I am Brazilian by birth, with an Italian mother. Although I am technically not an L1 English speaker, I like to call myself a natural ‘adopted native’ – a term I invented to describe my own path. Great Britain adopted me, and I accepted it wholeheartedly. Its rich culture and language, the way of life, all enticed and shaped me, and I am very grateful for it. Thirty-eight years later, I returned to Brazil with a suitcase full of teaching experience, CELTA methodology, and – unexpectedly – tools from my training as a trauma therapist.
Today, I teach online, privately, and as part of an English immersion company brilliantly named ‘The Fools’. My work combines CELTA clarity with trauma sensitivity and empathy and, above all, it’s fun. Teaching English here is a balancing act: structure meets spontaneity, rigour meets fun, and learning becomes as much about confidence as it is about grammar.
A journey from Britain to Brazil
My own English journey was a classic
if-you-don’t-swim-you-drown situation.
I threw myself into British life and language, and, in time, struggle turned into a thriving experience. English became not just something I learnt, but something I lived. And yet, after so many years abroad, returning to Brazil sometimes feels like sitting on the wall with Humpty Dumpty – balanced between two motherlands, embracing both but belonging wholly to neither.
Teaching on both sides of the Atlantic has shown me how the same language can grow in very different cultural soils. In Britain, my classrooms were a mosaic of international students with accents and learning styles from across the world. In Brazil, most of my learners are local – but their struggles and triumphs are just as diverse. Some are fluent but insecure, others are beginners scarred by school experiences, and many are somewhere in between, bravely trying again. Being Brazilian myself, but trained abroad, allows me to straddle both worlds. I can empathise deeply with the struggles of Brazilian learners, while also offering the structured methods I absorbed in the UK. It’s a constant dance between cultural familiarity and pedagogical clarity.
By 2021, I had added another dimension to my career: I became a mental health / trauma therapist, and, in 2023, a hypnotherapist. A strange mix with English teaching? Not really. I often joke that all teachers are therapists in disguise: ‘Aren’t all teachers, in some way, therapists? I believe so’.
CELTA in action
CELTA is my teaching backbone. If you’ve done it, you’ll know – it’s intense, practical and transformative. It imprinted into me the essentials: student-centred learning, lesson staging, guided discovery and, above all, reflection. In Brazil, these techniques are gold. For example, eliciting taps into the natural Brazilian love for talking, concept checking questions cut through polite nods, pairwork and groupwork thrive here. Collaboration is in Brazil’s DNA. Drilling with energy – turn it into a chant, rhythm or competition, and suddenly practice feels like play.
Beyond CELTA: the therapist’s touch
Brazilian learners often carry invisible baggage around English. They’ve been laughed at, scolded or left behind. These ‘learning scars’ can block progress just as much as grammar gaps. This is where my therapist side steps in – a secret card up my sleeve.
I share my own clumsy Portuguese mistakes with students, reminding them that language is messy, and that’s OK. The moment learners realise the classroom is a safe space, confidence begins to grow. Trauma-sensitive teaching is, at its core, human teaching. It’s about creating safety: mistakes are welcome, progress is celebrated and vulnerability is allowed. In Brazil – where warmth, relationships and community are everything – this makes perfect sense. In trauma-sensitive teaching, progress is emotional as much as linguistic. It is always a good practice to bear in mind that sometimes ‘I can’t’ means ‘I’m scared’, not ‘I don’t know’.
Immersing in The Fools
If CELTA gave me structure, The Fools gave me joy. This immersion programme has a wonderfully mischievous philosophy: language learning should be playful, surprising, even a little foolish. In our workshops, students might become detectives in a murder mystery, run a mock travel agency, act as eccentric chefs or perform sketches. When learners are laughing and improvising, they forget they’re studying. They’re simply speaking. And that, of course, is the real goal.
The magic of immersion lies in forgetting it’s a class. When students are role playing or trying to outwit their classmates in a game, they stop obsessing over grammar and start communicating. And that, after all, is the point of language. The silliness of The Fools lowers inhibitions and, suddenly, even the shyest participant is speaking more than they thought possible. Brazilians thrive in this environment. Their natural sociability and humour turn immersion into a party – with grammar hidden in the cake. ‘Immersion is the art of learning without realising you’re learning.’
Therapy meets immersion: the animal test, ‘How do you come across?’
One of my favourite examples of blending therapy with language learning is using the Animal Therapy test in workshops. It’s a playful, projective exercise where learners choose animals that represent aspects of their personality. At first, students laugh — ‘Am I really a lion?!’— but soon the conversation takes off. They compare choices, explain why they identify with certain animals and even tease each other. The English flows naturally: adjectives, comparisons, narratives and personal stories all spill out without forcing it.
But beneath the fun, something deeper happens. The activity creates a safe space for self-expression. Learners often reveal surprising insights about themselves: a shy student admits she feels like a turtle, hiding but steady. Another convinced he’s a monkey, always joking but secretly afraid of mistakes.
As a therapist, I recognise these metaphors as windows into self-perception. As a teacher, they are golden opportunities for language practice. The Animal Test blends both worlds – it’s light-hearted, but it also gently lowers defences and builds confidence. This is where trauma sensitivity and immersion overlap beautifully: by disguising emotional exploration as play, learners gain both language and self-awareness.
Online teaching
Alongside immersion, I teach online, one-to-one and in small groups. At first, I doubted whether CELTA-style teaching could keep its magic once it went online. It does, with a bit of creativity: breakout rooms become pairwork, digital whiteboards replace brainstorming and drilling takes on a rhythmic, almost musical quality. My students are varied: business professionals who need precise, confident English; teenagers who need exam prep; and adults returning after failed attempts, who need encouragement above all. Each lesson is a puzzle, and I love fitting CELTA structures with digital creativity and, most importantly, personal insight.
Reflections for teachers
If I could offer one piece of advice, it’s this: bring all of you into your teaching. CELTA gave me a foundation, therapy gave me empathy, immersion gave me creativity and Brazil gave me warmth. Together, they form something richer than any method alone. When you can mix CELTA’s rigour with genuine empathy, see that many learning blocks are emotional, and realise that play isn’t optional but essential – using creative therapy games to unlock both language and confidence – you’re truly at the top of your game.
Conclusion
Coming back to Brazil after nearly four decades in Britain has been both a homecoming and a new adventure. CELTA keeps me structured, therapy keeps me human, and The Fools keeps me playful. English, in the end, is more than a subject – it’s a bridge, a tool for connection and sometimes even a kind of healing.
And if we can teach with clarity, empathy and a touch of foolish fun, then we’re not just teaching English – we’re giving our learners the confidence to swim, not drown.
