Kevin Victors, an actor, English teacher and digital content creator based in São Paulo, has gained recognition for his captivating style of teaching English. As CEO of English Drama, he combines his passion for acting with his love of teaching languages, offering a fun approach to learning English.
In his journey as an educator, Kevin embraces humor as a powerful tool to make learning more effective and relaxed. Inspired by series like Netflix’s “You” and other online references, he creates humorous videos that have become his trademark, providing a relaxed way for students to engage with the language.
Additionally, Kevin brings creativity to his classes, using acting techniques to create hypothetical scenarios and fanfics that make learning more interesting and practical. His famous conversation chart, where he begins with the phrase “I am red and you are blue,” allows students to practice English in a fun way by imitating real-life situations.
Actively present on social media, including Instagram and TikTok, Kevin Vitors reaches a wide audience, receiving positive feedback from followers and students who value his innovative approach to learning English.
In your humor videos, like ‘pescotapa’, where does your source of inspiration come from to create this type of content?
The inspirations started with the Netflix series “You”, mixed with other internet references. Currently, it’s a mix, some friends’ experiences that I extrapolate a little to make it funny or even my own.
In your creative approach to providing English tips in an engaging and fun way, such as incorporating music and interview scenarios, how do these elements make learning more engaging?
I’m an actor, so I ended up using acting methods in English, creating hypothetical scenarios or fanfics, to make learning easier. What I use in class is precisely that, creating hypothetical scenarios for my students to be able to play with English and apply what was taught in class, such as a police interrogation, or talk show interview and so on…
When using humor in your online content to facilitate teaching English, how does humor contribute to the language learning process? And how have your students and followers reacted to this approach?
The feedback has been very good, I believe that the students who enroll with me already have an idea that I am not so conventional due to social media and they play a lot in class. I want students to feel comfortable with English without judgement, to remove the hang-ups, so I believe that humor breaks down this self-judgment they have a little.
Share a memorable or funny story from one of your exchanges. Any unusual or culturally surprising situations you have experienced while in another country?
Look, I think one of the coolest memories I have was a trip with 11 people to Southern California, all Brazilians! It was so incredible that we ended up missing our return flight, because we were in another city, we didn’t calculate the time correctly, and it was really crazy because we weren’t able to rent a car. Apart from the fact that there would have to be 2 cars for 11 people, one for 6. We ended up managing to rent a van due to great luck, and we drove for 10 hours in the van to get back to the city where we lived. Even with these unforeseen events, this was truly the most incredible trip of my life, we really enjoyed it, we were embarrassed, it’s a sensational memory!
How does creativity play an important role in your English lessons and humorous content? Are there specific techniques you use to encourage your students to think creatively when learning a new language?
As a content creator and teacher, creativity is a very important point. Both to differentiate myself, to have my authenticity within my niche, and to remain constant, you know, keep up with recent events. One of the ways I use is acting dynamics, and creating scenarios/fanfics for them to explore their creativity in English.
Your well-known phrase “I am red and you are blue”, how does this approach help students engage and learn more effectively? Any notable student feedback you would highlight?
I think this conversation board is one of my students’ favorites. The feedback is always very good! It’s a way to practice speaking alone, while also playing! Being able to imitate and act out your favorite series and films.
I have already received some very good feedback, saying that they have become much better at speaking English after consuming these conversation videos. Because we always see those English textbook conversations, you know, “how are you?” “I’m fine thanks and you?”, but it’s much nicer to practice being able to fight in English or declare yourself, it’s light, you don’t realize it, but you’re practicing. That’s the idea! Take English to a fun place, so you can learn by romanticizing English.
You have an active presence on social media. How has social media helped your journey as an English educator and content creator? What are the pros and cons of using platforms like Instagram and TikTok to teach languages?
They helped a lot! Working with social media changed my life! The visibility and opportunities that arise from them. The pros would be the reach of people, the visibility, the feedback, so many incredible people who support me and like what I do, keep me with a purpose. I believe that a downside would perhaps be the negative comments that you sometimes receive, in a somewhat crude way, a lot of people on the internet post things not thinking that the creator will read it, but he will! So you have to maintain very good mental health so as not to get carried away by some nasty comments. But the vast majority of them are incredible comments!
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*WithRegina Soares