Ritmo de Festa: Beyond Language Proficiency

At SpeechSense Academy, we're not just about slapping an Intermediate Level sticker on your forehead and sending you off into the world. No, we take the scenic route, carefully curating every twist and turn of your learning journey. Think of it less like a level-up video game and more like planning a party where the timing is everything. Because let’s face it, nothing ruins a party like a party planner who’s trying to get everyone to show up at the same time without knowing their guest list.

Here’s a little thought experiment: You’re hosting a party. Half your guests are Brazilian, the other half American. Now, in Brazil, time is, let’s say, more of a suggestion – a loose guideline for when things might happen. Meanwhile, your American friends? They treat time like a precious commodity, measured in investments and ROI. How do you get everyone to show up at the same time without anyone feeling rushed or insulted? Simple. You tell the Brazilians the party starts at 6 p.m. and the Americans at 8 p.m. Bam! Everyone magically arrives at 7. (Disclaimer: Example might be a bit exaggerated, for a dramatic effect.)

That’s pretty much what we do at SSA – except instead of party guests, it’s the moving parts of your brain we’re working with. We start with a deep dive into your life: What’s your daily exposure to English? Are you reading novels in your free time or scrolling memes? Got any musical training that gives you a leg up on pronunciation? Do you have any previous experience with languages that are structural cousins to English, like German or Dutch? We even look at your personality – how you process learning, how you handle challenges – and weave all that into one custom-tailored language learning plan.

Now, while we’re at it, let’s not ignore the advantage Brazilian Portuguese speakers already have. English may not share roots with Portuguese, but they have enough in common to make the vocab learning curve less steep than for, say, someone coming from Mandarin. (And I'm learning Mandarin, so thoughts and prayers are welcome.) But, as much as we'd love to say all Portuguese speakers learn English at the same speed, that’s simply not how brains work. This is why our assessment takes everything into account: your exposure, your habits, your age, even the fact that you might have a killer ear for music. All these ingredients are thrown into the SpeechSense pot, and we cook up a personalized learning plan that’s more expertly calibrated than your brigadeiro recipe ingredients ratio (okay, almost).

Once we’ve got you all sorted, it’s time to put you in a class that moves at just the right pace – fast enough to keep you engaged, slow enough to not leave you gasping for air. And here’s the best part: We keep the class sizes small. So not only do we keep things moving at your perfect rhythm, but we make sure you're with people who are also dancing to the same beat.

So yes, at SpeechSense Academy, your English learning journey is as personalized as a well-planned party – where everyone shows up at the right time, and no one’s left wondering if they should’ve arrived earlier or stayed later. And, like any good party, it’s not just about getting there. It’s about having a great time along the way.