Teaches class
20:00-21:00 Teaches class
21:30 Arrives at home
Tuesday/Thursday
6:30 Wakes up, does morning routine, eats breakfast
7:30-8:30 Teaches class at school
8:30-9:30 Teaches another class
9:30-11:00 Prepares for classes and travels to next class
11:00-12:00 Teaches class at company
12:00 Eats lunch
13:00-14:00 Teaches class at same company
14:30-15:30 Teaches private student at coffee shop
15:30 Prepares for classes
17:00-18:00 Private student
18:30-19:30 Private student
Friday
7:00-8:30 Class at student’s house
11:00-12:30 Teaches class in house via his school
14:00-15:00 Teaches another student at a different company
Saturday
8:00-10:00 Private student
10:00-12:00 Private student
Partying Pete
Partying Pete enjoys his short time in Brazil by going to as many parties as he can.
Partying Pete is a 27 year old from Maryland who got tired of his boring job in the mortgage industry, so he came to Brazil to try out something different. He’s got some friends in Brazil and they invite him to stay with them. He stays at their place for a few weeks, but quickly finds his own apartment because the familial environment of his friend’s house impedes his partying lifestyle.
Pete’s main priority is to have a good time, learn some Portuguese and see some cool sights around Brazil. He isn’t too concerned with saving money since he can always go back to his old job back home and make a lot of money. He’s got a bit saved up which he spends on frequent party trips to Rio de Janeiro. He gets a job teaching English through an English school he was referred to by his friend and teaches enough to pay for his living costs.
Monday/Wednesday
7:00-8:30 Class at student’s house
11:00-12:00 Class at school
12:00-13:00 Class at school
18:00-19:00 Class taught at a company
19:00-20:00 Class taught at the same company
Tuesday/Thursday
7:30-9:00 Class taught at a company
11:00-12:00 Class at school
12:00-13:00 Class at school
15:30-16:30 Private class with a dude he met at a party
18:00-19:00 Class at school
19:00-20:00 Class at school
20:30-5:00 Drinking, clubbing and partying
Friday
Pete likes to leave his Fridays open so that he can travel and sleep off his hangovers from Thursday.
He teaches 20 hours a week at a school earning R$30 an hour and 2 hours privately at R$50 an hour for a total of R$2800 a month. This combined with the few thousand dollars he had saved up is enough for him to afford to travel and party several times a week.
Bootstrapping Bob
Bootstrapping Bob teaches just enough English to survive so that he can devote most of his time to his internet startup.
Bootstrapping Bob is a 22-year old college dropout from California. Bob moved to Brazil after his friend told him about all of the entrepreneurial opportunities available in Brazil. With the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016, Bob knows that there is a lot of money to be made if he comes now, learns the local culture and sets up a business. As he is going to be in Brazil for a while he takes Portuguese classes, which allows him a 1-year student visa.
Bob lives a very modest lifestyle and spends next to no money. He cooks at home most of the time, doesn’t go out more than once a week if ever, and has a humble apartment. He teaches just enough to pay for his expenses so that he can focus most of his time and attention on his startup.
Tuesday/Thursday
7:30-9:30 Back to back classes at a company
1:30-2:30 Private student at their house
3:30-5:30 Portuguese for foreigners class
7:30-9:30 Back to back private classes for a brother and sister
Bob only teaches English for 10 hours a week, 4 of those hours from a school and 6 from private students that he was lucky enough to have referred to him by another English teacher. The R$1680 that he earns every month is enough to cover his expenses, but doesn’t allow him a very extravagant lifestyle. Bob is ok with this because he is able to put 40-70 hours a week into his startup which starts making more than English teaching within a few months.
Conclusion
Partying Pete, Full Time Frank and Bootstrapping Bob are all based on real people who teach English in Brazil. I hope that by looking at their example you are able to get a feel for what life as an English teacher in Brazil looks like. Whether your intention is to enjoy Brazil for a few months like Partying Pete, make a full time career out of English teaching like Full Time Frank, or use English teaching to launch into an entrepreneurial career like Boostrapping Bob, the choice is up to you. Whichever path you choose I am here to help, so don’t be afraid to ask questions.
