Irish company ALISON, the global leader in free online learning for the workplace, has developed a free online English course aimed at helping Brazilians develop their English speaking skills with a particular focus on the vocabulary associated with the Olympic Games and the tourism and hospitality industries.
According to Mike Feerick, ALISON Founder and CEO, "Tens of thousands of tourists are expected to descend on Rio for this international sporting spectacular many of these visitors will be English speaking or may use English to communicate if they don't speak Portuguese. This presents opportunities for English-speaking Portuguese speakers, who will prove invaluable to the tourism and hospitality industry."
This free practical course – Learn English for Rio 2016 - will introduce learners to the key words and phrases required for working in hotels, restaurants and tourist information offices including how to provide directions, understand guidebooks, how to conduct a tour commentary in English, how to take a restaurant order and deal with guest queries. In addition the free online course also covers some essential Olympic vocabulary including the names for the various Olympics sporting events, the participating countries and a short guide to the history of the games.
Brazilian native, Leo Beal, who works at ALISON Headquarters in Galway, Ireland, originally from Bento Goncalves, played a key role in the development of the course. He says it was really rewarding to work on developing the course, using his skills and talent to help people back in Brazil. "Upskilling fellow Brazilians in the English language will be a great legacy of the games. Certainly in my career being able to speak English fluently has allowed me to travel and work on the other side of the world."
ALISON already has over 120,000 registered learners in Brazil, representing a very strong growth market for the company. ALISON is committed to growing its presence in the country. "We hope that by providing this free English course we will be helping many of our Brazilian learners access the employment opportunities this amazing sporting event will present." Says Mike Feerick, founder and CEO of ALISON.
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