(ATR) One of ever three taxi drivers in Rio de Janeiro will receive a free online course in English provided by Rio 2016.
The organizing committee started a campaign to hand out 10,000 English courses to taxi drivers around the city on Aug. 10. Currently, all taxi drivers are eligible to pick up a course, at two locations, at Parque Madureira, and outside the Radio Globo headquarters near the Marina da Gloria.
"We’ve had a lot of response from the taxis, some very positive feedback, and some very interesting stories," Mariana Behr, Rio 2016 head of engagement, said to Around the Rings.
"We are considering expanding to the cities where we’ll host football as well."
Behr expects that all 10,000 licenses will be distributed, meaning that one of every three taxis in Rio will have access to an English course. She hopes that the program will leave a legacy to "help taxi drivers being able to better communicate with their passengers," especially when the Olympics come to town.
Pedro Paulo Figueredo a taxi driver who picked up his license on Aug. 11 told ATR that he is enrolling in the course to "help the tourists," in addition to the benefit he’ll receive.
"The taxi driver is always carrying tourists here, and people don’t usually speak Portuguese so it is important to speak some English," Figureredo said.
"The Olympics here in the city is financially interesting for a taxi driver because we will earn more money."
Fellow taxi driver, Antonio Rufino agreed that it will "improve the quality of work" to learn English.
"This is the first time I am trying to learn," Rufino said to ATR.
"I have never happened lost the way with tourists, but some situations are often comic because they say everything in different pronunciation."
Behr said that the distribution of licenses is part of a drive to hand out one million English courses, from the sponsor English First.
All 240,000 Brazilians who signed up to be a volunteer for the 2016 Games received a free English course regardless of whether they were accepted. The organizing committee plans to offer the courses through the education program to many groups that could not usually afford them.
Here is a video of taxi drivers receiving their English courses:
Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro
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