1. INTRODUCTION. LIFE IS LIKE AN STARTUP

An English language immersion as training for the startup world.

To begin, I want to clarify that this blog entry is only about my experience learning English as a second language with the purpose to be fully prepared for professional purposes, to be enrolled in the startup world, specifically. That’s why you are going to find a very strong relationship between life and startups. 

For further information you can slo check www.h2bunited.com. 

Firstly, as some of my closest friends know, I had a very structured plan to go to Spain because I have always dreamed about taking an Entrepreneurship and Innovation Master Degree in Barcelona or Madrid. However, I am in Sydney, Australia, struggling with an English language immersion.

PS: One strong motivation to write this entry has to do with the purpose of enhancing my english skills because the more I write the more fluent my speaking is. For that reason, you can find many mistakes in the grammatical structure. Feel free to give feedback.

Why?

Here you have a summary of the answer. 

The Startup or Entrepreneurship ecosystem (My field of study) has a very powerful north american influence, and English language is the minimum requirement someone needs to enroll in an advanced entrepreneurship environment. That’s one of the reasons why English is the most accepted language for doing business, perhaps. For instance, Vast majority of the biggest and most influential startups have been leveraged in the USA west coast in cities such as Silicon Valley. Only to mention some of them, we can talk about Dropbox, Apple, Google, Facebook and Latin American startups such as Truora, Rappi, Nubank, Cornershop, Habi, Frubana and Platzi. Also, Y Combinator, one of the world’s largest business accelerators is also located in California, Mountain View. Then… to be able to fit in with the startup world people should speak English with a high level of accuracy. 

What does it mean to me to achieve a high English level?

In my personal point of view, an individual who deal with English in a high level of accuracy have to manage with:

1. 1. Reading books in English smoothly. Not only understanding main ideas but comprehending the details. 

1. 1. Producing opinion essays, blogs and written content with a high degree of accuracy.

1. 1. Listening to English in its multicultural context. Which means that the individual is able to listen, understand and comprehend British, American, Indian, Asian, Australian, Latin American and many other accents.

In the same way, have you heard this sentence? 

“I speak English but I don’t understand the British accent”, 

If you are this kind of person, definitively, you don’t manage to speak English at a high level.

4. 4. Speaking smoothly. You have to be able to think in English and deliver messages accurately to your colleagues, partners, bosses, customers, investors, and so on.

In this regard, I considered I should deepen these four skills before immersing myself in a startup environment being this a very clever decision because I don’t speak smoothly, grammatically correct and accurately, YET. That’s why I am in Sydney NSW. 

By the way, I consider that life is like a Startup and people can make all kinds of experiments to try to achieve their goals. It doesn’t matter what age, nationality, language, etc. I’ll explain it here using Scientific Method. In the startup world we call it:  Lean Startup process.

I’ll show you an example of my personal situation:

1. 1. PROBLEM AND HYPOTHESIS

Problem/situation:

I want to be hired in a startup consultancy company or as a remote worker.

I should succeed with my own consultancy business www.h2bunited.com for latin american entrepreneurs.

Hypothesis:

If I manage the English language with a high level of accuracy, I will be potentially hirable in the Startup ecosystem, as a remote worker or I’ll be more qualified to run my own consultancy company delivering more value (knowledge) to my customers.

2. 2. CREATE

Experiment:

Embrace English language immersion to be able to engage with the language in its multiculturality, (Chinese, Indian, Arabic, Balcanic, North American, British, Australian, Latin American, Italian, French accents).

The experiment has 4 componentes:

1. 1. Live in an English speaking country.

1. 1. Four hours of English class per day.

1. 1. Working for four to six hours without any Spanish speakers nearby.

1. 1. One and a half hours per day of independent practice, such as creating writing content.

MEASURE

Measurement:

Personal SMART KPIs:

1. 1. To develop the ability to effectively communicate the benefits, advantages and characteristics of products and services to customers in less than four months.

1. 1. To be accepted in a consultancy company as a bilingual remote worker, in less than 4 months.

1. 1. Get hired as a bilingual remote worker in less than 4 months.

** Deadline: four months will end on December 31, 2023. 

LEARN

Learning insights:

What I think I can learn about:

1. 1. How much I’m able to improve in four months.

1. 1. Are my English skills enough to manage a position in a remote role?

1. 1. How many interviews was I able to pass?

1. 1. Did my salary per hour increase?

1. 1. Was my writing strategy successful?

1. 1. Were four months a very short period of time to achieve an acceptable level of accuracy?

1. 1. How much more time will it take for me?

1. 1. What else should I do or learn to validate my hypothesis?

1. 1. Is my hypothesis true or false?

Pivot / improve:

At this moment I don’t have enough knowledge to pivot. 

This step consists in adapting, changing or building again the experiment or the hypothesis.

Stay tuned to see what will happen with this experiment / strategy.

See u in the next Blog Entry…

Many thanks for reading !