Everyone who has travelled to a foreign country without speaking the local lingo knows the story: every time you get into a cab, you run the risk of ending up on the opposite side of town to where you wanted to go. But for tourists planning to come to Rio for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, help is at hand. Taxi drivers across the city have started signing up for 10,000 free online English courses, provided by the Rio 2016 Organising Committee and its partners Radio Globo and English First (EF).

One of the taxistas who signed up on Tuesday (11 August) was José Rodrigues, who already tries to make foreign visitors feel as welcome as possible. “There are many tourists who do not speak any Portuguese, and we’re expecting many more for the Olympics,” he said. “I speak a little Spanish and French and now I want to improve my English. One time I had a passenger who had a headache and wanted to buy some pills, but in the pharmacy they understood nothing. I was waiting and waiting and then the passenger called me in and I helped him get the medicine. I like to help and advise tourists, give them tips, make them feel welcome.”  

José Rodrigues was one of the taxi drivers who queued to sign up for free English lessons (Photo: Rio 2016/Sam Green)

Flávio de Lima Cavalcanti studied English for four years at school, but a lack of practice has led to a lack of confidence, something he is keen to rectify – especially to avoid any more mix-ups like the one he suffered with two foreign tourists who wanted to visit one of Rio’s most famous landmarks.

“Sometimes, when tourists speak no Portuguese at all, it can get complicated,” he said. “Once I had two foreign girls in my taxi and they wanted to go to Sugarloaf Mountain, but I could not understand. They were saying ‘Sugar something’ but I didn’t understand so I took them to the beach and from there they saw the Sugarloaf and they were pointing and saying ‘that’s where we wanted to go!’, so luckily I managed to get them there that time. These lessons will help, at least we will be able to understand more, even if we don’t end up speaking fluently.”  

For Ricardo Guimarães, who also signed up on Tuesday, the aim is more ambitious. “I really want to learn to English, fluently. I understand very little English at the moment but I believe that when you have the desire to learn, you will learn. There will be a lot more foreigners here next year for the Games, and these lessons should help a lot. I hope the foreigners come, they will be very welcome, and us taxi drivers will be your hosts and we will do everything to help you as much as we can.”

Ricardo Guimarães hopes to become fluent in English (Photo: Rio 2016/Sam Green)

With about 30,000 registered taxis in Rio, the project has the potential help a third of the fleet improve their English, and if all 10,000 courses are taken up, the initiative could be extended. The courses, which are open to all levels, are designed to run for four months and Mariana Behr, head of engagement at Rio 2016, said the initial reaction had been very positive. “We’ve had a good response from the taxi drivers and we know they are sharing the news on their WhatsApp groups and hearing about it on the radio,” she said “This will leave a legacy to the city of taxi drivers being able to communicate better with their passengers and offering a better level of service.”