[speakeasy]

If any of you have transferable skills in the global marketplace, Brazil seems to be stepping up hiring of foreigners, esp Americans. Article ran through google translate:

http://translate.google.com/translate?js...tm&act=url

[Tommy]

I wish more Brazilian girls would come and work in my town.

[kerouac]

With the US going down the road it's going, with this deep class divide, and the really rich folks holding onto their money rather than spurring economic growth within the country, looking for jobs and starting a life elsewhere doesn't sound too shabby.

[Luckystar]

(03-15-2011 11:49 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  

If any of you have transferable skills in the global marketplace, Brazil seems to be stepping up hiring of foreigners, esp Americans. Article ran through google translate:

http://translate.google.com/translate?js...tm&act=url

Nice article. I've heard over and over they really need engineers in particular.

[oldnemesis]

Learn Chinese. In twenty years all work gonna be there.

[Brian]

I remember 20 years ago everyone said "Learn Japanese. In twenty years all the work is gonna be there."

[choichoi]

I work in my city's airport and b-folks drop some serious dough on goods here.

[Tommy]

(03-16-2011 04:59 AM)oldnemesis Wrote:  

Learn Chinese. In twenty years all work gonna be there.

Thats bullshit. There are so many chinese learning english, in 20 years a new generation of chinese will start learning english even younger.

[Samseau]

Even if China becomes the next super-power, English still might be the preferred business language because of its easy learning curve.

[OSL]

I don't think all the jobs will be in China. In fact, there are something like 2 million Chinese grads each year and not enough jobs for them. On top of that, you have a large percent of those Chinese grads either returning home from studying abroad or learning enough English in China to qualify for English speaking positions. They'll work for 500 bucks a month too, while living with their parents or living dormitory style while they're in their twenties.

I'm looking for jobs in China right now and having success, but I owe that to personal connections and not a thriving job market. I've sent out dozens of applications and been repeatedly rejected for not being a native mandarin speaker. Employers over there are getting pickier. There is even competition among the young expat market.

Chinese will never replace English as an international business language. I don't even think Chinese people really want that to happen, either.

I think the future belongs to adaptable and street smart entrepreneurs, regardless of their nationality and language - although knowing both Chinese and English will certainly be a boon.

[speakeasy]

Hell no will Chinese be the global language. If for any reason because who the hell wants to sit down and learn tens of thousands of Chinese characters in order to read when all you have to learn in English is 26. I don't think there's any stopping English as the default global language because when you look at the upper classes in the emerging economies of the world, most of them already speak at least some English.

[Lief]

1.5 billion people speak English (500 million of which are native). The entire Internet is based on Roman characters (why - b/c Americans invented the Internet).

Chinese would be nice to know. English is essential to know. Ain't gonna change in our lifetimes.

[DanDeLaCruz]

You can add me to that list... My plan is get my Brazilian citizenship within the next couple years, and spend more time there in the future...

Brazil has a lot of things going for it... Large young population, energy independence, low debt levels... etc. etc.

[OSL]

Spot on Dan - despite its social problems, Brazil is a juggernaut across the board:

-water resources
-demographics
-economically sound
-democratic
-energy independence
-foreign policy, national security - not stuck in multiple wars in the middle east
-food/agriculture
-not prone to natural disasters (I think?)

Dan, how are you going to get Brazilian citizenship? I know that knocking up and marrying a Brazilian chick is one way to go but I'd rather not do that

[Lief]

Brazilian citizenship has one big disadvantage - they tax non-residents on worldwide income.

So once you get that passport, you'll be paying Braz taxes no matter where you are in the world.

If you have an internet business like Dan, Brazilian citizenship might not make much sense.

[speakeasy]

I was just hanging with a Brasileira the other night who is living in Kansas the moment. She said that the one thing she loves about the US is the safety. Even where she lives in the S. of Brazil near Florianopolis, she said there's a lot of crime compared to here. I can only imagine what it's like up in Recife. I take for granted being able to throw my shit down on an L.A. beach, go body boarding for an hour and have it still there when I get back. Brazil is cool but I don't want to over-romanticize the place either. I was recently playing around with google street view and looking at different places in Rio that I had visited as well as some other areas I didn't get to see. What struck me is just how fucked up the majority of Rio is. When you get to the north zone where the average Carioca lives, the city looks like one big slum and every time there's a rain storm somebody's neighborhood is going to get washed away in an avalanche of mud. I see good things on Brazil's horizon but right now it is still very much a 2 tier economy. Once that evens out a bit(hopefully), you might start seeing the crime rates come down making it more livable. I hated the stress of always having to look over my shoulder, constantly.

[Luckystar]

(03-19-2011 04:57 PM)DanDeLaCruz Wrote:  

You can add me to that list... My plan is get my Brazilian citizenship within the next couple years, and spend more time there in the future...

Brazil has a lot of things going for it... Large young population, energy independence, low debt levels... etc. etc.

If you don't have portuguese, but you have business experience and a business degree, for example. What are the real prospects of getting hired and a work visa in Brazil? Any idea?

[hydrogonian]

(03-19-2011 08:57 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  

I was just hanging with a Brasileira the other night who is living in Kansas the moment. She said that the one thing she loves about the US is the safety. Even where she lives in the S. of Brazil near Florianopolis, she said there's a lot of crime compared to here. I can only imagine what it's like up in Recife. I take for granted being able to throw my shit down on an L.A. beach, go body boarding for an hour and have it still there when I get back. Brazil is cool but I don't want to over-romanticize the place either. I was recently playing around with google street view and looking at different places in Rio that I had visited as well as some other areas I didn't get to see. What struck me is just how fucked up the majority of Rio is. When you get to the north zone where the average Carioca lives, the city looks like one big slum and every time there's a rain storm somebody's neighborhood is going to get washed away in an avalanche of mud. I see good things on Brazil's horizon but right now it is still very much a 2 tier economy. Once that evens out a bit(hopefully), you might start seeing the crime rates come down making it more livable. I hated the stress of always having to look over my shoulder, constantly.

Although I haven't been there, after reading about others people's experiences fore many years, this was the impression that I had (re: safety - even in 'good' areas like Floripa).

Someone who lived there permanently once gave this advice "Move as far south as possible". That would be Porto Alegre, and that's where he lived. Of course, we're talking about long term living. An entirely different set of criteria needs to be met for a vacation/ temporary stay.

[zoom]

(03-20-2011 10:12 AM)Luckystar Wrote:  

If you don't have portuguese, but you have business experience and a business degree, for example. What are the real prospects of getting hired and a work visa in Brazil? Any idea?

I'd like to know this too

[oldnemesis]

(03-19-2011 04:20 PM)Lief Wrote:  

1.5 billion people speak English (500 million of which are native).

1.5 billion sounds like a huge number, but don't count on that. It, for example, includes all ex-USSR who study English in school as second language - and trust me, most of them do NOT speak any English besides "my name is Vasya".

If you ever been to Thailand, you'd get an idea what "speaking English" may mean. Sure, she does speak English, but her vocabulary is like twenty words. And I'd guess roughly half of this 1.5 billion are "speakers" like that.

Quote:

The entire Internet is based on Roman characters (why - b/c Americans invented the Internet).

Was. UTF-8 is now used almost everywhere. Even in domain names: http://правительство.рф/

Quote:

Chinese would be nice to know. English is essential to know. Ain't gonna change in our lifetimes.

Are you sure? I'd consider "essential" as something you cannot do any basics, like finding a job, buying goods, communicating to locals. In that sense English is not even close to essential in a lot of countries around the world. In Russia, for example, it would only benefit one in some limited situations, and it is definitely not something essential. Same in Poland, Romania, Germany, France - it is definitely not essential comparing to native language. No idea how essential it is in Japan or Korea, but looking on another thread about Japan I'd guess it is just "nice to know" there as well.

[Seven11]

Soon as you get Brasilian Citizenship they will revoke your USA Citizenship. They do not allow dual-citizenship/passport last I checked. I could be wrong though

[oldnemesis]

(03-22-2011 10:35 PM)Seven11 Wrote:  

Soon as you get Brasilian Citizenship they will revoke your USA Citizenship. They do not allow dual-citizenship/passport last I checked. I could be wrong though

Yes, you are wrong:


In light of the administrative premise discussed above, a person who:

- is naturalized in a foreign country;
- takes a routine oath of allegiance to a foreign state;
...

and in so doing wishes to retain U.S. citizenship need not submit prior to the commission of a potentially expatriating act a statement or evidence of his or her intent to retain U.S. citizenship since such an intent will be presumed.

[CrackerJack]

(03-17-2011 09:35 PM)Brian Wrote:  

I remember 20 years ago everyone said "Learn Japanese. In twenty years all the work is gonna be there."

Very true. Repetitive, cheap, peasantish labor will for sure dominate China. Anything with ideas and breakthroughs is still the domain of Europeans (and it's descendants).

[CrackerJack]

(03-20-2011 11:34 PM)oldnemesis Wrote:  

(03-19-2011 04:20 PM)Lief Wrote:  

1.5 billion people speak English (500 million of which are native).

1.5 billion sounds like a huge number, but don't count on that. It, for example, includes all ex-USSR who study English in school as second language - and trust me, most of them do NOT speak any English besides "my name is Vasya".

If you ever been to Thailand, you'd get an idea what "speaking English" may mean. Sure, she does speak English, but her vocabulary is like twenty words. And I'd guess roughly half of this 1.5 billion are "speakers" like that.

Quote:

The entire Internet is based on Roman characters (why - b/c Americans invented the Internet).

Was. UTF-8 is now used almost everywhere. Even in domain names: http://правительство.рф/

Quote:

Chinese would be nice to know. English is essential to know. Ain't gonna change in our lifetimes.

Are you sure? I'd consider "essential" as something you cannot do any basics, like finding a job, buying goods, communicating to locals. In that sense English is not even close to essential in a lot of countries around the world. In Russia, for example, it would only benefit one in some limited situations, and it is definitely not something essential. Same in Poland, Romania, Germany, France - it is definitely not essential comparing to native language. No idea how essential it is in Japan or Korea, but looking on another thread about Japan I'd guess it is just "nice to know" there as well.

Yes I'm sure. I could consider toilet paper essential also.

Major medical publications are in english. The whole higher education system is based on english (at least anything that counts). When you're sitting in an airplane, the dudes up front speak english to do their jobs even if they're Thai.

If you weren't russian I would think you're french.

[ElJefe]

Definitely Brazil over China for me.

Brazilian women are hotter, more women per men, cooler women, no pent up anger against 20th century humiliation, no one-party State with a military-expansionist agenda, better climate. Yeah, it's gonna be Brazil.