As much as I would love to put this into as many languages as possible, for the sake of this profile, I hope you can understand English...

So where do I begin? My name is Stephen and I'm originally from London, but I study in the University of Southampton in the South of the UK, where I am an undergraduate studying Modern Languages (namely French, German and Portuguese). However currently I am an exchange student in Brazil living in SÃO PAULO until July 2017. In the University of São Paulo I am studying Letras - Spanish, German and Italian - because studying Portuguese in Brazil would be too mainstream, right?

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

As well as being a languages student I am extremely keen to couple this with seeing as much of the world as possible during my life!
What better way of hearing interesting stories and getting to know new places than through the locals themselves???
I'm super optimistic about the opportunities this website can bring me! I promise I'm reliable and I'll even buy you a gift to say "thank you" <3 My friends recommended that I try it here, so here I am!

- Dec 2016: Gabriel Campos - Imbituba, SC, Brasil (S)
- Jan 2017: Júlio Cesar - Fortaleza, CE, Brasil (S)
- Feb 2017: Felipe Ferreira - João Pessoa, PB, Brasil (S)
- Feb 2017: Marcos Barros - Recife, PE, Brasil (S)
- Mar 2017: Adriene Moreira Dos Santos - Santos, SP, Brasil (H)
- Apr 2017: João Grilo - Campo Grande, MS, Brasil (S)
- Jun 2017: Rafael Leite - Curitiba, PR, Brasil (S)

Interests

It's fair to say that I pretty much lived in a shell before I started university, which is to say that that mainly included holing myself up in my room and playing games.

However, when I was younger my parents made me dance Ballroom & Latin - which I did ultimately enjoy, but was forced to quit due to extenuating circumstances. At university the opportunity arose for me to take up dancing again. Well... Ballroom & Latin lessons were too far, so I took up salsa again! Salsa has grown into one of the great passions of my life and I've even won a national university competition so I can't be that awful! I have now taken it upon myself to throw myself into the dance of whatever cultures I visit - I already dance forró, started in SP and love it to bits! Dance is such an elegant and vivid way of expressing yourself, and it's so fascinating to see how different culture move themselves to different styles of music.

Other than that, languages are my main devotion and calling. I am always eager to widen my horizons and meet the people and the culture behind the language. Languages are the keys to witnessing new ways of life and I see endless possibilities with what I learn every day. I'm that person who can't stand speaking English abroad unless I really have to. Really, it's just rude if I don't at least make an effort to speak your language in your country!!

• culture
• literature
• acting
• dancing
• running
• music
• languages
• mathematics
• medicine

Music, Movies, and Books

Not to conform to the classic stereotypes, but yes, I do tend to like dance music (house) mostly as my go-to music genre. That said, you will catch me popping in headphones and listening to Latino and Brazilian music, and even some Kizomba style when the time is right too!

Films... so many that I have watched that the names of the ones I enjoyed the most barely spring to mind. In English language I tend to love comedies, otherwise in German I love "Das Leben der Anderen", in French "Amélie", and one of my absolute favourites is the Cuban film "Chico y Rita".

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

As a linguistic challenge, acting as a 3-way interpreter in a conversation between 3 couples who individually spoke English, French and German, but none of the other languages! Despite many hesitations and a few dodgy translations, honestly one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life.

Since I've arrived in Brazil for my year abroad, so many things could be added to this list. And I just hope it keeps on growing.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach English, has always been a dream of mine.

Learn about other ways of life, how I can better myself, to improve my languages

Share my experiences and what my life has taught me, exchange tales

Simple.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I hope that I can convey my charismatic spirit and willingness to talk about my experiences and share as much as I can about my home culture and my country: the UK! :D

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain, United States, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Brazil, England