English as a Bridge to Opportunity

How Brazil Global Education combines individualized instruction, S.T.E.A.M.-based learning, and a commitment to social mobility.

BY MALIKKA D. KARTERON

Co-Founder, Brazil Global Education  |  President & CEO, Global25

“English proficiency is more than a valuable skill—it is a gateway to enhanced economic opportunity and social mobility.”

In Brazil, learning English can shape far more than classroom performance. It can widen a student’s sense of possibility, strengthen access to academic and professional pathways, and help families imagine a different trajectory. That belief sits at the heart of Brazil Global Education (BGE), an educational initiative built around individualized instruction and the idea that language learning becomes more powerful when it connects with what students already love to do.

Learning Through Curiosity

BGE distinguishes its program by integrating S.T.E.A.M.—science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics—into English-language instruction. Rather than treating vocabulary and grammar as isolated exercises, the model places language inside engaging activities. Students learn while exploring subjects that invite them to ask questions, solve problems, create, and collaborate.

The approach reflects a simple philosophy: students learn best when they are genuinely interested in the work before them. By bringing S.T.E.A.M. experiences into the English classroom, BGE aims to make language acquisition active, relevant, and memorable while offering an alternative to more traditional language-school models in Brazil.

An Idea Rooted in Experience

The project began taking shape in August 2021. Gabriel Cambui, BGE’s co-founder and a longtime friend, approached Malikka D. Karteron with a clear ambition: to create a company in Brazil focused on English proficiency. The idea carried personal meaning. Cambui had experienced life as an English Language Learner and continued to see himself as a lifelong learner of the language.

That lived experience helped frame BGE’s purpose. The organization would not simply teach English; it would respond to the challenges learners encounter and design instruction around their ages, interests, and ways of learning.

Programs for Every Stage

BGE has developed a suite of programs intended to support learners across different stages of life. Each pathway shares the same central aim: to help students build usable English skills through instruction that respects individual needs and learning styles.

Early Childhood Education

An early foundation designed to make language discovery engaging, age-appropriate, and connected to play and exploration.

Adolescent Programs

Learning experiences that pair English development with the curiosity, creativity, and expanding ambitions of young people.

Adult Education

Flexible instruction that recognizes adult learners’ goals and the academic, professional, and personal opportunities English can unlock.

More Than 300 Learners—and Growing

More than 300 students have participated in BGE’s language program. The number represents learners from varied age groups and backgrounds, but it also points to the value of a curriculum that can be adapted rather than imposed as a single, uniform experience.

For BGE, reach matters because access is uneven. Many of the learners it seeks to serve live in communities that are "easily missed" — under-resourced urban neighborhoods and economically disadvantaged districts where high-quality English education may be difficult to find. Without that access, residents can face an additional barrier to academic advancement and professional growth.

Why Social Partnership Matters

Working within a social organization allows BGE to focus directly on communities that conventional educational systems and markets may overlook. The need is not merely instructional. It is a question of educational equity: who receives the tools, support, and sustained practice needed to become confident in a globally influential language?

Closing that gap can have effects beyond the classroom. Expanded access to English instruction can contribute to economic development and social mobility by helping learners compete for a broader range of opportunities. It can also strengthen a community’s capacity to connect with institutions, employers, and networks both inside Brazil and beyond it.

300+ STUDENTS

served through tailored English-language learning

English as a Social Mobility Tool

BGE describes English proficiency as a “social mobility tool.” In a non-English-speaking country, fluency can open doors to information, education, collaboration, and employment that might otherwise remain out of reach. The skill becomes not an endpoint, but a bridge.

That is the impact BGE seeks: to help individuals recognize and pursue their full earning potential, access a wider range of careers locally and globally, and carry those gains into their families and communities. By pairing language instruction with engaging S.T.E.A.M.-based learning, the organization is working to make English both attainable and consequential.

Malikka D. Karteron was interviewed about Brazil Global Education for the Issue