What does it mean for me to learn english?

Being able to speak english is, for me, an essential learning not just for an educational matter, but for developing an open way to understand, structure and face the world. As we know, language constructs our way to interpret what surrounds us.

When I was little, I used to think that english class was a waste of time. But when I started to grow up, I realized that learning english (and learning other languages in general) is necessary for being able to interact culturally in our daily lives. Of course, speaking English is a benefit for travelling, looking for a job, etc, but it also works for me for expand my worldview and my way to relate with society. I think it also works to ourselves, to complex our identities turning them more hybrid.

For example, last summer, my best friend invited an australian friend to Chile and the three of us went out a few times. At first, I found it hard to establish a real conversation more complex than saying my name and my age, but when I left the nerves behind, I realized how we were being able to truly communicate and we spend the time discussing and comparing our cultures. I didn’t really liked him at first because he didn’t wanted to learn Spanish, so I found him a closed minded person obsessed with his hegemonic culture, but finally we learned a lot about our languages, customs and our different ways to comprehend the world.