Moving to Brasil and working in Brasil

In order to work you need  prospective employer that is willing to sponsor you with the Labor Ministry. Then you can take the visa application to the consulate.
A CPF can be issue by the consulate or when you arrive in Brasil. CPF is your tax ID.
A CPF will not get you a Bank Account. You need a permeant visa or work visa for this. Some schools can help if they have arrangement with a back for a student

Hi, Laura,

You've done an impressive amount of work, so I say with regret that the Labor Ministry just has no interest in granting work visas for language instruction, at least in the most common Western languages.   This is probably why you've had so little response to your campaign.  Many, many have tried, including coming here and beating the pavement going school to school, all to no avail. 
Opening a bank account requires both a CPF and a CRNM, the second only available to foreigners who already have a work or other residence visa.  You can use ATMs in Brazilian banks to draw on your European funds, though, if you come on a tourist visa, to check things out for yourself.

Hi there!

Thank you for your prompt reply! 

That's a shame...I love Brazil. It's where I feel at home.  

While applying for jobs at the schools, I informed them in Portuguese, that I would have no issues paying for the work visa myself and to save them time, all paperwork required would be translated into Brazilian Portuguese beforehand.

If I understand correctly, English language teachers are turning up in Brazil on a Tourist visa? I believe we are only permitted to remain in Brazil on a tourist visa for 6 months. How do certain foreigners manage to stay in Brazil?

Many thanks! 

Kind regards

Laura

I know how you feel - many of us feel the same way.
Visa costs aren't normally the issue.  No business wants to apply for a work visa and be rejected.  They don't want to create that record.
I should have been clearer.  People do show up on tourist visas hoping to arrange teaching jobs.  They discover that they can't be hired, even informally, and end up either going home or overstaying their visas, which creates more problems down the line.
The ideal would be to find a British or European company with Brazilian operations to sponsor you.