Q COSTARICA — On Monday, the Costa Rican government presented the “Hello Brete” strategy, a free English language teaching program designed to improve job opportunities through accessible and widespread training.
As part of the initiative, the Executive Branch announced the hiring of Open English, a major online English learning platform, to provide up to 500,000 free licenses annually to Costa Rican citizens to boost national bilingualism.
The program includes classes taught by native speakers and uses artificial intelligence to reinforce learning. It will also be aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which will allow for standardization of levels and certification of the skills acquired by users.
For the next four years, 2 million Costa Ricans will be able to receive free English training, announced President Rodrigo Chaves, alongside representatives from the renowned company Open English.
The president defended the initiative as a tool to close historical gaps in access to language learning.
“Knowing or not knowing English has been a wall that has divided our society: those who have opportunities and were able to attend, mostly, expensive private schools; those who were fortunate enough to have that opportunity, and those who were left out, seeing how learning English in the public education system has not been a realistic, achievable goal,” he stated.
Chaves added that this inequality stems from structural flaws.
“That wall didn’t go up on its own, no. That wall was built by a system that gave advantages to a few and denied the tools to the majority. A system that couldn’t recruit enough qualified teachers for public schools and colleges, nor dedicate enough time to bilingual education,” he pointed out.
The registration process will be entirely digital at https://hellobrete.com, through the creation of an account, the completion of a form, and a biometric identity validation (photo and ID verification).
Due to extremely high demand on launch day, the website experienced temporary outages, but authorities confirmed that licenses have not run out and technical adjustments are being made.
Open English offers a flexible, 100% online curriculum focused on professional fluency:
- Classes: Unlimited live group classes with native-speaking teachers, available 24/7 every 30 minutes.
- Levels: 8 levels of learning based on the Common European Framework (A1 to C2).
- AI Tools: Includes Jenny, an AI tutor for practicing pronunciation, writing, and fluency.
- Certification: Participants who complete the course receive a certificate endorsed by both INA and Open English.