Bem vinda! Welcome! Whether you want to build your career or learn simply for the cultural enrichment and challenge, learning Portuguese has some incredible benefits, and were happy you found us. Having a strong foundation means finding a great Portuguese tutor or teacher. The information that follows will break down step by step exactly what you need to look for in your search not only for the right Portuguese tutor but your overall approach to learning. We’ll cover the benefits versus drawbacks of working with someone in person versus online, and a few other things that should help you think about your learning journey a little differently.
How to select Portuguese Tutors
Let’s start with the “must-haves.” These relate to your specific situation situation and learning style. After having taught thousands of students to become fluent in Portuguese, we’ve found that when selecting Portuguese tutors, the following considerations are super important:
- Qualifications: What are your teacher’s qualifications? Are they verifiable? Have they been reviewed?
- Availability: What is your teacher’s schedule? How does it fit with yours?
- Personality: What about your teacher’s personality. How does it fit with your learning style?
- Empathy: How is your teacher when it comes to making sure you feel empowered? Do they have your back?
Consider all of these carefully.
Portuguese Teachers Online VS. In-Person
Now let’s consider whether in-person or online is instruction works better for you, and weigh all the pros and cons before deciding.
In-person Portuguese teachers
Pros:
- Real life in person instruction lets you carefully model body language and facial expressions.
- There are no issues with connectivity or wifi.
- The real life interaction may make the time spent feel more meaningful.
Cons:
- Individual lessons may be bigger time commitment per session than you’re comfortable with or have time for.
- In person lessons are also more of a time and resource commitment, including the commute to lessons.
- In person lessons are typically more expensive.
- Your options for teacher may be severely limited depending on where you live. This also means:
- No / few options for sampling different teaching styles / personalities.
- Potential difficulty fitting your schedule around a single teacher’s availability.
- Potential lack of truly qualified teachers in your local area.
Online Portuguese tutors and teachers
Pros:
- Lessons can be quick – as short as half an hour at Rype – rather than big chunks of time out of your day.
- More convenient. You can do it from home which means no commuting – a time savings of 30-60 minutes per session.
- Higher diversity of teachers with an access to a worldwide instructor pool.
- Access to online resources and tools for expediting your learning experience (for example: document sharing, online project management)
- You can easily verify teachers’ reviews.
- Overall much more affordable.
Cons:
- Potential connectivity issues can lead to dropped calls on lessons.
- You need a baseline level of knowing how to navigate a computer / work online.
- The level of intimacy is not the same as real-life conversation.
With the ideal match of teacher and student, obviously in-person teaching can be amazing. But given how challenging that perfect match can be to find, when we factor in everything we believe the overall best option for the majority of learners is an online Portuguese tutor.
How we hire our Portuguese Tutors
Let’s now take a moment to talk about the quality of online Portuguese tutors. The following is a breakdown of how we bring on new teachers here at Rype.
Step #1. Initial application
From the thousands of applications we receive, our initial application filters serious applicants by looking at each candidate’s background, experience, and availability. Only the top candidates move on from here.
Step #2. Rype University training
Rype University is next. Here potential Rype tutors develop strategies and tactics for success. Throughout the program we spend time getting to know each candidate, evaluating their teaching goals and professionalism. We also make sure they have all of the necessary tools for teaching, ensuring they’re the most effective at instructing all types of learners
Step #3. Live 1-on-1 interview (with our Teacher Lead)
Successful Rype University graduates take part in a live one on one interviews with lead teachers. These interviews allow us to assess their qualifications, professionalism, and personality – our three main criteria. In this way Rype differs from all other platforms.
Step #4. 60-Day Trial
Teachers who pass the interview begin a 60-day trial phase as teachers. For these first two months we carefully monitor student feedback and help ensure the new teachers are excelling.
Step #5. Continued success (4.5/5 or higher)
Teachers who successfully complete the trial period are officially welcomed as Rype teachers. From here they still must maintain an average of 4.5 out of 5 on reviews to remain, ensuring a gold standard of excellence for our platform.
How to Start Learning Portuguese With Rype
We’re glad you’ve made it this far! As with any major learning journey, learning Portuguese takes many steps, and you’re on the right path. Now comes the critical step of taking action. We hope from here you have a better idea of what to look for in your Portuguese teacher and how to take the next steps.
If you’re ready to begin learning Portuguese right now, we strongly recommend Rype’s free trial offer. This is a completely risk-free trial where you can experience our platform and try working with different teachers. We know you’ll be amazed with the quality and look forward to working with you.
See you there!
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