Brazil prostitutes to learn English ahead of World Cup 2014 Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

As Brazil prepares for the World Cup and Olympic games next year, free English courses are being offered and prostitutes are signing up.

At least 20 prostitutes in the city of Belo Horizonte signed up for the courses and at least 300 are expected to start taking classes, Cida Vieira, president of the association told the Associated Press. The association, which has 4,000 members, is organizing the classes and seeking volunteer teachers. Prostitution is legal in Brazil.

"I don't think we will have problems persuading English teachers to provide services for free," she said. "We already have several volunteer psychologists and doctors helping us."

"In a country like Brazil where prostitution is a legal form of employment, this may not come as a surprise," said Kamy Akhaven, president and managing editor of ProCon.org, a free non-partisan organization that researches the pros and cons of controversial issues. "I imagine a large influx of people working in the sex industry to come to the cities in the coming year."

Akhaven believes offering English courses is not something new in regards to international countries hosting the World Cup.

"There will be an influx of prostitutes matching the demand that World Cup fans would bring to the cities," said Akhaven. "That trend occurred again in South Africa where they were there again to meet the demands of mostly men-to watch arguable the world's greatest sporting event."