Expert: Sandra - 3/9/2010

Question
I am 19 years old born and raised in the United States, but through my parents I am also a Brazilian citizen. I love Brazil, have visited countless times, have family in Brazil, and speak Portuguese fluently. My question is really simple what are the chances or how would I go about getting a job in Brazil more specifically Rio de Janeiro as an English teacher or translator?

Answer
David, you don't mention if you have any training in teaching, or specifically in teaching English. Teaching a language is not as simple as just knowing how to speak it well. Advanced conversation is not the only thing you'd be required to teach. (I have no idea how well you speak English. There are many Americans who don't speak correctly and have no idea of grammar. Your message above indicates to me that you cannot write English correctly, or are quite careless, but this may not be characteristic of your level in general.) If you are considering a job as an English teacher in Brazil, I urge you to take a TEFL course before leaving the U.S., in order to be fair to your prospective students.

Luckily, as a citizen of Brazil, you have the right to work in Brazil just like any other citizen, without the need for a work visa or for working illegally on a tourist visa.

As you may know, in Brazil most jobs are dependent on who you know. Since you have family there, you should ask them to use any and all of their connections to see what might be available to you through people they know, and people who know those people, ad infinitum. You are more likely to find a position that way than merely showing up on the doorstep of some school in Rio.

Once you obtain a position at a school, you can start looking for private students. This takes a long time, but pays much better, although you have to factor in time spent commuting to the student's house or place of business. The down side is that Brazilians often don't take these classes very seriously, and absences for any reason, including frequent vacation time, hurts your income.

As far as translating, I can only respond with an anecdote. The husband of a friend of mine was looking for a translator for a novel recently (and I did not have the time). He contacted several "qualified" "professional" translators in Brazil to translate sample paragraphs from Portuguese to English, which I agreed to evaluate. None of the Brazilian "professionals", supposedly with with good educational credentials and experience, were able to translate without substantial errors. I can only say that translation is quite difficult to accomplish proficiently.

I hope I have answered your "simple" question, albeit with a somewhat complicated response.
Best of luck in your endeavors.