Brazilians are lapping up their homework here
VICTOR Olivieri, 24, is one of thousands of young South Americans on the Gold Coast on tourism visas, taking time out of their holiday to learn.
“I was looking for a place to improve my English, and in Brazil I have some friends that went to Australia,” he said.
“But I was looking for a calm place and I always dreamt of living by the beach, so I wanted somewhere I could enjoy the life and the nature.”
Fellow student Lucas Bastos, 23, the lifestyle and fun of the Gold Coast provides the perfect mix: “I wanted to learn English and do surfing as well.”
He plans to do a masters in finance once his English lessons are over, hoping to return home to help with his family business.
“It was confusing, choosing between the United States and here, but in Australia you can work legally so that’s one of the reasons,’’ he said.
“Also the weather is really similar to Brazil, which for sure, since I’m far away from my country, it’s a positive.”
Brazilian Renata Rijo, 19, and her boyfriend, swapped New Zealand for the Gold Coast once they heard about it.
“We didn’t like NZ very much, it was too busy and too cold. My boyfriend chose it because he likes surfing so he said, ‘Oh, let’s go to Australia’.”