My name is Carla and no, teaching English wasn’t my dream when I was younger. However, I was passionate about this language and started studying when I was twelve. The last thing I ever wanted was to become a teacher. I believed that I didn’t have the patience to teach others nor the ability to get the message across. I imagined myself being a great CEO of an I.T. Corporation and for this reason, I majored in Information Systems.

Nevertheless, two months before the end of the course, I realized that IT was actually not going to be part of my journey. I felt that I wanted to make a difference and help others succeed. Fortunately, one of my teachers from high school invited me to teach English at her school. It was love at first sight. I was definitely in my element; I had been wrong all this time!

At the end of 2015, as my I.T. internship came to an end, I made the bold choice to become a private teacher. I set up my own business, named it “MyLearningStuff”, and started teaching at my mother-in-law’s home. There, I had a makeshift office composed of the bare essentials such as a laptop, a table, two chairs, and a whiteboard.

As I mentioned above, I wanted to make a difference in this world. English fluency isn’t Brazil’s greatest strength. According to a 2019 research from Education First (EF – https://www.ef.com.br/epi/), Brazil holds the 59th position when it comes to English proficiency level. This is due to several factors, such as the focus on fast results instead of commitment and long-term results and a lack of perspective on the application of the language on a daily basis. These factors combined, lead to many people quitting when they need to persevere the most. Finding a way to help turn this issue around was my core concern from the very beginning.

When I started teaching, I used the traditional methods. As my teachers had taught me, I used books and tests at the end of each unit. The result? My students ALWAYS seemed to forget at least 95% of the content after the tests. This bothered me since I didn’t want them to feel frustrated and give up on English. So, I tirelessly began to search for a way to help students feel confident and successfully use English in their lives without books. I was on a mission!

That was when I first came across Rachel’s videos on YouTube. It was a game-changer for me. I dove right into this world; I signed up for some workshops and started reading Rachel’s posts. I became fascinated by her concept!

As time went by, while still nurturing the Neurolanguage Coaching ® idea inside me, I decided to try some things on my own. I came up with the idea of creating English grammar plans for different student levels. From there, I decided I wouldn’t work with books anymore; I would create study plans based on grammar and topics my students were invested in.

My students absolutely loved this idea, I was definitely on to something. No more books, no more stiff material and no more tests to stress out about. I started to notice that they became more confident and free to explore English by themselves. They became less afraid of making mistakes and began to express themselves while finding enjoyment in their English journey. However, I knew something was still missing. I just didn’t know what…

In the meantime, I learned that Rachel had a book, which talked about the “Brain-friendly Language Learning” concept. I immediately went to her website and purchased it. When it arrived, I felt so excited to see that Rachel had signed the book and written such a beautiful message:

Truth be told, I think I wasn’t ready to read it and fully grasp what Neurolanguage Coaching ® was all about. Moreover, I felt that as a learner myself, there were a few things I wanted to achieve first. I wanted to improve my pronunciation, my English in general, and have an advanced English certificate. Therefore, I put the book away for some time and continued to follow my gut as a teacher. However, the seed had already been planted; becoming a Neurolanguage Coach® had become a life goal. It was just a matter of time until I realized it.

I never stopped following Rachel’s projects. I watched the Neurolanguage Coaching® conference online, which was held in Edinburgh in 2018, and I bought an e-course, which was the introduction to Neurolanguage Coaching ®. I was getting ready for what was coming up next.

In 2019, I had 2 major goals in my professional life: one was the CAE exam and the other was registering on the next Neurolanguage Coaching® course. One month after getting married, I passed the CAE. Three months later, I did the Neurolanguage Coaching course, and all the while I navigated the crazy routine that comes with married life.

In December, I became a Neurolanguage Coach® and I started to see the world through different eyes. I’ve already transformed a couple of lives by simply following my gut, being more compassionate and showing my clients they can trust me. When Neurolanguage Coaching® came in, I gained more clarity and aligned my visions with my clients’ needs and realities. Students’ indifference became passion and fear became confidence. I completely believe that I have found exactly what I was looking for; certainty and a clear path to follow that has transformed me from the never-satisfied traditional English teacher to a happy and satisfied coach.

I don’t know what the future holds for me. What I do know, is that there’s so much more to accomplish in this life. I would like to help more people change their lives through education. I would love to share my experiences and discoveries with other coaches, teachers, students, and coachees. I strive to better my country’s fluency in English, to shape the perspective of learning a new language, and with that, open the many doors that will allow my students to incorporate English into their daily lives.