A little about me and my country 👨‍💻💚💛💙

I live in Brazil 🇧🇷, here our native language is pt-BR Portuguese, very similar to the Portuguese of Portugal pt-PT, the biggest difference is the pronunciation.

Our culture is very much influenced by the USA, something that became stronger and stronger after Brazil entered World War II with the support of the Brazilian infantry (FEB).

So, since the first years of school, we learn American English, but Brazilian basic education has many problems, and something common is that students graduate without even knowing the basics of English.

In my case, I have always studied English on my own, by accessing specialized websites and reading books such as English for Everyone, etc...

My goal is in the future work in a foreign company, so something I needed to learn is mainly oral communication, so I decided to look for an English course.

I really wanted it to be a face-to-face course because although I believe online courses work, I wanted to have that experience more consistently.

I live in a small town in the southern region of Brazil, and there are many English schools here, about 8 if I'm not mistaken.

One school that caught my attention, is a school that specialized in teaching languages to Brazilians, their teaching method is focused on the conversation. So I decided to enroll and then I noticed some positive and negative points that are listed below.

Pros 😃

Pronunciation corrections 🗣✅

Your teacher will always be attentive to your pronunciation, so if you pronounce it wrong, your teacher will correct you, and you can also clarify your doubts about pronunciation.

Writing corrections ✍✅

Every semester we study a book produced by the school itself. One of the activities in this book is the homework section, where we do exercises that are corrected by the teacher and are one of the semester grades.

Social interaction 🧑👩

More than just classmates, with time we create bonds of friendship, exchange experiences, and have a good laugh.

Discipline 🧘‍♂️

By defining times and places, you force yourself to create and maintain a routine.

Motivation 🏋️‍♂️

Since you are going to a place where other people are learning, you don't want to be left behind, so motivation is very present.

Support access 💁‍♂️

Easy access to administration and teachers for troubleshooting, doubts, and other issues.

Cons 😢

Price 💰

Usually, face-to-face courses are expensive, after all the cost related to the infrastructure of the place is included in the price of the course.

Travel to school 🚗

It requires you to travel to school, which includes transportation costs, time spent on the way, and other unforeseen circumstances.

Assiduous presence in classes 🏫

Attendance at the course is very important, after all, a whole structure is set up to guarantee a good experience for the student, so normally, some absences are tolerated during the semester, but if you exceed the limit, you will need to pay an extra amount to recover the missed classes.

Final considerations 👨‍🎓👩‍🎓

These are some of the advantages and disadvantages that I noticed studying in a face-to-face English course in a city in the interior of Brazil.

And you, have you studied a foreign language course? Write in the comments✍, I would love to hear about your experience 🙋‍♂️.