A Brazilian and a gringo meet at a bar…
And 10 years later, we're still recording podcasts and teaching Brazilian Portuguese.
Olá!
We're Alexia and Foster.
Welcome to our little corner of the internet. We are so happy to have you here.
She's from Rio de Janeiro. He's from South Carolina. We met, fell in love, and somewhere along the way built one of the most listened-to Brazilian Portuguese podcasts in the world.
This is the story of how a passion project became a real business — and why we still do everything ourselves.
[Photo placeholder: Alexia and Foster together — warm, candid. Different from homepage hero.]
It Started with a Microphone and Zero Listeners
In 2017, we recorded our first episode of Carioca Connection in a tiny apartment in Rio de Janeiro. No plan, no strategy, no business model. Just a Brazilian and an American having candid conversations in Portuguese and hoping someone out there would find it useful.
And people started listening! People found it. Slowly, at first. A handful of downloads, a few reviews. Then hundreds. Then thousands. Hundreds of thousands!
Listeners wrote to us from the US, Europe, Australia, Japan, and all over Brazil. They said the same thing over and over: "This is the first time Portuguese felt real to me."
For years, the podcast was just a passion project. We weren't charging for anything. The episodes were free. The transcripts were free. We did it because we loved it.
But our listeners kept asking for more.
"Why Change What's Working?"
That's what Foster said in 2021 when the idea of a membership first came up. He was resistant — the podcast was doing well, people loved it, why complicate things?
Alexia saw it differently. She saw listeners who were stuck — loyal fans who had been listening for years but still couldn't hold a real conversation. They needed more than episodes. They needed structure, community, and someone to practice with.
So in August 2021, we launched a beta. Twelve members. A weekly class on Zoom. No idea what we were doing.
By November, we had opened it up as the CC Club — and the response was immediate. People who had studied Portuguese alone for years finally had a place to speak. Members who had never said a full sentence out loud were having 30-minute conversations within weeks.
We learned a few things fast: that the people who showed up every week made the most progress. That commitment mattered more than talent. That the real magic wasn't in the content — it was in the connection.
[Photo placeholder: Alexia — individual, candid, expressive]
Alexia — The Carioca
Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro. A decade of teaching experience. An infectious love for Brazilian culture that comes through in everything she does.
Alexia is the heart of Carioca Connection. She drives every episode, brings the cultural depth, and refuses to let anyone settle for textbook Portuguese. When she teaches, culture comes first — because she believes the reasons you're learning Portuguese are more important than the grammar rules.
She's also the one who convinced Foster to build the CC Club. (He'll admit it took some convincing.)
On the podcast, Alexia speaks at full native speed — on purpose. She believes that exposure to real, natural Portuguese is how you actually improve. But she'll slow down if you ask nicely. Probably.
[Photo placeholder: Foster — individual, casual, approachable]
Foster — The Gringo Who Cracked the Code
Originally from South Carolina. Learned Brazilian Portuguese as an adult — the hard way, through total immersion, a lot of mistakes, and the patience of a very understanding Brazilian.
Foster is your cobaia (guinea pig). He makes mistakes on the podcast so you don't have to. Even after nearly a decade with Alexia, he still encounters words he's never heard. His genuine struggles with pronunciation, slang, and those impossible nasal vowels ARE the lesson.
Off the mic, Foster handles the business side — tech, strategy, and all the behind-the-scenes work that keeps Carioca Connection running. He's also the one who writes most of the emails. (You can usually tell by the P.S. at the bottom.)
His philosophy: if he can learn Portuguese as an adult with no formal training, so can you. It's not about being gifted. It's about showing up.
### Our Philosophy
Culture first, always. We don't teach grammar in a vacuum. We teach Portuguese through the stories, music, food, humor, and daily life of Brazil. Because the culture is the reason you're learning — and it should be the reason you keep going.
Real spoken Portuguese. Textbooks teach you one version of the language. Brazilians speak another. We teach the one people actually use — the slang, the contractions, the expressions that make you sound like you belong in the conversation.
Honest about the journey. Portuguese is hard. We're not going to pretend it isn't. There are no magic pills, no "fluent in 30 days" promises. But if you show up consistently and surround yourself with the real thing, you will get better. We've seen it happen hundreds of times.
Anti-textbook, always. As Tom Jobim once said, "Brasil não é para principiantes" — Brazil is not for beginners. The depth, the nuance, the warmth of Brazilian culture can't be captured in a textbook. That's why we built something different.</span>
Since 2017
400+ Episodes recorded · 10 Seasons of worksheets · More than 500,000 downloads worldwide · Listeners in more than 130 countries
Every episode is a real, unscripted conversation. No scripts, no actors, no AI voices. Just us — talking about life, culture, and language the way we always have.
The People Who Make This Possible
Over the years, we've met hundreds of learners from all over the world. They come to Carioca Connection for different reasons — a Brazilian partner, a trip to Rio, a love of bossa nova, a career move, or just pure curiosity.
Some are listeners who study on their own, using the podcast and worksheets to build comprehension at their own pace. Some are CC Club members who show up to live class every week and have become friends. Some are coaching clients working toward a specific goal with Alexia.
All of them share something: they had a taste of Brazil and wanted to go deeper.
We are continually humbled by the community our listeners and members have helped us build. Every review, every message, every "obrigado" keeps this project alive.
"When I first joined I was still really nervous about speaking in Portuguese and I was rehearsing phrases in my head before I spoke. Now I feel like I can speak with ease about most topics. CC Club has a fun and relaxed vibe, different from taking lessons. After a few sessions, I felt like I transformed what I had been learning in classes into actually being able to have real conversations!"
— Hannah, CC Club Member
Ready to Join Us?
Whether you're just starting out or you've been studying for years, we built something for you.
Self-Study — $240/year → | CC Club — $360/year → | Coaching — Contact Us →
Or start with the podcast — 400+ episodes, completely free, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere you listen.
Learn Portuguese the way Brazilians actually speak it — through the story of two people who live it every day.
Made with ❤️ by Alexia & Foster