Best Startup
We teach languages and our mission is to help people learn new languages, making them more affordable and fun.
Tell us about yourself?
I have a degree from Brazil in languages (English/Portuguese), an OCR Diploma for teaching languages to adults, amongst others.
I became a teacher by accident, as I went to university purely with the intention of improving my English. When I was in my third year, there was the opportunity to teach English and Portuguese to poor children in a public school. So, I left the job I really loved doing in an office from 9-5 to start teaching. I loved it so much that I never wanted to work in an office ever again. I am a happier and different person when I am teaching. I don’t really enjoy running the admin side of the school. I only enjoy teaching.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Play these numbers (xxxxx) in the lottery this week. Then you will work because it provides you with a feeling of satisfaction and not because you need to pay the bills.
Life has to be about enjoying what we do, whatever the reason.
What problem does your business solve?
Communication. We help people improve their communication skills so they can achieve their goals and dreams.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
When I was a child, I loved learning English. It took me 8 years to be able to afford the fees of a language school in Brazil. From the age of 10 until when I was 18, I couldn’t pay the high fees a language school charges you. When I got a degree and became a teacher, I knew I should help poor children in Brazil with one important thing, the love to learn English, even if they didn’t learn much.
Children in Brazil generally hate English, as they spend many years in the public school just studying grammar and never managing to learn even the verb “to be”. I wanted to change that. I didn’t care if they reached an advanced level or just enough to say a few sentences. My mission at that time was to change their behaviour towards learning a foreign language. I wanted to show them that learning could be fun if it wasn’t an obligation.
I managed to change many lives and they loved my lessons. It was just then that I realised that I really could teach and I haven’t stopped since.
Nowadays I have a language school because I want to make learning affordable to as many people as possible, but still fun.
My message to all the teachers who work with me is very simple: our lessons need to be fun but still address our students’ needs. If the teaching is good, and the fee is fair, they will study with us for a long time.
What is your magic sauce?
I started this school teaching only Brazilian Portuguese. I developed the whole course, from A to Z, from beginner to advanced level. I wrote two books based on the needs of foreign students. For this, I listened and understood their needs.
I knew exactly what they wanted because, as a teacher, I could quickly tell a good from a bad English teacher. I didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes my English teachers made when I was studying English in England.
Most schools only focus on grammar and, although that is very necessary, it becomes boring if that is the only thing the teacher can do.
Our courses are based on grammar but with emphasis on conversation. Our teachers are generally native speakers of the language they teach, unless the situation is different.
We listen to our students, as they may have different needs and so we advise them accordingly.
I have students who have been learning Brazilian Portuguese with me for more than 5-6 years. It gets to a point where they know they will not learn much more from me because I will not take them to an academic level, but they still love learning or just practising with me.
This is what should happen in all courses. Students all around the world go from one to another teacher because there is always something missing. When they find the right teacher, they only need one for as long as they study that language.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
I want my school to be successful enough to have a second and third branch and expand our online presence even further.
I have been teaching online and face to face for many years. When the first lockdown started in March 2020, everybody had to adapt and go online. We used that situation to expand our online presence and our intention is to carry on expanding, while still teaching face to face in our building(s).
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
The pandemic was a big threat to us as it was to everybody. We are still recovering from it, but Brexit is damaging us much more than the pandemic or the lockdowns we had. Many businesses in the UK suffered more than in other countries because of Brexit.
It will take us much longer to recover from Brexit than from the pandemic, but both of them together are making teaching much harder. It is getting tougher to find the right teacher and European teachers will only come here if we can help them with their visa application.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
A business, no matter how small or big it is, needs partnerships to survive or to grow. We can help a lot of businesses nearby and we would welcome their help as well.
We are open to work with anyone with ideas to exchange services, to create a partnership or to help in any way we can. We want to grow and would like to have other people and businesses growing with us.
