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Very few bars or clubs in the U.S. are open after 2 am. There are many, many cities where last call is well before 2 am. If you want places that rage into the early morning hours, pretty much your only options are New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, Chicago and New Orleans. Maybe Philly too. There might be a handful of other places I am forgetting, but that's pretty much it.
Chicago has everything you're looking for. Its not cheap, but its cheap for a world-class city.
If you're there in the winter months, you'll get the snow you want...in the first 3 days. Consider that it gets very cold there, and snow can suck. The novelty of experiencing snow for the first time will melt long before the snow does.
Very few bars or clubs in the U.S. are open after 2 am. There are many, many cities where last call is well before 2 am. If you want places that rage into the early morning hours, pretty much your only options are New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, Chicago and New Orleans. Maybe Philly too. There might be a handful of other places I am forgetting, but that's pretty much it.
Keep in mind that a 2am 'Last Call' doesn't necessarily mean the bar/club closes, it just means they stop serving alcohol. The laws regarding last call very widely even within a single state, but later than 3am is rare.
To study english, I would stay away from areas with heavy accents (ie NY, Boston, the southeast)
Midwestern cities such as Saint Louis, Omaha, Indianapolis, with low costs of living - would all be safe bets
Have you been to Boston or NYC? Consider that you're giving out some very inaccurate and perplexing advice to someone who may not know better. NYC and Boston would both be great places to study English. Its pretty uncommon to actually hear the stereotypical Bawston or Noo Yawk accent, movies and TV exaggerate them. And even if a small portion of the people he meets have the accent, that's not going to negatively impact a student's English.
They are both wonderful, active, multicultural cities, and I would recommend a Brazilian visitor stay in Boston or NYC longggggg before I would send them to Omaha freaking Nebraska. However, NYC is outrageously expensive, and Boston isn't cheap either.
What kind of English do you want to focus on? Accent-wise? Exposure-wise? All the places you listed in the OP are different.
I'd recommend Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver or Seattle in the US. Neutral accents (esp Seattle, Denver), pretty much standard. Cool to cold weather, you will encounter snow. Big enough that you wont get bored as a student.
Tons of students in the city (both undergraduate and graduate), a good variety of nightlife, relatively safe & condensed urban core (outside the core things can get a little rough until you hit the suburbs - but you will have no need to go there).
Good connectivity to the rest of the NE. Amtrak to DC or Boston. Can also take that to NYC or simply take the Philly transit system over to NJ and connect to the NJ transit and run that up to the city. Can definitely grab a wide variety of urban experiences.
Winter happens in Philly, but not as harsh as Chicago or the upper midwestern cities. A couple hour drive and you are up into the mountains where you can ski, snowboard, etc. There are a variety of options from taking a greyhound bus to a town that has a hotel you can use as your base, to booking as part of a charter trip from the city directly to the mountain or even a party bus type environment.
Chicago is a nice option as well.
With your budget in mind and what you are looking for I'd probably focus on those two cities.
What kind of English do you want to focus on? Accent-wise? Exposure-wise? All the places you listed in the OP are different.
I'd recommend Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver or Seattle in the US. Neutral accents (esp Seattle, Denver), pretty much standard. Cool to cold weather, you will encounter snow. Big enough that you wont get bored as a student.
I have lived in Mpls & Denver and enjoy both cities a lot. However, I absolutely wouldn't recommend them.
I wouldn't get too hung up on the accent or dialect that is regional. They may pick up on some variation, but lets be honest in that their accent is going to be that of someone who isn't a native speaker.
There is a huge somali and hmong population in mpls - a city that does have a pretty distinct accent and way of speaking. Even after being there for years the immigrants are walking around with "ya, you betchas", "uff da" or anything of the sort. The accent that stems from their native language overrides the local american changes by and large. While there is some modeling, you aren't going to immediately sound like that region.
If you live in boston, maybe you end up using the word "wicked" more than if you were to live in denver. However, you most likely aren't going to "pahk the cah in hahvahd yahd" .... you know, to keep with the broad brush and all.
I think people underestimate exactly how cold it gets in mpls. Not sure what months OP plans on being in the US, but if chosing a place like that I wouldn't want to do 5-6 months all in the winter. Dark, beyond cold, people start to get a little grumpy, not pleasant to get around without a car (I lived there without a car). The city is also pretty isolated, it has some fun nightlife but isn't a great nightlife metro when compared to the heavy hitters. Cost isn't too bad, but not a huge discount either.
Denver isn't as bad in the winter. You get more big storms, but also a lot of sun and pretty mild days. Also very isolated. Downtown has some decent nightlife, but isn't as big as a core as the other cities. It's also very isolated and transit is more commuter oriented. You'd almost have to live downtown without a car and would pay a premium for it without getting that strong urban setting like you would in the NE cities or a place like SF.
I tried to answer in Portuguese but it got deleted haha...
Anyway, you should definitely try Boston or Chicago. They're both beautiful, cold weather cities with lots of snow, cultural offerings, sporting events, etc.
Boston has tons of universities (coincidentally I met my wife while she was studying English in Boston), so you'll have tons of options and be able to meet a lot of young people too. However it does close down pretty early and is quite expensive, so those are detractors. The neighborhoods are among the best in the entire country, it has fantastic parks, and the subway system is great too. It's a very condensed city, so you're always close to everything. It's one of the prettiest cities in the United States, without question. To add to this, the areas outside of the city are packed with historical sites if you're into that sort of thing. It's also a quick trip to cities like New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC and Montreal (though you should definitely check out any visa requirements for taking a trip to Canada).
I don't know whether you'll consider this a positive or negative, but the greater Boston area has the largest Brasilian population in the world...and it also has tons of Portuguese/Cape Verdes/Azoreans, etc. Overall, it may be the largest concentration of Portuguese speakers in a non-Portuguese country. This would be good in the sense that you'd be able to find padarias, churrascos, and other Brasilians without any trouble...but at the same time if you're only going to be living in the US for a couple of months you may not want to spend it with other Brasilians (they're basically all Mineiros if that makes any difference to you). However just because there are lots of Brasilians in the area doesn't mean you have to hang out with them...it's all up to you haha.
If Boston isn't for you, then I would absolutely recommend Chicago. It's a beautiful city, with a great subway system and tons to offer. It stays open much later than Boston (and most other cities in the US) and is much, much cheaper. Chicago also has some beautiful neighborhoods on the North side of the city, and it also has a good selection of universities. On the downside, it tends to have a lot of crime. The murder rate is actually higher than São Paulo's now...most of the Northern areas of the city are perfectly safe but it's worth noting that Chicago does have a bad rep for crime. On top of that, it's a bit more secluded than Boston. You can't get into a car for a weekend and travel to the same places you could if you were in Boston.
Boa sorte! What part of Brasil are you from?
tmac9wr, are you brazilian? I think that, between these 2 cities, Id pick Chicago. I dont know exactly why but probably because I like basketball and Im a Lakers fan so Boston wouldnt be the best city for me hahaha Beyond that, MJ23 and the Bulls attracts me more
Anyway, Ill look for Boston and see how much it would cost. But like you said, Chicago seems to be cheaper, so I guess itd be the best option. And the price is almost the same in anywhere in USA, except LA and NY. The only city I got low prices was Newcastle in UK. People say its nightlife is really great, one of the best in UK, and itd cost $5000 for accomodation instead of $9000 in Chicago, which means almost R$10.000 hahaha But beyond beers and parties, I want snow (Ive never been in a place that snows) and I think that northern America would be better for it because as people informed me in UK forum, there isnt much snow in UK, it is much more likely to snow in US than there
tmac9wr, are you brazilian? I think that, between these 2 cities, Id pick Chicago. I dont know exactly why but probably because I like basketball and Im a Lakers fan so Boston wouldnt be the best city for me hahaha Beyond that, MJ23 and the Bulls attracts me more
Anyway, Ill look for Boston and see how much it would cost. But like you said, Chicago seems to be cheaper, so I guess itd be the best option. And the price is almost the same in anywhere in USA, except LA and NY. The only city I got low prices was Newcastle in UK. People say its nightlife is really great, one of the best in UK, and itd cost $5000 for accomodation instead of $9000 in Chicago, which means almost R$10.000 hahaha But beyond beers and parties, I want snow (Ive never been in a place that snows) and I think that northern America would be better for it because as people informed me in UK forum, there isnt much snow in UK, it is much more likely to snow in US than there
Im from MG and you? SP?
Hey I'm actually originally from Boston, and met my wife while she was studying English there...she's from São Paulo and we moved here about a year and a half ago.
Honestly, being a Lakers fan in Boston wouldn't be that bad haha. My friend back home was originally from LA and he was a big Lakers fan, but he didn't have any problems. Overall it's a great city...and as I said in my previous post, there are tons of people from Minas living in Boston (but I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing for you).
I don't know anything about Newcastle, so I can't help you there haha...but I do know both Chicago and Boston are fantastic cities and you'd have a great time in either one.
Probably the best ski area if you don't have a car is Montage. You could run public transportation to scranton and either work your way from the station or stay at a hotel that has a shuttle to enjoy a couple of days. Scranton gets about 46 inches of snow, but the ski areas also make snow.
If you are in the north eastern US or upper midwest you will definitely see snow. How much you want to deal with it would be up to you.
One thing to note is that lease lengths could be an issue - you may find some willing to do 6 month leases, one place I lived in philly required 7 months (you could get a studio apt for around $1,000 per month - maybe a little less), many places will quote you at a year and only offer a year. Some will start at a year and then upcharge to shorten it.
Roomates are an option for all these cities. Could be a good way to save money, meet people and learn your way around.
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