Making English Accessible to All
by Ally De Avila
Studying abroad teaches you a variety of things. For me, although this was not my first time studying abroad, this experience was still very different from the first time. At the start of the trip, I was not sure what to expect, other than I was ready to take on and embrace all that Brazil had to offer. It has been a life long dream of mine to visit Brazil, and doing this program allowed me to make this wish of mine come true. Upon arriving in Brazil, I knew that I was going to have to adapt quickly to the culture in order to really experience Brazil. What this meant for me was trying new foods, embracing the weather, and doing my best to interact with the locals. Interacting with the locals was by far the most difficult, but also the most important. It was challenging for me because I knew very little Portuguese and the majority of the locals only knew Portuguese. I relied a lot on google translate, but it was really comforting to know how accepting and excited Brazilians would get when I tried communicating with them.
As previously mentioned, one of the first things I noticed in Brazil other than the scenery, was the amount of Portuguese being spoken. Yes, Portuguese is the formal language of Brazil, but French is the formal language of Paris, yet most people spoke a little bit of English. I learned through our visits to schools and through my ventures through the city that English is not very common. In fact, speaking English is considered a privilege. Often when you find someone who spoke English, when asked where they learned English, their reply was they went to school in an English speaking country. In countries such as Brazil, speaking the native language and English can open up many doors for people. Being able to speak English often allowed people to be put at an advantage in multiple aspects of their lives. Speaking English in Brazil is more valuable than a Bachelor's degree, so one can imagine the socioeconomic need there is for Brazilians to learn English. That being said, many people are automatically put at a disadvantage because learning English is not easily accessible for them. Considering that only 5% of the Brazilian population speaks English, there was clearly a need for more resources. Someone who recognized this exact need and decided to do something about it, was Gustavo Fuga, founder of 4y2.
4You2 is an English language learning school. Gustavo knew that there was a need for more English resources in his country, so he took it upon himself to create said resources. He wanted to create a company that taught students of all ages how to speak English without it costing a fortune. As I already mentioned, speaking English is a privilege, meaning it is hard to come by resources and education that is cost efficient for everyone. So, Gustaveo created a company that would cost students only $20 a month, which is extremely inexpensive and affordable for many. Not only was this school cost efficient, but it also did not have a traditional way of teaching. The classes were small and interactive. The structure of the class was mainly conversational. Usually, classes that are teaching a language focus a lot on grammar and vocabulary, but 4y2 did not feel as if that was the best way to really get their students to learn. The teachers for these classes were not professional educators, they were pretty much just people who spoke English. This was the best way to immerse students into learning the language, having them engage in a full on English conversation. I found Gustavo's story to be super interesting and moving. I think it is absolutely amazing how dedicated he was to creating a company that would provide accessible education to those who were low income, but needed or wanted to learn English.
