I had to attend a Unix course that was being taught at the time by Sun Microsystems (which was later acquired by Oracle). I drove the 200 miles from Long Island to Maryland and as the sun set on the horizon, I started humming the songs I heard on the radio. Suddenly I noticed: my head didn’t hurt anymore, I remembered laughing the night before with a comedian on television and now I was humming songs, amazing! You’re probably wondering why? Well, I wasn’t an English speaker.
My name is Carlos, I was born in Chile. In the late 90’, I was hired by a telecommunications company based in Long Island; which was later acquired by Nortel Networks. I traveled to the United States armed with my luggage and the English I learned in school, which was not very good. The truth is that I was hired more for my technical skills than for my English.
I immediately noticed that I would have difficulty understanding and making myself understood. Some weird things began to happen with my brain, I became mute, I did not dare to speak in public. I went through very hard times in which my social life was reduced to practically zero. I only shared with the few Latino friends I had in the company.
I made a conscious effort to improve my English. I enrolled in a community college, I tried to watch television and listen to music only in English, although I did not understand much. I carried a notebook with me in which I wrote down all the terms I learned. When I got home, I read them and practiced their pronunciation.
I remember very well the day I learned the expression “so far, so good” and I began to practice it on all occasions that warranted it or seemed to warrant it. One afternoon I was returning home from work and, without realizing it (everyone says that), I increased my speed over the limit. First, I saw the lights, and then I heard the siren
- “Hi, how are you doing?” — the officer said to me from a distance from the driver’s window.
- “Well, so far, so good” — I replied.
As time went on, I began to experience a chronic discomfort that accompanied me day and night; I don’t dare to call it an ache, but if it had been an ache, it was certainly located above my shoulders; something, of which I was not aware, was happening there in my head.
By the third month, I felt very frustrated because my English was not improving. I was becoming an insecure and dull person. Around that time, the company asked me to get a Unix certification, which was necessary to obtain additional certifications later on. For that reason, I traveled to Maryland. When I arrived at the hotel, I greeted everyone in the lobby and made a couple of jokes. What was this? Suddenly I was able to understand and speak English as if it had always been my mother tongue.
The course lasted a week. When I returned, my coworkers couldn’t believe it. “Carlos! What the hell happened to you! We thought you were mute and now, not only do you speak, but you are funny”.
My life changed. Many years later, I read a neuroscience article that claimed that any language can be learned in just 3 months, as long as you are in a totally immersive environment.
The truth is that I have always been a happy person and I love to share that joy with others.