I've also hired a plethora of "tutors". Notice the quotation marks. Most of them spent a good majority of the "lesson" talking about Brazil's culture. Is it necessary for me to know that in Brazilian apartments, the master bathroom is called a "suite"? Just recently, the owner of a school invited me to sit in on a free class, where I wasted a good chunk of my morning reviewing the alphabet and repeating over and over again, I live in Rio de Janeiro. "Eu moro no Rio de Janeiro, Eu moro no Rio Rio de Janeiro, Eu moro no Rio de Janeiro." I talked to the woman when I had a chance to get out the class, and re-iterated that I was not a beginner! But didn't you like the class? She asked. It's hard to tell, I told her, when it's not suited to my level, and repeating sentences for an hour and half doesn't really give me a clear picture of what you could offer me. I left disappointed even though she promised to call me if she could find intermediate students to make a group class.
So what has worked?
I once took a university course at UBC that was absolutely awesome. I had to convince my work to let me off early so that I could rush there and attend, but it was worth arriving out of breath and sweaty while the other students sauntered in lazily. This class was like playing tennis with Andre Agassi because the majority of the students were Spanish speakers and wanted an easy "A". (I don't blame them, I did the same when I was in university; peppering my class schedule with French classes to ease my heavy course load.) So that in combination with a teacher who had very high expectations of the number of new vocabulary words we could cram in our heads in one week, made for rapid progress and a sense of actually getting somewhere. I loved it! There's nothing like the pressure of quizzes, tests and oral presentations to push you forward. Unfortunately, the following term the class was scheduled at a time that made it impossible for me to attend, and I had to give it up. Back to night classes with the tourists....
Another successful experience was during a vacation in Rio with my husband. He had to work for a few weeks before we could head off to the beaches of the North East, so I enrolled in a class in downtown Rio. I happily walked to the metro and got on, holding my bag tightly against my chest as crowds of people pushed more crowds into the subway car. I had no need to reach for a pole, as I was being held up by the tight proximity of my fellow commuters. Several stops later, sweat rolling down my back and through a few scary alleys, I made it! The small school tested my level right away and popped me in a class with 4 other foreign students. Much like my course at the university, this morning class was just right for me. I learned a lot, was held accountable for my learning and spent my afternoons walking the streets of downtown Rio practicing what I had learned. By the end of two weeks, I visited my in-laws and to my surprise I could actually understand the topic of conversation at dinner.
It seems that group classes work best for me, but unfortunately I'm having a hard time finding one in Barra da Tijuca. It seems that the majority of foreigners who live here are beginners and when they attain a certain level at which they can get by, they stop talking classes. But I won't give up! I'm returning the few balls that make it over the net by meeting my tutor and doing online exercises. Eu nao vou desistir!
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