Intensive Portuguese Language with BridgeAbroad in Brazil

How about putting the best parts of New York City on the beaches of Miami and having a blast learning Portuguese? - Welcome to Rio and BridgeBrazil.

I highly recommend BridgeBrazil. My initial plan was to enroll in one week of intensive courses and travel for the next 3 weeks with a basic knowledge of Portuguese. What happened was I stayed week after week at BrazilBrazil for four weeks - and don't regret one second of it. Plus, the confidence gained at BridgeBrazil has motived me to continue studying Portuguese well after a year from attending the program.

Ok now for the program. Stellar teachers that rotate each day. One day the professor is a nerdy grammar hound, the next day is a flamboyant old man singing, and the next is a young hipster sharing Brazilian street smarts. Talk about fun! The staff is a blast, the facilities are clean, and the class rooms are small. The rooms are tiny - this was intimidating at first but it made for rapid learning and rewarding interaction.

Location is downtown Rio - easily accessible and the subway stop was next to the large street market (I shopped often times for items that just so happen to fall off the back of the truck...who am I to judge?)

My host mom was hilarious, luckily she spoke Spanish so any confusions could be sorted out in Spanish. Her apartment was located just up the street from Copacabana. I'm suggestion would be to stay with a host family for one to two weeks and get your own place through Airbnb.

I felt the program was excellent. Right away the teachers would speak Portuguese with me, and rather than immediately telling me what the word was in English, they would use even simpler Portuguese to explain it to me. The teachers were some of the friendliest I've ever had, and they have amazing patience for students. I liked how we would go over all of the tenses even though I wasn't too advanced yet because it gave me a more holistic view of the language. The homestay provided an unparalled opportunity to practice listening and speaking every day because my host mother was fantastic. The food was great, and she was quite the chit-chatter which was perfect for me.

I spent four weeks in total studying in Rio on a group intensive cours. I was very pleased with the facilities, the program, and most importantly the teachers.

The system of having one teacher a day proved to be an efficient way to learn, without having the feeling of being rushing. The small groups further enhance the efficient learning experience.

Staying with a host family gave me the perfect opportunity to train my skills outside the classroom and made my one-month stay a real total immersion to the Portuguese language.

It was, sincerely, a great privilege to make it to this company. The instructors were fantastic. Actually, I was there to receive my IDELT teaching certificate, and only took 1 week's worth of Portuguese classes, but even still, I learned so much from the teachers. The quality of instruction, the methods, they are outstanding. And, its often a mixed group of instructors, so you have the opportunity to experience different styles of teaching...very effective.

I remember one of the instructors, named Moises Santos, stayed with me to make sure I understood the use of reflexive verbs in Portuguese. He provided me with the most clear explanations, and examples that I will always remember. Somebody make sure Moises Santos, at BridgeBrazil, on Rua da Quitanda, receives five golden stars for his level of superiority.