NgColombia: A Latin American Conference Carried Out in English 💯
--
NgColombia, the First Angular Conference in Latin America will be carried out 100% in English. That is:
- Talks
- Workshops
- Panels
- MCing
If most Latin American countries speak Spanish, why would you do it in English? You might be wondering 🤔. Well, first thing first:
Not all Latin American countries speak Spanish 👀
In South America alone, we have 5 different languages:
Do people in Latin America speak English? 🤐
According to one of the world’s greatest rankings of English proficiency, the English Proficiency Index (EPI) by Education First, Latin America has an average score of 51.47 out of 100.
If you compare European countries with the ones in Latin America, this is what you get:
Argentina, being the country with the greatest EPI in Latin America, would still be at the bottom of the European countries.
Depending on who you ask, English can be both, an advantage 😎 or an obstacle 😣
For me, it’s an advantage.
In my professional career, knowing English has allowed me to:
- 💼 Have a (better) job.
- 📺 Consume exclusive content only available in English (tutorials, articles, videos, etc).
- 📢 Communicate better with clients, folks, and friends from other countries.
Besides, according to Education First, higher English proficiency is correlated with:
- 💲 Higher income.
- 💜 Higher quality of life.
- 💼 Greater ease of doing business.
- 💡 And more innovation.
But for some other people, it is an obstacle:
- 😣 They can’t access work positions because they often require a second language.
- 😣 They can’t consume content right away, but instead need to find a way to get it translated (which often takes months before someone do it).
- 😣 They have to rely on other communication strategies to interact with others or they will simply fail at doing so.
But you can’t judge those people 👀
Some people don’t know English not because they don’t want to learn it, but because they can’t afford it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
So we both have a responsibility 👊
Those of us who know English have the privilege and we must use it to serve others, be it:
- 📕 Translating contents (tutorials, articles, documents, etc.).
- 🤓 Teaching others knowledge that is not published in Spanish.
- 📺 Creating courses in Spanish.
On the other hand, those of you who do not know English have a need, and such need must be addressed, be it:
- 🏢 Taking English courses.
- 📚 Reading content in English.
- 👨👩👧👦 Participating of English environments.
How are we taking responsibility? 💪
In Angular Medellín, we provide talks and contents in Spanish. People who do not know English can learn about NgRx, Microfrontends, View Encapsulation, NgZones and much more -Topics that are seldom translated.
In NgColombia, we are providing an English environment where people can allow themselves to learn the language, to practice their communication skills with other peers and speakers coming from 10 different countries! Something that barely ever happens in Colombia.
Running NgColombia in English is inviting people to learn a second language, it’s motivating them to push their professional careers even further, it’s empowering them to become citizens of the world and not just of a country.
And how about Inclusion? ♿️
- 📡 We are providing translation devices for everyone who needs them, in that way everyone will be able to enjoy the conference despite their English level.
- 🔊 Speakers will read the contents on their slides, so attendees are able to understand them once translated.
- 👫We will be there for them. If someone at some point is stuck, we’ll provide a community member that will give them a hand if they need to.
We are open to feedback! 😊 Just write down a comment and hit us up at: info@ngcolombia.com, we’ll be happy to listen to your ideas!
