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Testimonials

Claudia Baker


Nationality: USA
Age: 38

I had a wonderful time - well-organized learning experience, friendly people, great host. In fact, I enjoyed my time there so much that I am now making plans to move to Brazil! Thanks.


Stephan Michael


Nationality: USA
Age: 52
smatt401@dotnet.com

My family took excellent care of me. They provided good meals and included me in various activities. Staying in a Brazilian home was extremely benefitious

My teachers were professional, knowledgeable, and personable in the classroom. I enjoyed the opportunity to chat with them outside the class. They went beyond the call of duty to be helpful.

The day after classes ended I flew to Natal where I taught two classes in theology and missiology, 6 hours a day for 5 days, in a Bible institute and seminary. They were completely in Portuguese. The seminary dean insisted that my Portuguese was very, very good and that if I had stayed a few months it would have become perfect. One student came up during a class break and thanked me for my good subject/verb agreement. I spoke briefly in a church service, and afterwards a member of the audience tapped me on the shoulder to tell me that my Portuguese was better than some Americans who had lived in RN nearly four years. I lived in Cuiaba, MT, for 2 years about 2 decades ago and visited Natal for 10 days almost five years ago, so it's been a long time between opportunities to use Portuguese. Nor am I a genius or a linguist. Therefore, I attribute my success in using Portuguese to the time I spent in Fast Forward's program. The only regrets are that I couldn't have my wife come to study with me, and that I couldn't stay longer.


Zuleima González


Nationality: USA
Age: 21
zuleima_g@hotmail.com

I had a great time in Maceió. It was a wonderful experience that I'll never forget. The school is great as well as the professors and the other personal. Even though I stayed in Maceió for two weeks, I think that I learned a lot in terms of language and culture. Now I'm taking Portuguese at the university and I'm not having any problem at all with the class because of what I learned at Fast Forward. Now I'm in love with Portuguese and I can't stop learning it. I have made a lot of Brazilians friends here where I live and I'm able to speak to them in Portuguese and also they are helping me to improve it. Obrigada! :-)

Malerie Diamante


Nationality: USA
Age: 19

My family was amazing. I loved living with them, they were so welcoming and so helpful. Luiza was so much fun to be around, she was so positive about everything and was always trying to help me learn. Amanda was also so kind to me. I can't wait to visit them when i return to Maceio!!!

I had an amazing time...I am so happy that I spent my summer in Brasil!!! And i am very excited because i am probably participating in a study abroad program in Curitiba this January - March through my university!!! And I hope to visit Maceio when I return to Brasil!!!


Vanessa Guidi


Nationality: Italian
Age: 26
guidivanessa@hotamail.com

liriane (teacher) never leaves anything untouched....she is thorough in every aspect from vocabulary to grammar. carla is also very good. she plays a game of tic-tac-toe with verbs that is fun and competitive. i really like that class... some lessons and explanations could have been taken a little further perhaps with more conversation rather than just workbook. wenderson is AMAZING. no books, no exercises just energy and spontaneity. he throws all his love for brazil and the portuguese language into his lessons...he has a strong desire for students to learn what he is teaching and to learn it well.

3 weeks is too little time to learn all that there is to learn, however, it is enough to build a foundation of the portuguese language.i would return in a heart beat...perhaps in Sao Paulo.


Bob Finucane


Nationality: USA
Age: 52

People were always congratulating me on how well I spoke. After two weeks in class and one week travelling, I successfully gave an engineering school class session in Portuguese.


Yuji Utsumi


Nationality: USA
Age: 43

So far I've been to Fastworad 2 time in Maceio and once in Sao Paulo. In Maceio it is very easy to get distracted with the beach, but the school gave me enough things to get back from the beach and do things. I appreciate Wenderson's enthusiasm and his efforts to crack me open, so to speak. I appreciate Alexandre's intellectual approach and not so forgiving attitude toward pronunciation, use of words and gramatical errors. In Sao Paulo, I understood Marcia and Larissa's dedication to work and appreicate their efforts to make my classes interesting, engaging and rewarding. Marcia is very intelligent, but fun loving...her attitude made my lessons interesting. Our excursions in Sao Paulo was, naturally, better than Maceio, simply because Sao Paulo has more to offer. Hopi Hari was a fun place. Night out at the famous Brahma Bar in Sao Paulo was fun, and the football game with Palmeiras v Vitoria was a real Brazilian experience for me. To bad they trashed the stadium later, but then again, it is better than killing the goleiro (Marcos) for that mistake. I truly feel bad for the bad rap that Brazil is getting about its danger and such. I am sure you need to be careful, just like any other big cities. There are places in Los Angeles I wouldn't dare walk all by myself at night! If I had more time, I'd do both Maceio and Sao Paulo. I've done similar short language courses for ESL in Los Angeles years ago and for Spanish courses at several schools in Morelia, Guadalajara and Xalapa, Mexico. I'd say Fastforward is one of the better ones. It is educational and definitely fun. What could you ask for more? Please say hello to everyone at the school.


Jennifer Brigham


Nationality: USA
Age: 26

What did you think about your teachers?

I also had Carla and Liriane. All three were excellent. Each had unique strengths which complemented the others. Classes were well organized and included sufficient time in each session for grammar, conversation and cultural study. I particularly liked the use of music as a way of learning colloquial language and Brazilian favorites.

Sabine Westermann


Nationality: German
Age: 28
sabine-westermann@freenet.de

I stayed in the pousada Balei Azul and I was very happy there: nice staff, very clean, good breakfast and perfekt located!

There was always a bunch of activities and I think the mixture was good! The trips on the weekends were very well organized and it was always fun to get to know the area with the other students. A very important fact which is pretty good arranged by fast forward in Maceio!

Wenderson was my teacher. He is such a good entertainer and I learned to talk and also great vocabulary you would not learn in a regular class! He was great!

Almitra Medina


Nationality: USA
Age: 24
adm27@georgetown.edu

What a wonderful family! They took me to meet their extended family, I went to church with them on Sundays, we all dancing togeter, and they invited me to spent the day with them at the beach. My 'mom' and I went to the mall and to her friend's house, meanwhile my 'brother' and I would walk/jog and night, he introduced me to his friends, and we all went to a 'barraca' to see the soccer game on tv. My 'mom' would always set out breakfast for me before she went to work, and made some of the most delicious dinners. I've stayed with host families in other countries before, but this family was top-notch.

The location of the school in Maceió is perfect. It was about 5 minutes away from the beach, 5 minutes away from my house, 3 minutes away from the local 24-hour supermarket, and only a few steps away from some inexpensive self-service restaurants. As a student, you often times are assigned a lot of homework, but it really helps speed up the process of language development. I would say you probably learn more Portuguese in a shorter time frame at Fast Forward than most other places, but that's just a guess. If you were undecided as to when you should study in Maceió, I would definitely say that the month of June is a good idea since it's the month the northeast region celebrates the Festas Juninhas.


Markus Fischer


Nationality: Swiss
Age: 45

The first week she was very concentrated, the second week I thougt she was not always really by the work (preparatio, correction of the homework)but all over it was OK.



Kirk Lacewell


Nationality: USA
Age: 56

I’ve just returned from my two week class at the Fast Forward training center in Sao Paulo and I want to say that it was a terrific experience. The training center was better than I could have imagined, their program was focused and intense and delivered in an excellent manner. I had two different instructors and each was an amazing trainer. I have made very few purchases in my life that I have been so happy with. If I have the chance to study Portuguese again I assure you that it will be at Fast Forward


Ian Weerman


Nationality: UK
Age: 48

To date I have attended the school four times, once in Maceio, and three times in Sao Paulo.
The fact that I have returned three times speaks for itself, and I am already looking forward to the next visit!

The best part of the experience is the quality of the teachers both in terms of their ability to teach the Portuguese language at all levels, and also their patience and interest in each individual student regardless of whether it is a private or group class.

The staff also go the extra mile outside of classes with the arrangement of social events and assistance with other matters such as travel or, once in my case, a medical emergency.

All in all, good value for the money and highly recommended


Dewey Litwiller, University ESL Instructor


Nationality: Canada
Age: 43

Fast Forward has made my life here in Brazil so much easier. After taking just five weeks of class, I can now communicate comfortably in Portuguese. I'm not fluent by any means, but I can interact with the people with little difficulty. The classes are divided into several levels and are amazingly small (around 4 students), so the teachers can really give each student special attention. The intensive classes progress as quickly as the students can manage. The after class and weekend outings, the assigned homework, and the Portuguese-only policy in the school nicely complement the classes.
The teachers are knowledgeable and make the classes fun and interesting. If you really want to become part the Brazilian culture and form relationships with the people, learning the basics of the language is essential. As a professional language teacher myself, I can highly recommend studying Portuguese at Fast Forward.


Eren Mert


Nationality: Turkey
Age: 25

I am very happy to finish two months experience in Fast Forward Language Institute. I had had a lower intermediate level. Now I am very confident when I am speaking Portuguese. That course with very much talented and helping teachers, the concentrated lessons and warm classes and colegues made me learn that language. Beside learning Portuguese, I had met with friendly and amazing teachers and students and I had built life-long friendships. The course was really amazing. I will never forget that part in my life. Thanks a lot for everything. We will meet again my friends. OBRIGADO..."Eren Mert - Turkey


Charles M. Ross


Nationality: USA
Age: 25

Three years ago I embarked upon a journey of personal growth. In my life, full of successes, I had not ever mastered a second language. I chose Portugese for business reasons. I attended Fast Forward , Sao Paulo for one month. The teachers and the program guided me through the basics of learning the language and gave me the beginnings of confidence that I could do this. The following year I attended the Maceio division for one week and another week in Sao Paulo. In between, I took classes with a teacher from Sao Paulo who lived near me. The last year I came to Brasil I took classes and found that much of what I had been studying at Fast Forward helped me throughout the year. The workbooks were comprehensive and the followup was professional. Finally, I have brought myself back to Sao Paulo and gave a presentation in Portugese. I owe my success to my choice of Fast Forward and the people there who are committed to us "gringos" learning the language. The teachers and the directors and the owners have created a program that is well formulated for success.


Maya Manzi


Nationality: Canada
Age: 30

This summer (2006), I went to Sao Paulo to learn Portuguese and I decided to take two months of Intensive Portuguese with Fast Forward. I was extremely impressed by the quality of teaching, the friendly atmosphere, the flexibility of the program, and the dedication and care that people from Fast Forward put into their work. I have to say that this way of learning a language is incredibly efficient and rewarding. At first, I thought that it was not possible to learn a new language in two months, but believe me, it is! I recommend this Language School to everybody. Thank you to all the people of Fast Forward who made my time in Brazil a fruitful, enriching, and unforgettable experience! With all my love, Maya.

EMAIL US: info@fastforward.com.br

Maceió
Dep. José Lages, 507 Ponta Verde
CEP 57035-330
Maceió - AL - Brazil
Phone: + 55 82 3327 5213
Fax: + 55 82 3337 2737

São Paulo
Alameda Lorena, 684, Casa 4
CEP 01424-000
São Paulo - SP - Brazil
Phone: +55 11 3051 7112