August | 2013 | Live Inbrazil Live in Brazil

A Tour of Cities and Housing in Florianópolis, Brazil

Aug 30 2013

This is a continuation of 3 Reasons to Live in Florianópolis, Brazil from Monday.

Anyone who knows me understands that I love living on the “Ilha da Mágia” (The Magical Island). So much in fact that my daughter is able to call herself a native “Manézinha da Ilha” – a title reserved for people born on the island paradise.

When looking at Florianopolis, the first thing we notice is that it’s big, about 45km from north to south (roughly 30 miles) and has a lot of diversity!

You have the über rich city called “Jurerê Internacional” to the vibrant “Lagoa da Conceição” and everything between.

So what are the different areas of the island like and what would you find infrastructure and housing wise?

This is exactly what you will be getting today – but first an overview of the island:

3 Reasons to Live in Florianópolis, Brazil

Aug 26 2013

Florianopolis beach

The first places we generally consider when moving to Brazil are usually São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. Sure, they are cities with a lot to offer and well known, though how would you like some insider info today about somewhere way better (in my opinion).

Enter : a city unlike any in this world, rated as the friendliest place to live, voted as having some of the world’s best beaches, full of unparalleled beauty, some of Brazil’s best infrastructure, amazing foods and restaurants, wonderful schools and overall just a great island to live on!

Today, I will give you the 3 main reasons that fueled my decision to live in Florianópolis over Brazil’s numerous other cities. Then on Friday, you’ll get a breakdown of the different areas of the island and what the different areas are like to live in.

6 Tools Grandma Would Use to Learn Portuguese

Aug 23 2013

The cool thing about looking back in time is that we can reflect how things were done and what we can learn from them.

For literally 1000’s of years, we have been able to learn new languages fluently without the need for fancy methods.

This is due to the simple fact that our ancient ancestors understood something that we have a hard time with in the age of a pre-packaged consumerism: we are made to walk together and be mentored by others.

And through this mentoring we are given the correct resources, guidance and tips to become fluent in a foreign language.

Think about it, this has literally worked without issue for 1000’s of years!

If we were to take the mindset of 50+ years ago – let’s say our grandma – and give them the amazing resources at our fingertips today, how would they use them?

This is a question that led me to figure out how to get fluent fast, which is why I will answer it today and show you 6 resources that my grandma would use to get fluent in Portuguese.

Re-learning Portuguese Fluency, What Would I do Differently?

Aug 21 2013

This is a follow up to my last post The Story of My Portuguese Fluency .

I’m often asked, “If I had to start over from scratch and learn Portuguese fluently again, what would I do differently?”

And of course, why?

My response is usually ask how much time they have as it could take me a long time to go over the laundry-list of mistakes made during my Portuguese learning process and that I will also be working on fluency, though let me go over what I believe to be the biggest (and most embarrassing) things I should have done differently:

The Story of My Portuguese Fluency

Aug 19 2013

learn Portuguese fluent, fluent in Portuguese

Me as a young squirt arriving in Brazil having learned Portuguese fluently.

I’ve told the story of how I learned Portuguese Fluently hundreds of times – at conferences, in person to thousands of different people – though today, I plan on going into more detail then ever before.

Why?

Because the brevity of those conversations usually ended in the other person getting the impression that I learned Portuguese fluently before stepping foot in Brazil, just by watching Brazilian soap operas on TV. In all honesty the soap operas helped a lot, though there was much more to it then meets the eye for me to get …

LIB 011: How to Get a Job in Brazil with Ilya of BrazilCareerBlueprint

Aug 16 2013

When considering making the move to Brazil, “How to get a job” is probably on top priority on your to figure out list.

If you are alone in trying to find a job, you will most definitely need to know a-z on how to do so including:

Where to find a job
How to land the job
How to get a work visa
How to start your life
etc

This is where people like Ilya Brotzkey over at BrazilCareerBlueprint.com come in, he is someone who has been there and done that several times now and would like to show you how.

He has been so kind as to agree to be on today’s podcast and break down his story on how he was able to land several jobs in Brazil, get a visa sponsored and show us how we can do the same (did I mention that he’s only in his 20’s?).

7 Reasons to Live in a Favela

Aug 12 2013

Ever consider living in a favela (slum)? Most people haven’t due to the stereotypes of lacking safety etc given by national media.

Allow me to present you to someone who thinks otherwise and is here to convince you of the same. Elliot Rosenberg is a man who has decided to go against stereotypes and look at a favela for what it really is, he has gone to the extent of deciding to live in one and is here to give you 7 reasons why you should considering doing the same.

Take it away Elliot!

If you believe everything you see in the news and movies, then you’d never want to set foot in a favela, let alone live in a favela. However, the reality is unlike what you’d imagine, to the point that hundreds of gringos are touring favelas every day and hundreds more are living in them right now. I’ve lived in Rio and Latin America’s largest favela, Rocinha, for three months now and know many foreigners who happily call the favelas their home. Definitely, there are challenges for both locals and gringos who live in these communities. Nonetheless, the favelas’ welcoming culture, inexpensive prices, good locations, and more make them excellent options whether you’re teaching English, studying on exchange, volunteering in non-profits, or starting a business. So, before you sign that year-long, R$2,000 monthly lease for a closet-sized cell in Copacabana, consider these reasons to live in a favela.

LIB 010: Why You Should Move to São Paulo with Maggie Foxhole

Aug 09 2013

São Paulo is not only Brazil’s largest city but one of the biggest cities on this planet.

Usually people fall into two categories when considering São Paulo to live: they love or they hate it.

I’ve usually fit into category 2 in the past, but after talking to author and blogger Maggie Foxhole, she made me realize that São Paulo is not such a bad place after all!

So check out this podcast as Maggies tells us why you should consider moving to São Paulo.

How to Rent Any House or Apartment in Brazil

Aug 05 2013

Today, I’m going to teach you how to rent any house or apartment you want, even if you’re a foreigner.

“Kevin, how can I find a house or apartment to rent in Brazil?”

This is one of the top questions that people ask me and it’s time to show you exactly how I have been able to not only secure house and apartment rentals for myself, but others too (note: even on a tourist visa!).

And there are 3 ways that this can be done

Private rentals (owner to you)
Imobiliária (owner – agent – you)
Temporary (owner or company to you for a few months)

So without further ado, let’s break these three options down for you!

3 Things I’ve Learned Raising Trilingual Children

Aug 02 2013

If you are a parent then you know all to well how important it is to stimulate your child’s language development, though what happens when you live abroad and are responsible for this alone?

This is the reality for us expats who live in a different country and would like to give our children the gift of a second language.

Let’s let you in on a little secret that most people don’t know when raising bilingual children: they don’t get confused by speaking several languages, as a matter of fact, they could keep learning languages!

My children speak 3 languages fluently: Danish, English and Portuguese and along this journey there have been a lot of challenges – kind of like a science experiment in many ways.

Here is the first thing I’ve learned so far in raising my trilingual children:

Archive - August 2013