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Tche Ricardo & Takako,
What a wonderful time and experience I had at S&K. You have a great full immersion course and staff too! After the course, I put my new language skill to use while in Brazil for business. When I returned back here to my company, my fellow Brazilian co-workers were impressed with the Portuguese conversational level that I had achieved in so short of a time! The small town of Santa Cruz offers the perfect environment to practice with the local folks and to have a little fun. It was difficult getting back to the rat race of the big cities. However, I was so thrilled and excited when I returned home, I am now yearning for the time when I can return back to visit you all (Eu tenh muito saudades de voltar). I think I left my heart in Santa Cruz. From now on, I will highly recommend your program to anyone who is interested in learning Portuguese and the Brazilian culture.
Please give my best regards to all my friends at S&K.
Um abraço,- James Tripp <tripas206*yahoo.com>
Schütz
& Kanomata offers an exceptional environment for learning languages
in Brazil. The school is run by highly experienced teachers who are sensitive
and attentive to individual needs and who keep close track of individual
progress. My two sons flourished during our six weeks in Santa Cruz do
Sul. The elder one, who is 14 and fluent verbally in Portuguese, had one-to-one
intensive tutoring to bolster his reading and writing capacity in Portuguese.
My younger son, who is five, participated in a variety of activities to
encourage enthusiasm for learning a second language and to start building
a basic vocabulary in Portuguese. Both boys made substantial progress and
had a happy and productive time at S&K. I highly recommend this school
and would be happy to answer any specific questions or inquiries.- Susan de Morais <demorais*optonline.net>
My
Portuguese learning experience in Santa Cruz do Sul was unbelievable! This
is a special language school and different than many others I had been
to. I speak Spanish, French, Portuguese, and English so I have been to
many schools and this is the best one by far. It all started right from
my arrival when Ricardo, the owner of the school, picked me up in his van
from the bus station as soon as I arrived (free of charge). The hospitality
of all the staff, Ricardo and his wife was unbelievable, going out of their
way to help me with many different things and problems. The quality of
the private instruction I received was excellent as both teachers were
extremely competent, enthusiastic and creative to maintain my interest
in learning Portuguese and taught me many practical things. I was also
able to get some documents and text translated into Portuguese which I
needed for my business which was done quite well, accurately and qucikly.
You can check out S+K's work at <www.whistlerwired.com> and click
on Portugues. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the staff
at S+K and especially to Ricardo. It was one of the best experiences of
my life! If you have any questions about the school, please feel free to
contact me in English, French, or Spanish at <markofwhistlerwired@hotmail.com>.
Tchau
Date: Jul 2001
I
wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for creating such a wonderful
program and inviting me to be a part of it. This was one of the best experiences
of my life and I shall never forget it.- Thank you for taking such good care of us and providing us with an incredible opportunity to participate in a real cultural exchange experience. I love Brazil, Portuguese and Santa Cruz.
Date: Jun 2001
I
feel sadness thinking about the end of my time at the school. Everyone
going out to the restaurant to have a special going away lunch for me on
Friday. Friday night Veronica having everyone from the school over to her
house for a goodbye dinner. And on Saturday, Paula having her father cook
a big Bar-B-Que in the country for me. All the wonderful places we visited
and experiences I had. The spirit teaches us that we are all so very valuable
on this earth. Our journey has been to discover that truth about ourselves
and all our brothers. Here in Brasil, and in Santa Cruz do Sul, the people
I have met instinctually have known this truth, and in all the ways that
they have been with me, they showed me that I am a special human being,
and in doing so have revealed their own specialness. From where I come
it's a quality that I rarely encounter. Yet, here it's as natural as breathing
the air. It's a lesson for me to take home, more important than the languauge
gains that I have made. Brasil is a beautiful, wonderful country. I won't
forget. This has been a special journey. Thanks and love, John.
Date: Feb 2001
I
had a good time in Santa Cruz. Feel free to ask me at the above address.
Date: 4 March 2000
Schütz
and Kanomata (S&K) is a very special school for learning Portuguese.
I was lucky enough to stumble on to it through the Internet. It was actually
the second school I have attended in Brazil, each for a period of 4 weeks,
so I have some grounds for comparison. The success of a learning experience
depends on several factors. Your own motivation, the quality of your instructors
and the day-to-day living environment. Since all of us who embark on learning
Portuguese in Brazil are of course motivated, it is the other factors that
contribute to the degree of our success. Being a former college professor
teaching has been my life. I found the Professoras at S&K exceptionally
well trained, enthusiastic, and intelligent. The mode of instruction is
similar to having a talented friend with amazing patience working closely
with you. The school itself is located in Santa Cruz do Sul, a beautiful
small college town 100 miles west of Porto Alegre. Santa Cruz is safe,
clean, and modern. The classes take place inside the Schütz family
home. It is a large beautiful house located on spacious grounds with beautiful
gardens built around the turn of the century. There really isn't any comparison
between the two schools I attended - one was a small business in a tourist
city the other S&K.- James
Date: 21 May 1999
I
heartily recommend Schütz & Kanomata to anyone who wishes to embark
on a study of Portuguese as a second language. Especially helpful were
the many techniques for making the learner begin to feel comfortable in
a new language environment. Both the school of S&K and the community
of Santa Cruz do Sul were ideal for this purpose. The experience at S&K
was everything I'd hoped it would be, and I only wish I could have had
more time to spend there ! - Charles Kelly
Date: 26 Nov 1998
Ricardo
and Takako,- My semester at S&K was one that I shall never forget. My Portuguese improved, I made lots of good friends, and I experienced southern Brasil's gaucho culture. What more could a gal ask for? As far as the teaching style goes, I think one of the best aspects of S&K for both teachers and students is the freedom that you guys encourage in the classroom. It not only allows the student to grow at his/her own rate, but also allows the teacher to accommodate accordingly. Thanks so much for the opportunity, kids!
- Tchauzinho,
- Andrea
Date: 21 Nov 1998
To
whom it may cocern:- A perfect example of acquistionary learning, S&K operates as a community center of sorts for the bicultural individual, whether s/he be a native English speaker or native Portuguese speaker. As the L1 English speaker can enter the school to learn Portuguese, so can the L1 Portuguese speaker learn English. Osmotic as it sounds, it truly works.
- SK is one of the few institutions I have ever believed in, as fundamentally, methodologically, and pedagogically correct centers of learning go. I'm thinking about writing a thesis based on how the communicative learning center works. Ideally, this thesis would explore the communicative methodology used at the school in conjunction with the different facets of L1/L2 speaker contact, emphasis on English as a global language, and the website as well. The thesis would basically state that the way SK works is how schools of SLA should work.
- Finally, I would recommend this school to any person who wanted to learn languages. SK offers a global classroom, where the target language is spoken exclusively, and the cultural window is always open. It is truly a success story among EFL and PSL schools.
- Cheers
- Kirk
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998
Hi
Ricardo, - How are you doing? I hope that everything is going fine there and that the alterations to the school are now well underway - are they? I bet it's really hot there too which is galling as the weather is utter shit here!! I'm sure you know I'm not as happy here in France as I was in Brazil and at your school as things are really stressed here, but I'm learning French which is what I came to do!
- The reason I am writing to you is because I have a friend who I work with here who is very interested in coming out to study there. I was going on about how great it was at your school etc.. and how the methodology was much more natural etc.. and all about it, and she said that she would absolutely love to go out to study and practice there as she has been thinking about finding a program in Brazil as she wants to learn Portuguese - eventually to move to Mozambique. She is fully qualified and VERY conscientious - she's my boss, and she's 29 and British, with 18 months teaching experience. She used to be a solicitor in London.
- Best wishes, Sophie
Dear
friends at S&K,- I had a terrible time in Mexico. First, I had to find my own place to live. And of course, getting around had to be by local buses, since the city is so incredibly huge (30 million people). Plus, I didn't have you or your family or Sara to hang out with. Anyway, I have an even greater appreciation for Santa Cruz and your school now. Don't ever think that you are not offering the very BEST in PSL and ESL opportunities, because you ARE the best.
- I still want to come back someday, but I don't know when.
- Very Truly Yours, Amber