Ed Breen
- Course Studied:
- Portuguese (Brazilian)
"I had been teaching music at Morley College for over two years when my partner and I decided to move back to his home in São Paulo, Brazil. I had already learned some tourist-phrases on my own but I realised that I would need professional help if I was going to move the country for an indefinite period of time. Morley College offers a huge range of language courses taught by native speakers so I was able to find a Portuguese (Brazilian) class at just the right level for me too give me a much-needed boost before I left England.
"The Morley classes were really friendly and full of interesting people who, like me, were planning to visit Brazil. What I appreciated the most was the careful balance that our teacher, Paula, struck between the essential grammatical understanding of the language and the fun conversational and listening practice. However much work I did from a book I always found it hard to listen to Brazilian Portuguese when it was spoken, at speed, by a native; but Paula taught us how to stay calm and focus on trigger-words that even now, still help me to follow conversation when it drifts into unknown territory.
"Now I live right in the centre of São Paulo where I teach for the Executive English school. Every day I go to banks, boardrooms, law firms and large multinational companies to teach English to Brazilians. There are countless times when I rely on the vocabulary I learned at Morley College, especially when I am navigating the city's idiosyncratic public transport system or eating out with friends. Learning another language is a wonderful experience, it is a gateway into a different culture and also a different sensibility. So many 'Gringoes' here in Brazil get by with just a few phrases but I am convinced that my foundation in the language makes my experience of Brazil far richer and more enjoyable than it would be otherwise. The challenge that I now face is to find somewhere as nice as Morley College to continue my studies; not an easy task I fear. "