HONEST FEEDBACK
HIGH STANDARDS
REALISTIC OUTCOMES
UNDERSTANDING
EXPERIENCED TUTOR
Cultural Immersion
Learn Portuguese through cultural immersion. Language is not a dry set of rules, but a living organism that exists and grows through customs, beliefs, history, cuisine and literature. This is all essential to learning Portuguese and to being able to use it effectively in communication with native speakers. Understanding culture will give the right meaning to each new word you learn. Knowing why and how native speakers live and talk will increase your engagement and make your learning experience more memorable than solely learning about verb tenses, adjectives and conjugations. We'll teach you how to actively extract linguistic knowledge and learn from news, movies and other cultural content.
Authentic Materials
Go further than textbooks and dictionaries! Immerse yourself in day-to-day Portuguese. Notice expressions, word and grammar choices, tones, and different accents in movies and TV shows. We create unique visual and audio materials to optimize our students' engagement, support their learning and keep our lessons fun. All our materials are high quality and have didactic purpose. We combine many different sources and use our creativity to create tailored curriculum that is built with only one objective - to optimize our approach and help you learn Portuguese.
Structured Learning
Our students are informed of every step in their learning journey. We believe that students' awareness of the process of learning - what is being taught, how and when - is a crucial part of their learning. Our 1-2-1 students are given a tailored monthly study plan where functional objectives are clearly presented as well as our plan on how to reach them. With RLC, you will never feel lost and uninformed.
Academic Approach
Learn Portuguese with understanding. Gain an in-depth knowledge of language as a system of patterns and contexts. With Romance, you will learn to understand how the language functions and gain independence. It is our expertise to assist you on your journey towards fluency and to help you learn how to learn languages successfully. Our courses are built on realistic standards for language learning, following the Common European Framework for Reference.
LEARNING OPTIONS
1-2-1 ONLINE LEARNING
CURIOUS LEARNERS
If you are seeking out a more well-rounded education where you will get to immerse yourself in language learning and the culture and history that comes with it. You want to learn through critical thinking and understanding. You are very committed to learning Portuguese to proficiency and ready to work hard and be challenged.
ANXIOUS, CONFUSED AND STUCK?
If you experience lack of confidence in bigger group courses, this is the learning option for you. We will help you produce with confidence. Additionally, it's perfect for students who have plateaued in their learning journey or feel lost after years of trying to learn Portuguese unsuccessfully.
ATTENTION AND FLEXIBILITY
If you have a busy schedule and want maximum flexibility, this is the learning option for you! Additionally, this is the way to go if you want your tutors undivided attention, where you will get the optimal amount of feedback, practice and production. This will result in faster learning, higher accuracy and more confidence when speaking.
PREMIUM CONTENT AND SUPPORT
If you want to be continuously supported outside lesson hours, this is for you! You will be able to contact your tutor through messaging apps and get answers to your questions asap. You will enjoy all our current and future premium content for FREE, including access to online flashcards, premium resources, videos, book clubs and movie nights.
FAQ
How much does it cost?
1:1 Online Language Lessons are charged at $34. This is a premium service that aims to develop individuals overall knowledge and linguistic skills in a tailored and well-targeted way. We offer discounts if a bulk amount of sessions is booked. In addition, we offer special discounts for small group learning for families and couples.
Who is this for?
For everyone who wants or needs help learning their target language! We have extensive experience with people of all ages and abilities: children, teenagers, adults and mature learners. Each of these groups requires a different approach to learning and lesson delivery, all in order to draw on their strengths.
However, we have identified that our 1-2-1 lessons work best for people who are linguistically curious, dedicated to working hard, who want to achieve higher levels of accuracy, and want a more well-rounded education in Portuguese.
Can I book only one lesson?
We require a minimum of 6 sessions to be booked in order to receive 1-2-1 tutoring. Because the aim of individual learning is a tailored approach that caters to individual needs and goals, tutoring requires careful planning and a lot of tutor’s time and investment before the actual delivery of the lesson. We create a learning journey for all our students which serves as a guideline for progress over time.
Essentially, when you take on 1-2-1 lessons, you are enrolled on a course. It is for those reasons that we set these requirement.
Additionally, if you are an advanced learner and require a few lessons on a subject that you happen to be struggling with (e.g. SER vs. ESTAR), paying as you go is an option, too.
All our potential students get a 30 minutes FREE session during which we will assess your language level and we can discuss your goals.
How can I access my lessons?
We use the Zoom platform to deliver our lessons. Once you book lessons with us, you will receive a link to a Zoom video meeting.
When can I have my lessons? What if there's a time difference?
Flexibility is part of our service, and we will try our best to cater to your needs. In case that your desired time slot has already been taken, we can try to find the next best time, however, we have a lot of clients and we work on a first-come-first-serve basis thus we cannot guarantee that you will get the preferred time slot.
Additionally, we welcome students all over the world and have lots of clients from the United States in particular.
How long does a lesson last?
We follow the standard hour of 60 minutes for our 1-2-1 lessons. Some of our adult learners prefer to book two hours (90 minutes) per session, however, we would advise against that for younger learners and children to avoid cognitive overload.
How often can I have lessons?
As often as you would like and depending on how fast you want to progress.
For beginners (A1-B1), we would recommend twice per week in a spaced out format (e.g. on Mondays and Wednesdays, or Tuesdays and Fridays), or a bulk of two lessons in one session (90 minutes weekly).
We require a minimum of one session per week because language learning demands consistency, scaffolding and progressive overload. The longer the pause between lessons, the more time we have to take to revise previous topics, leaving you unable to progress at an optimal pace.
Can I reschedule last minute?
We require a 24 hours cancellation notice in order to reschedule. We completely understand that sometimes life happens and students need to cancel last minute but at that point, the tutor’s time has already been lost, including the time spent preparing for the lesson.
What happens if I cannot attend?
If you give a 24 hours notice, we will reschedule the lesson. Otherwise, you will lose the fee.
How can I book my lessons?
Please fill out and submit this contact form.
SMALL GROUP LEARNING
FAMILIES
Grow together as a family. Take on a productive family activity on Sundays with your teenagers or your siblings, all from the comfort of your home.
COUPLES
Over the years, we have taught Portuguese to many couples and helped them express their biggest milestones in Portuguese. In our lessons, couples bond, compete and create together.
FRIENDS
If you and your best friend have a road trip to plan, or just want to build up your CV, or participate in a learning activity together that will equip you with communication skills, then this is for you!
ONLINE GROUP COURSES
Our method offers high standard education about linguistic concepts, grammar and culture, all while developing the 4 main skills that lead to proficiency: speaking, reading, listening & writing.
We do not support cramming nor do we give false promises and guarantees of proficiency. We are here to make your journey to mastering your target language easier by equipping you with in-depth linguistic and cultural knowledge necessary to develop and improve language skills at your desired level, however, we firmly believe that the only thing that will eventually lead to mastery is the hard work and time you are willing to invest.
Start your language learning journey with Romance Language Centre and we promise you only what we can control:
HONEST FEEDBACK
HIGH STANDARDS
REALISTIC OUTCOMES
UNDERSTANDING
Your progress is tracked and measured from session to session ensuring that your work informs tutor’s approach, and that you are continuously challenged.
We base my teachings on showing rather than telling – all steps in your learning journey will be taken by you with logic and understanding.
Every language has a specific way of representing and seeing the world. It is our job to immerse you in the native speakers’ frame of reference. Our method of language teaching includes a lot of questioning, scaffolding, interweaving, input-output, dual coding, and cultural immersion.
In our practice, we follow the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), an international standard for describing language ability and proficiency on a six-point scale, from A1 for beginners, up to C2 for those who have mastered a language.
Fill out our contact form and we will get back to you within 24 hours to arrange an online FREE Educational Assessment Meeting. At the meeting you will get to, among other things, meet your potential tutor, discuss your goals, assess your language level, ask any questions you might have for us and set targets. We will also discuss all your learning options and payment.
It is our priority to be transparent and to uphold professional standards as well as to cater to our students’ needs in the best way possible, therefore, we want to make sure that we would be the right fit for any potential students.
After the meeting, we will send you a Learning Offer, and if you choose to accept it, we will send you a Learning Agreement to sign, covering all our business policies, your schedule and our duties. Enrollment is confirmed once the payment has been received.
Our regular courses last for 16 weeks and run in the morning, afternoon and evening from Monday to Sunday. Each course consists of 64 guided learning hours.
Classes are given in groups of 5+ students. Courses start every 4 months or when enough students have enrolled.
Upon the signing of the Learning Agreement, we will issue an invoice for bank transfer. You can choose to pay in advance for a bulk of lessons or an entire course, or we can arrange payments in monthly installments.
Payments must be made in the arranged extent before the start of the first lesson. A discount of 10% is applied only for a bulk of 1-2-1 lessons or to families, couples and groups of friends.
Romance Language Centre reserves the right to cancel any course that does not meet the required number of students at any time up to 24 hours before the course begins. In the event of cancellation, we will offer you the option of a refund or credit which you can use for 1-2-1 tuition at our usual price. We can also hold your credit for maximum of 3 months, or up until the number of students has reached the minimum limit.
Once the classes have started, the fees will not be refundable under any circumstances, however, you can request a refund by email up to 48 hours before the start of the first class. You can request a refund via email at contact@romancelanguagecentre.com.
All courses require a minimum of 5 students to run. We reserve the right to change the timetable by giving notice in advance. Classes may also be cancelled at short notice in case of unforeseen circumstances.
We use the online platform Zoom to carry out our online courses. Zoom is the main international platform that allows teachers and students to be in the same virtual classroom, built to promote learning and to increase participation and memory retention. On Zoom, you will be able to follow our classes via videoconferencing, to communicate via audio and video, to access the whiteboard and to chat, sending and receiving video and audio files.
Once you enrol, your tutor will send you a welcome email and instructions. On the day of the lesson, your tutor will send you a Zoom invitation link by email 10 minutes before the beginning of the class, where you will be able to enter your virtual classroom.
Please ensure that you check your junk email and add our email to the safe senders list.
To participate in our online courses successfully, please ensure that you have:
- a computer with a web camera
- a stable Internet connection
- a functioning audio system
- Free Zoom software (downloaded and installed)