Amanda Freitas

PhD candidate in Linguistics (Language Acquisition, Pragmatics and Portuguese as Additional Language/for foreigners)

Hello! I'm Amanda, and I would be happy to help you learn Brazilian Portuguese in a practical, personalized, and enjoyable way.

I have over 14 years of teaching experience and specialize in Portuguese as an Additional Language. I hold degrees in Portuguese-English Language and Literature and Education, a specialization in Linguistics and Portuguese Language Teaching, a Master's degree in Linguistics, and I am currently a PhD candidate in Linguistics at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), one of Brazil’s leading universities.

My research focuses on pragmatics and intercultural communication. I investigate how learners from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds interpret and evaluate requests and other communicative situations. My work involves speakers of languages with different degrees of similarity to Portuguese, including Italian, German, and Japanese. This experience has given me a deeper understanding of how language, culture, and communication interact, as well as the challenges learners face when developing communicative competence.

As a native speaker of Brazilian Portuguese, I also speak English, Italian, a little bit of German, and I'm learning Chinese (mandarim). I have experienced language learning from the learner’s perspective and had the opportunity to spend time in Germany during an academic stay, which further strengthened my interest in multilingualism and intercultural communication.

My lessons are tailored to your goals and may focus on:
?? Everyday communication and speaking confidence
?? Grammar and vocabulary in context
?? Brazilian culture and real-life language use
?? Academic and professional Portuguese
?? Celpe-Bras preparation
?? Portuguese for speakers of English, Spanish, Italian, German (and other languages/cultures)

I believe language learning goes beyond grammar. Understanding how people communicate, express politeness, and interact across cultures is essential to becoming a confident speaker. My goal is to help you develop not only linguistic knowledge but also communicative competence.

Outside the classroom, I enjoy learning languages, discovering different cultures, and playing and watching tennis.

I look forward to meeting you and helping you achieve your goals in Brazilian Portuguese!