My Language Learning Journey… Jésus Jiménez Vargas
With this new interview series, ‘My Language Learning Journey’, you will read about the experience and
advice of English learners across the globe. For this first interview on the English community, I interviewed Jésus Jiménez Vargas. Jésus is a student from Seville, Spain, with a passion for learning, personal development, and a big dream to go abroad someday. This dream inspires him every day to be committed to his goal of improving his English.
Let’s hear from Jésus:
Could you please introduce yourself to the community?
My name is Jésus, I’m 21 years old and I’m currently studying economic analysis in my hometown of Seville. I’m motivated to learn English because I want to work and live abroad in the future. I know with that dream that English is an important language to speak.
You say you want to live abroad at some point. Why is this important to you, and do you know where you’d like to go?
It is important for me to expand my comfort zone and challenge myself. Until now, I haven’t travelled abroad, and this is an experience I’d like to have in order to grow and learn. The countries I’m thinking of are Ireland and the Netherlands. Ireland because they speak English there and the Netherlands because I heard many people speak English there.
Could you tell us a bit about your history of learning English and getting used to the English language?
When I was young, I didn’t challenge myself very much to do things that were difficult, like learning English in an environment where not many people around me spoke English. When I got older, I started to realise that learning English would broaden my horizons and open up opportunities in this life.
The true mindset shift came in my second year of university when I was trying to create a business with other students. While doing research for that project, I discovered that a lot of the valuable information I could find was in English, such as academic papers and articles. This made me realize that to do anything in life, like starting a business, the ability to speak English would greatly improve my chance of success.
You said you tried setting up a company for your studies? How did that go? And what do your career goals look like now?
When we got further into the project of starting that company, while I learnt a lot, I also realized that a particular business model was not a feasible way to generate income. For the past nine months, I’ve been actively thinking about what my future career will look like, but I’m still trying to solve that question. Career areas I’m thinking about are being a university teacher or something like a data scientist or analyst.
With regards to learning English, are there any special strategies you use that you can share with the community?
For learning English, I used many of the tasks and exercises I found in the English community on EU Academy, for example, the English B2 course. I especially enjoyed the part of the course about artisan products. Other tactics I’m using to improve are watching films and listening to podcasts. For my learning style, listening really helps me improve.
The last time we spoke was during an English-speaking session: how did you enjoy this speaking session? Was it useful for you?
I think it’s really valuable to practice in a group setting as it helps you lose the fear and shyness of speaking in another language. In that sense the speaking session was very helpful and enjoyable for me. Interesting and diverse topics were proposed during the session, and students were given plenty of time to speak.
What would you say to anyone who is hesitant to join a Speaking Session or do an interview for the ‘my language learning journey’ project on OLS?
Three years ago, I was still very shy, and now I’m still shy when I do things that challenge me like the speaking session I participated in last month. But as I’m growing, I’m starting to realize, that that fear, or shyness, is simply your brain telling you you are going out of your comfort zone. It feels uncomfortable, but it is actually an invitation to take action, as it will make your comfort zone grow. So, my advice if you want to expand your comfort zone is to join a speaking session and do the interview!
As closing words, is there anything you would like to add or share with the community?
This may seem irrelevant, but nothing has taught me more about learning and growing your motivation than going to the gym. Training is all about small improvements, stretching your limits and having a consistent routine. You don’t run a marathon in one day without training. You build up to that skill by consistent effort and growth.
I use that mindset when I’m studying English. I do a little bit at a time and have put a good routine in place to make sure that I keep growing and learning. For me, the brain is like a muscle and training your language skills requires a similar approach to training your fitness.
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First of all, a big thanks to Jésus for sharing his story and inspiring others on their language learning and mobility journey! I hope you as a reader take some helpful insights from this interview and Jésus's experiences. If you would also like to be interviewed as a part of this series, you can let me know via this link, or by writing a message in the comments below!
Warmly,
Marieke, OLS Community Manager - English