Committed to bilingualism in Colombia

The second National and International English Congress will be held on October 26th at the Emilio Sierra Baquero Auditorium on the Fusagasugá campus. The event will feature national and international guests. It is open to the entire university community, who can find more information and register at the following link: https://www.k4u.com.co/catalogo/#/frm/crs/NzM%3D#iniCurso

“It is essential that the institution positions itself as a promoter of bilingualism in Colombia, which is why we are creating these spaces, so that different audiences can grow significantly in the workplace, socially, educationally, and personally. The congress will provide insight into realities from different local and translocal contexts, and in this way, it implements the MEDIT program,” explains Jesús Antonio Alvarado Escobar, knowledge and learning manager for the cross-curricular area of English.

In 2023, English was the most spoken language globally, with over 1.4 billion speakers. Of these, approximately 380 million are native speakers, while the rest have learned the language as a second language, according to data from Statista, a global platform for data and business intelligence, reports, statistics, and information. https://es.statista.com/estadisticas/635631/los-idiomas-mas-hablados-en-el-mundo/

Since English is the most widely spoken language on the planet, it brings with it advantages in employment, education, culture, tourism, and personal development; not having an adequate command of the language has a negative impact and influence on the employability of young people.

“Colombia is one of the countries with the worst English proficiency in the world, as evidenced by a recent study shared by Education First, which compiled data from one of its tests administered to 2.1 million citizens in 111 nations. The analysis revealed that of the 111 countries where English is not the native language, Colombia ranked 77th in language skills. What is concerning, in addition to its global ranking, is that it is among the countries with the lowest proficiency levels in the region: in Latin America, it ranked 17th out of 20.”.

That is why, from the cross-curricular area of English, led by its coordinator and a committee of teachers appointed for this purpose, this congress seeks to leave a mark on the community to break those paradigms that exist in society about this language, to change the conception that is assumed regarding the subject, since there are many barriers that people put up to learning English, believing that it is only for those who have money.

The 2nd National and International English Congress is a social and academic event where participants will enjoy a dynamic experience. "After this congress, we hope that people will be motivated to learn and improve their English, and to make it a part of their lives," said Professor Alvarado Escobar.

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