Many adults associate learning a second language with years of unpleasant effort in a classroom, struggling with grammar and vocabulary. But things may be changing, as seen in the experiences of two young men who surged to fluency—one in English and one in Spanish—on the wings of new technology, and apparently taking delight in the challenge.
Manuel, a 30-year-old from Sonora, said that about ten years ago, “I decided by pure will to immerse myself in English.” As a result, he now has a position in Guadalajara with a company headquartered in Texas, and he constantly gives advice in English about using financial and accounting software by making presentations and emails.
“I’m proud of my method,” he says.
Manuel’s road to fluency was long but interesting—and a little bumpy. It stretched over the years he worked on a B.S. in chemical engineering and a master’s in data science at the University of Guadalajara.
“About 10 years ago, I suddenly changed my normal life of content consumption in Spanish to English. I changed everything … reading articles, scientific papers, good magazines, Reddit, internet discussions … listening to podcasts about chemical engineering and computer science … watching YouTube videos and movies in English with English subtitles … looking up the lyrics to English music and finding out what they mean.
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