Brazil's English Language Challenge

You've probably read about how different cities in Brazil are preparing for the World Cup by offering English courses to certain groups, from taxi drivers in Rio to prostitutes in Belo Horizonte. With a year and a half left before the mega-event, some are scrambling to teach foreign languages--especially English--in preparation for the expected flood of foreigners in the next few years. There's also growing consciousness about the fact that the lack of English speakers in Brazil means the country is losing money, not only in tourism but business, too.

Unfortunately, a lot of the focus on expanding the pool of foreign-language speakers has to do with Brazil's upcoming mega-events. A very amusing report from Correio Braziliense, for example, found few English and Spanish speakers in Brasilia, where a McDonald's employee pointed a Spaniard to a bathroom after he asked for a vaso (cup, in Spanish), and a host at a fancy restaurant simply hung up after discovering he was unable to understand the foreign caller. Meanwhile, the Belo Horizonte sex workers story made instant headlines around the world. But tourists aren't going to just be lost during the World Cup or Olympics; this is a problem now, and will be after 2016. And even more importantly, the shortage of English speakers adds to the so-called "Brazil cost," a combination of factors that makes Brazil less competitive, across the spectrum of industries.

Luckily, President Dilma Rousseff and some in her administration understand this: Brazil's language gap is a bigger, long-term problem. In late December, Brazil's Education Minister Aloizio Mercadante announced that the government will launch "English Without Borders" in March. The program--which echoes the government's STEM initiative to send students abroad to study science and technology--aims to benefit half a million students over the next year. Initially, 100,000 students with high marks on the country's college entrance exam will receive access to an online English course ("the best in the world," Mercadante says). Students will take the TOEFL exam to see which level they qualify for, and 10,000 students with high scores on this test will receive preferential access to English courses at federal universities. Later, the government hopes to expand the program to Spanish, German, and Chinese. According to a brief report on the plan this week, it's the most ambitious English-language program ever launched by the government.

Still, key questions remain. Will distance learning really be effective? Will the classroom courses have qualified teachers? Will the program be extended past 2014? One certainly hopes so.

But like with many of Brazil's education challenges, an even better approach would be starting much earlier--on the elementary level, as well as the secondary and university levels. It's the difference between CEOs who cannot communicate with foreign colleagues and five-year-olds who have never been to an English-speaking country but speak like California natives. They both exist now. If a government initiative was created for elementary students, particularly in public schools, imagine what the difference would be in 20 years. Hopefully, English Without Borders is the start of more expansive foreign language programs to come.

Image: Acariquara. Shirt captured at a Walmart in Bahia. The first dialogue bubble reads: "It's coll."

Comments

[PTRio]

Distance learning is not the best way to learn a foreign language. Locating qualified teachers will not be easy, though there is a good source for language teachers in the private sector currently teaching language courses. Lasting past 2014? Well, I suppose that may depend on the demand, though good ideas in Brasil often fail to make it past the end of an election campaign.

Almost all studies show that learning a foreign language is best done prior to age 7-10. Or, by immersion. Granting online access to foreign language courses to "high marks" university students is a fine thing, but unfortunately most studies show it will not be very effective. Even if children only learn basics, it paves the way for further learning later in life. That is one reason I oppose dubbing all the television shows and movies here, with no ability to watch a program in its native language. Having a variety of languages for each TV show or movie is an excellent way to introduce languages and create demand for learning foreign languages. Multiple languages are almost always available for all movies now, the cable or broadcast network only needs to make them available.

But, the bottom line appears to be that the money would be far more effectively spent teaching languages to children, rather than adults.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_language

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/language-best-learned-by-age-7-study-shows-1.1319397

http://www.helium.com/items/1377046-best-age-to-learn-a-foreign-language-birth-infancy

http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/development/language/best-foreign-language-for-kids-to-learn/

Here is an argument to the contrary. http://esl.fis.edu/parents/advice/myth1.htm http://esl.fis.edu/parents/advice/myth2.htm

[A3maniac]

As a self-taught English speaker with a "valley girl" accent, I must say that I absolutely agree with your assertion that the education needs to start at an earlier level.

Having said that, I studied at one of the best private schools in Porto Alegre, and my English teacher was still TERRIBLE. At this particular school, kids were introduced to the subject still in the kindergarden, however, the quality of the teacher made it so the classes were useless. I wonder how the public system would fare against this, and if we even have enough manpower to integrate English to the curriculum from a young age.

I also worked as an ESL teacher later, during college, and I can tell you many of my colleagues were not knowledgeable enough to teach. Being foreigners, sure we would make mistakes, however, some of the instructors made me second guess our ability to expand the number of English speakers.

Personally, I started teaching myself English at the age of 6, and it took me a good 10 years before I could call myself fluent. It took a lot of work and dedication, and this is because I WANTED to learn. I cannot imagine what it's like for people who have the language forced upon them. I imagine some people will dislike it as much as Combinatory Math. :)

[Rio Gringa]

A3/Fernanda, thanks for the good points. And of course, there are those like you who are self-taught. It's amazing.

When it comes to a good approach from the policy side, I agree that it's complicated. The problem with unqualified teachers is a big one, which is why I think it's interesting the government is going with distance learning, presumably to avoid this problem. I'm a big proponent of immersion, but that's really difficult to do on a large scale.

Considering how many foreigners would jump at the chance to live in Brazil (and how many are living there teaching off the books anyway), it would be great if there was a govt program to allow foreigners to teach English in the short-term. Places like South Korea, Japan, and even Chile do it. Brazil could, too.

[Lisa Kauffmann]

This language situation will be a challenge during the World Cup and the Olympics. English language schools are everywhere here but they are financially out of reach for the majority of Brazilians. I taught English for a while at Berlitz and I really enjoyed creating lessons that had meaning and context for the needs of my students. I was the only native English speaker at the school and was always in demand. I agree that there should be a program for foreigners to come for say 6 months to help fill the gap of unqualified teachers. Who would say no?

People here want to speak English and I love to teach them a few words so they can start their journey.Immersion is better than distance learning when it comes to languages. Watching the news in English is also a good way to get one's ears familiar with the language.

I learned POrtuguese in a year by watching the 8 oclock Jornal Nacional and the novela and by practicing with anyone who would want to talk to me.