Brazilian Immigrant Teaches English to Expand Opportunities for Fellow English-Learners

Bianca Arcencio grew up in Brazil, speaking Portuguese. But many of her favorite musicians performed in English. “I was a huge fan of the Backstreet Boys,” she says. “I would read the lyrics, and it frustrated me that I didn’t know what they meant.” She became determined to find out. So, at age 9, she got a dictionary and started translating her favorite lyrics. By age 10, she had signed up for private English lessons. By age 14, she was fluent and became a teaching assistant at her language school.   

In college, Bianca continued teaching English while pursuing a career in public relations. But, like many young people, she didn’t have a plan for after graduation. A colleague at the language school suggested she consider working as an au pair in America. “Before that, I really thought of English as a hobby,” she says. “But then I realized that it actually could open up some great opportunities.”  

Bianca spent two years with a family in Vermont. She loved “speaking English, putting into practice the very things I had been teaching my students,” she says. “I didn’t want to leave.” But when her contract was up, she had no way to stay. She returned to Brazil and spent the next five years working at her old language school, where she was promoted to coordinator.  

In 2020, Bianca finally got her chance to return to the U.S. The family she’d worked for in Vermont had moved to Maine. They encouraged her to apply for her master’s degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at the University of Southern Maine (USM). They even offered to host her during her stay.   

Despite COVID-19 disruptions, Bianca excelled and landed two graduate assistant positions—helping international students with their resumes and cover letters at USM’s Career & Employment Hub, and tutoring in the university’s ESOL Department. “I realized adult education was something that I was really passionate about,” Bianca says. When she graduated in 2021, she decided to pursue a second master’s degree in adult higher education.   

“English changed my life,” says Bianca. “It gave me so many opportunities and took me places I never thought I would go. So now I want to teach English to other immigrants, refugees, and first-generation students so it can change their lives, too.