FAAP school in Sao Paulo

170POSTS

7 years ago

Hi all,

I'm strongly thinking about attending FAAP school in Sao Paulo for the whole year in 2019 for portuguese for foreigners classes.聽 it's more expensive than other portuguese schools, but other portuguese schools will only teach you for 4 hours a week.聽 the classes at FAAP are pretty intensive:

i also like how i think i can sign up for the full year and get a one year student visa.

additionally, i like how the school doesn't have ridiculous acceptance requirements.聽 (some of these schools require you to hire someone to physically hand in documents to the school in Brazil directly).

i have a few questions:

1. the first link seems to have good reviews.

in the second link below, although the school has an overall rating of 4.4/5, all the latest reviews are really bad:

is the school any good?

2.聽 in the second link above, one guy (on a post on Aug. 12, 2016) claims that the school tried to rip him off.聽 he said,

"Cobran莽a indevida e abuso de valores!

H谩 quatro anos atr谩s fiz um curso na FAAP, cujo o pagamento foi realizado em conjunto pela antiga empresa que eu trabalhei. A primeira parcela de R$ 640,00 eu paguei e a segunda entreguei a cobran莽a a eles. Totalizando R$ 1.280

H谩 algumas semanas atr谩s tentaram me ligar, informando que era do escrit贸rio de advocacia da FAAP e gostariam de um contato referente a um d茅bito. N茫o retornei imaginando ser algum [editado pelo Reclame Aqui] pois nem recordava deste curso pelo tempo. Dias depois, recebi no meu antigo endere莽o, duas cartas do tribunal de justi莽a, sendo uma me notificando do processo e outra me notificando para comparecimento da audi锚ncia em 26/04/2016.

A quest茫o 茅, verificando a postagem das cartas, estas foram realizadas em 03/05 sendo que a audi锚ncia de concilia莽茫o aconteceu em 26/04/2016 as 14:30h.

Por 煤ltimo a mais uma carta foi postada em 09/05 com as mesmas informa莽玫es, recebi na segunda 16/05.

Todas as cartas, envio em um pr贸ximo e-mail.

Fechamento:

- J谩 verifiquei com minha antiga empresa e eles n茫o possuem mais hist贸rico de pagamento ou n茫o deste valor.

- Em todo este tempo, nunca recebi nenhuma notifica莽茫o da FAAP.

- A carta para comparecimento ou notifica莽茫o de processo nunca chegou as minhas m茫os em tempo de qualquer defesa.

- H谩 cerca de cinco semanas recebi a terceira carta, que informa o prazo de 15 dias para contesta莽茫o.

- Solicitei ao escrit贸rio que atende minha empresa um contato com a FAAP e nos foi informado que a d铆vida j谩 est谩 em R$ 1.689,14, ou seja devo pagar o valor integral de uma d铆vida que nem sei da origem.

Um absurdo o despreparo de uma institui莽茫o desse porte, cobran莽a indevida, absurda e quatro anos depois sem qualquer notifica莽茫o."

do you think i need to worry about getting robbed/ripped off by this school?

thanks

See also

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sprealestatebroker ViP

1288POSTS

7 years ago

Peer Reviews: Got to Reclameaqui.com.br聽 Forget Facebook.聽聽Plug in the name of the school.聽聽

FAAP is a school with some patina of tradtion.聽 If they are good or not, or a hassle, I would not know.聽 But at least they do not sound like the many other diploma mills that flourish in S茫o Paulo.聽聽

Nowithstanding, the jury is out.聽 Do your homework

The business of going to a language school.聽 For me it is a racket. No one of them will teach you the language.聽聽All these schools claiming some magical聽 "Method", pure malarkey.聽

My learning curve was a mix of

Attending College
Work environment
Avoiding Brazilians as Expats
Being an Avid Reader
Keeping my ears op茅n
Being a Nosy Rose, asking questions, playing dumb
Being a game for new experiences.

I have been to the Country since 2013, and I never went to teach English to make a living,聽 reason being is that there is no way you can teach one a language in a classroom setting. Period.聽聽

And quite bluntly, every time I see a Brazilian teaching English to locals, it's聽 pathetic.聽聽They have limited language skills, virtually limited writing and editing skills.聽 No eloquence whatsoever.聽 Not once being articulate as to being able to actually debate over a thought or take a standing on an issue , or to present factual information.聽
Not even good BS, and I've met my share of BS Artists and Con Men.聽

Two.聽 Langugage Schools underpay their help, and overcharge their pupils.聽 They are rackets, not ifs or buts about.

As Lee Trevino used to say about Golf Instructors..... " I never met a teacher I could not beat at the golf course".聽聽So why would take lessons from anyone of them聽 ?

misterinternational Contributor

170POSTS

7 years ago

thanks

GuestPoster204 Guest

0POSTS

7 years ago

A language tape to study for 1 week is good enough. Come to Brazil and throw yourself
at the midst of all the brasileiros. You麓ll learn quickly because you麓ll go hungry if you don麓t and if you gain a friend, he will teach you.

Wizard (conversational Portuguese) is very famous.

misterinternational Contributor

170POSTS

7 years ago

thanks

misterinternational Contributor

170POSTS

7 years ago

to be honest, i don't think you can just learn portuguese by just coming to brazil and interacting with locals.聽 i've been here for 3 weeks, and i don't feel like my portuguese has improved that much from everyday interaction.聽 i think some gringos come here for years and don't know basic everyday expressions.聽 i feel that studying the language is important.

also, you won't be able to make friends if you don't speak portuguese, so you won't be able to get the portuguese practice unless you already speak some portuguese.

GuestPoster204 Guest

0POSTS

7 years ago

You should gather the most important key words that are used everyday. A vocabulary of around 500 words.

Then you turn around and practice pronouncing being aware how a native speaker speaks those words. You see to learn a language fast, it麓s supposed to be spoken and heard of.

I don麓t mean to brag but I learned Portuguese in 2 weeks. People have different learning curves so keep at it. Practice, practice and practice... Just like learning the Argentinian tango.

misterinternational Contributor

170POSTS

7 years ago

were you already fluent in spanish before you started learning portuguese?

GuestPoster204 Guest

0POSTS

7 years ago

Studying the language is important? You mean grammar? That麓s very boring. I slept a lot on Reading and Writing in English lectures in college. Maybe it麓s not just my thing.

I liked more Physics and Chemistry and many college friends hated me for that. A friend of mine once said "I wish there麓s a chemistry for poets." LOL!

The method I told you about is like how a child learns a language at a very early age. They interact and learn how to apply those words in their routine. It just comes naturally. It works and no need for grammar there...

GuestPoster204 Guest

0POSTS

7 years ago

#10

No. I also learned that later.

misterinternational Contributor

170POSTS

7 years ago

#11

well, that's very impressive.

are you an auditory learner?

i know that benny the polyglot also likes this method.聽 i heard that there are 3 types of learners - audio, visual, and kinesthetic.聽 i wonder whether this method only works for audio learners.

did you ever study at wizard, by the way?

so you speak english, portuguese, and spanish?

"Studying the language is important? You mean grammar?"

i meant everything - grammar, vocabulary, listening, writing.

yeah, grammar's boring.

i know a few people who have been in brazil for longer than me - 3 months, 5 months, 6 months, and 2 years, and i speak more portuguese than all of them (and my portuguese is bad).聽 i studied portuguese on my own for 6 months, though, and i speak conversational/intermediate spanish.聽 some people don't seem to pick it up that quickly.

GuestPoster204 Guest

0POSTS

7 years ago

#12

An owner of Wizard once talked to me about teaching English but I wasn麓t interested. I麓m very impatient repeating things with students.

Yes, I speak all those languages. And I use all those methods of learning. I use a lot of imagination and projection for analysis.

Hasta luego y buenas noches!

robal

sprealestatebroker ViP

1288POSTS

7 years ago

#13

I made to the US in 1986 as a Green Card Holder. All my English School lessons did not amount to squat.聽

How I learnt to communicate in English....

1.Comics were a start. Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge.
2.Newspapers.
3.Changing Jobs.
4.Avoiding Brazilians
5.In the second year I was attending College. On Groups I would ask quick questions. Americans can be an opiniated bunch so they would chime in .聽
6.I was a sponge.
7.Dealing with public.聽 While attending the University, I took up driving a taxicab.聽 Cabbies need to be engaged in conversation with the public.
8.Accepting the American Culture, Culinary, learning its History.
9.I`ve must listened to a thousand nut cases and Conspiracy Theorists in my life span there.
10.Elderly people love the attention.聽
11. Can`t say that I went drinking at the Elks Clubs, but I`ve met my fair share of local yokels from there.聽
12. Listening to Baseball Broadcast Games. John Sterling ( obnoxious I preferred Susyn Waldman color commentaries ),聽 Joe Castiglione, Vin Scully.
13. Listening to Sales Pitches and Ideas.聽 I used to attend the now Defunct Boston Computer Society.
14. Challenge yourself.

Short and sweet, be a social buterfly.

Fred Indonesia Expert

30549POSTS

7 years ago

#14

sprealestatebroker wrote:
I made to the US in 1986 as a Green Card Holder. All my English School lessons did not amount to squat.聽

How I learnt to communicate in English....

1.Comics were a start. Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge.
2.Newspapers.
3.Changing Jobs.
4.Avoiding Brazilians
5.In the second year I was attending College. On Groups I would ask quick questions. Americans can be an opiniated bunch so they would chime in .聽
6.I was a sponge.
7.Dealing with public.聽 While attending the University, I took up driving a taxicab.聽 Cabbies need to be engaged in conversation with the public.
8.Accepting the American Culture, Culinary, learning its History.
9.I`ve must listened to a thousand nut cases and Conspiracy Theorists in my life span there.
10.Elderly people love the attention.聽
11. Can`t say that I went drinking at the Elks Clubs, but I`ve met my fair share of local yokels from there.聽
12. Listening to Baseball Broadcast Games. John Sterling ( obnoxious I preferred Susyn Waldman color commentaries ),聽 Joe Castiglione, Vin Scully.
13. Listening to Sales Pitches and Ideas.聽 I used to attend the now Defunct Boston Computer Society.
14. Challenge yourself.

Short and sweet, be a social buterfly.

That pretty much sums up where most English training falls down - They teach text book English, something that doesn't offer any practical work at all.
People get their IELTS and think they can speak English - How wrong they are.