Santander's Fala Mundo program was designed to give thousands of Brazilians a meaningful opportunity to build foreign language skills for their professional and personal lives. Learners needed flexibility around their schedules and goals, along with authentic opportunities to practice meaningful communication. The challenge was serving thousands of individuals without reducing the experience to passive, one-size-fits-all self-study.

See how Santander used IMMERSE to provide thousands of learners across Brazil with practical, personalized language learning grounded in real communication.

Context

Santander Open Academy's Fala Mundo program is a nationwide scholarship initiative designed to expand access to language learning across Brazil. The program is not limited to Santander employees, and it aims to serve 80,000 Brazilians within two years. Scholarships are available for English, Spanish, and French, with minimum allocations reserved for people with disabilities, women, and Black and Brown applicants. For Santander, the goal is broader than language study alone: the program is intended to widen access to opportunities in an increasingly globalized labor market.

"For me, the course has been very important. My goal in the future is to become a manager. So for that, I'm going to need the language, and English is the universal language. It's necessary for my development."

~ João Vitor, Fala Mundo participant and Business Administration student at UNIVESP

Challenge

Santander was not simply looking for a way to distribute language-learning access. Fala Mundo aimed to give thousands of Brazilians a meaningful opportunity to build language skills they could use in their professional and personal lives.

The approach needed to work at national scale, serving thousands of learners without reducing the experience to passive, one-size-fits-all self-study. Learners needed flexibility around their own schedules and goals, along with opportunities to speak, respond, and practice meaningful communication.

This was the challenge faced by Santander: Access to content is not enough. Learners need responsive, low-pressure opportunities for authentic speaking practice in the situations that matter to them.

"The use of avatars is brilliant. It removes a lot of the discomfort students feel... When you take away the person's face and they become a little avatar, everything becomes much more interesting."

~ Fala Mundo participant

Solution

Santander structured Fala Mundo to deliver dynamic, contextualized learning at scale, with practice built around topics relevant to each learner. In each cohort, 8,000 scholarships provided a self-paced pathway aimed at beginners, with AI-supported lessons and conversation practice. A further 2,000 scholarships, aimed at learners with prior experience, offered an expanded pathway that also included unlimited teacher-led group classes in immersive environments.

The model gave learners more than a series of lessons to work through. They could build language skills independently, practice through interactive AI conversations, and work on communication relevant to their own goals. These options allowed Santander to serve thousands of people while offering different ways to learn, practice, and communicate.

"I thought it was fantastic. … Actually getting to practice speaking has been a great opportunity for me."

~ Li Liangliang, Fala Mundo participant

Impact

Fala Mundo learners are using IMMERSE in ways that go beyond simply completing language lessons. Across participant testimonials, learners describe an experience that feels more relevant, interactive, and natural than conventional language study. Some learners emphasize the authenticity of the communication itself. They also describe practice that can adapt to what they want to communicate. Others highlight the ability to move between independent AI-supported learning and real-time conversation with teachers and peers. In live classes, participants say avatars reduce the pressure of feeling watched while searching for words, allowing them to focus more fully on listening and speaking.

These experiences shape how learners engage with the program. Rather than treating IMMERSE as a library of lessons to work through, participants return to speak, interact, and explore communication on their own terms. Their feedback points to sustained engagement and genuine enthusiasm for using the language to communicate.

"What surprised me most wasn't the technology. It was the behavior it awakened in me. Without realizing it, I started returning to the platform spontaneously to talk with other people."

~ Flavia Amato, Fala Mundo participant

Why it matters

Fala Mundo shows how a national language initiative can expand access without reducing learning to generic self-study. Santander plans to award 10,000 scholarships each quarter, with a two-year goal of reaching 80,000 Brazilians.

The program reflects Santander's commitment to pairing broad access with language learning responsive to individual learner needs. Its continued expansion shows the potential for organizations to extend language learning at scale while preserving relevance, interaction, and real communication.

"The initiative expands access to quality language education and helps broaden professional and personal horizons in an increasingly globalized market."

~ Carolina Learth, Senior Head of Global Platforms, Santander

→ Download the IMMERSE-Santander Case Study PDF here.