What are your Brazilian Portuguese lessons with Edna Allen like?

"What are your Brazilian Portuguese lessons with Edna Allen like?

It's a fair question because every Brazilian Portuguese teacher has their own approach, and when you're learning Brazilian Portuguese online, it's even harder to imagine what the experience will feel like. So I thought I'd tell you.

The first thing I'd like you to know is that I don't believe there is one perfect way to learn a language. Every student learns differently. Some people love grammar, others learn by listening. Some need structure, others need conversation. Some feel confident speaking straight away, while others prefer to take their time. That's why I adapt.

My aim is always to create lessons that feel as natural and engaging as possible. Even though my online Brazilian Portuguese lessons take place virtually, I do everything I can to make our sessions feel more like meeting someone in person. The only real difference is that nobody has to leave the comfort of their home. You can be on a holiday anywhere in the world, as long as you have a stable internet connection, we can learn together.

Every lesson starts with a conversation

One thing that has changed over the past couple of years is how I now begin every lesson. Just as we would if we were meeting in a café, we start by greeting each other and having a little chat.

If you're a complete beginner, that might be followed by a warm-up activity: perhaps a word game, an interesting fact about Brazil, a useful everyday expression, or a quick activity connected to something we've been learning together. If you're already comfortable communicating in Portuguese, we'll often spend a little longer chatting about what's been happening in your life, your interests, current events or anything else that naturally comes up. Sometimes the warm-up itself becomes a conversation. If we're working in a group, I choose activities that match the level of the whole class and reinforce whatever everyone needs most at that stage.

No two lessons are exactly the same, and I quite like it that way.

I want you to sound like... you

One of my favourite parts of teaching is helping students use their own voice in Brazilian Portuguese. Learning another language doesn't mean becoming somebody else. It means learning how to express your thoughts, your humour, your personality and your opinions in another language.

I love helping students find the words and expressions that sound natural but still feel like them. After all, we're not memorising sentences for an exam; we're learning how to communicate with real people.

I'm your guide, you are the person doing the walking

As much as I care about every lesson I prepare, I don't believe I'm the person who "makes" someone learn. I'm simply the guide. The real work happens when students become curious, ask questions, make mistakes, practise between lessons and expose themselves to Portuguese as often as possible. They do the walking!

I genuinely don’t mind it when students interrupt me with questions because those moments often take us beyond whatever I had originally planned. They usually become the most interesting part of the lesson, helping us explore the language more deeply and making the learning experience much more interactive.

Of course, I also encourage students to spend time with Portuguese outside our lessons. Think about how we learned our first language. We didn't become fluent by speaking to our families for one hour each week. We heard it every day, all day. The more Portuguese becomes part of your daily life (even if it's just for a few minutes), the more progress you'll make.

Speaking comes first

We practise all four language skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. However, during our live lessons I like to give speaking as much space as possible.

Writing is something you can often do more effectively in your own time. That's why homework usually includes written activities, leaving our lessons free for conversations, explanations, pronunciation practice and asking all those questions that naturally appear when you're actually using the language.

For private lessons, we go through your homework together in the next session. We don't just look at whether something is right or wrong; we talk about why it works and how it can improve.

In group lessons, things work slightly differently. Each student has their own private Google Doc where homework is done and individual feedback is given before the following lesson. That way everyone receives personal guidance, even though we're learning together. If I notice something the whole group would benefit from, we'll practise it together during class.

Learning that fits around your life

I know that life does not always follow our plans. Work commitments, family responsibilities, holidays and unexpected situations can sometimes make it difficult to attend a lesson on your usual day and time.

That's why I try to make my private online Brazilian Portuguese lessons as flexible as possible. If you know in advance that you cannot attend your usual session, you can request to move it to another day of the week, and we will always try to find a solution that works for both of us.

When you book a package of lessons, you also have an additional two weeks beyond the original period to complete all your sessions. This is there as a safety net, not as a target. My goal is not for you to postpone lessons regularly, but to give you some breathing space when life gets busy.

Of course, like most services that involve reserved time, cancellations made with less than 24 hours' notice cannot be rescheduled.

Learning isn't a race

Before starting my own courses, I worked for language schools both in São Paulo, Brazil, and here in Bristol. I'm grateful for those experiences because they taught me a great deal about teaching.

One thing that became increasingly important to me, though, was making sure students were actually learning, not simply finishing a course book. In many language schools, teachers have to complete a certain amount of material within a fixed number of weeks, whether everyone has understood it or not.

I wanted something different. If we need more time with a topic, we take more time. If you're already comfortable with something, we move on. The goal isn't to tick boxes or simply finish a course book. The goal is for you to understand the language, appreciate Brazilian culture, gain confidence when speaking with Brazilian people and feel able to communicate in real-life situations.

Bringing a little bit of Brazil into every lesson

One of my newest little traditions has become one of my favourite ones. Every week I change my virtual background to somewhere different in Brazil. Sometimes it's a famous landmark. Sometimes it's a beautiful landscape, city or place to visit. Alongside that, I add links about the place, including food, places to visit, festivals, how to get there, videos, documentaries and more. This way students can explore it further if they'd like to. It's another opportunity to practise Portuguese while also discovering somewhere they might one day want to visit.

I am considering pausing this soon and doing something similar with our music instead. Stay tuned to find out more later. Language and culture belong together, and I enjoy bringing both into our lessons.

The same lesson can grow with you

Another thing I enjoy is adapting activities to different levels. The same topic can be introduced to a complete beginner using simple vocabulary and straightforward questions, while that very same topic can become worked with an in-depth discussion for more advanced students. It's not really about changing what we're learning; it's about changing how we explore it.

If something isn't working for you, I'm always happy to adapt where it's reasonable to do so. Your feedback is genuinely welcome.

So... who are my students?

People sometimes ask themselves whether they would "fit" into online classes.

The truth is, my students are wonderfully varied. At the moment they range in age from 21 to 72, and most take private online lessons, although our group classes are continuing to grow.

I teach men, women and non-binary students. Everyone is welcome.

Many of my students are learning because they're in a committed relationship with a Brazilian partner and want to communicate more naturally with their partner's family and friends. Others are preparing for a holiday or a move to Brazil. Some have Brazilian friends, some practise capoeira or dance forró, and I also have professors, researchers and professionals who simply enjoy learning languages or need Portuguese for their work.

What they all have in common isn't their age or profession. It's curiosity. They're interested in Brazil, its people, its culture and in communicating with confidence. And that's really all you need.

If this sounds like your kind of learning...

If you've been thinking about learning Brazilian Portuguese and this approach feels like a good fit, I'd love to meet you.

You can book a trial lesson if you're looking for private online Brazilian Portuguese lessons tailored to your own goals.

Or, if you'd enjoy learning alongside others, our Saturday morning group classes are starting soon, running from 8:00 am to 10:00 am. An early bird discount is currently available for those who book in advance.

Whichever option you choose, I hope our lessons feel less like a classroom... and more like spending time with someone who's helping you discover a new language, one conversation at a time.