{"id":6856,"date":"2016-12-12T22:20:20","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T22:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itnigblog.live-website.com\/?p=6856"},"modified":"2024-04-10T10:44:24","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T10:44:24","slug":"should-we-leave-spanish-behind-in-the-tech-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/should-we-leave-spanish-behind-in-the-tech-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Should We Leave Spanish Behind In The Tech Community?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn\">\n<figure id=\"a27e\" class=\"graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--h3\" data-scroll=\"native\">\n<div class=\"aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked\">\n<div class=\"progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image is-canvasLoaded is-imageLoaded\" data-image-id=\"1*jPoD7weLCDHo8M6iDR_BDA.jpeg\" data-width=\"4256\" data-height=\"2832\" data-action=\"zoom\" data-action-value=\"1*jPoD7weLCDHo8M6iDR_BDA.jpeg\" data-scroll=\"native\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/2400\/1*jPoD7weLCDHo8M6iDR_BDA.jpeg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/2400\/1*jPoD7weLCDHo8M6iDR_BDA.jpeg\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn\">\n<p id=\"26b6\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--figure\">World Economic Forum recently published an article\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/agenda\/2016\/11\/forget-berlin-lisbon-wants-to-become-the-start-up-capital-of-europe?utm_content=buffer3ca85&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/agenda\/2016\/11\/forget-berlin-lisbon-wants-to-become-the-start-up-capital-of-europe?utm_content=buffer3ca85&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer\">that Lisbon was aiming<\/a>at becoming the next unexpected tech hub in Europe, just like Ireland has become the last decade.<\/p>\n<p id=\"ee02\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">Lisbon is a great city with an increasing number of tech startups, now hosting the Web Summit, and the government recently made an investment fund of 200 million for early growth companies. All of this is great, but they\u2019re missing something Ireland had all along. English.<\/p>\n<p id=\"0494\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">Barcelona is way ahead of Lisbon in becoming the leading European tech hub along the Mediterranean. We&#8217;re talking in amount of VC&#8217;s, accumulated investment, amount of startups, accelerators, incubators, I could go on for a while.<\/p>\n<p id=\"7e60\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">But like up and coming Lisbon, Barcelona is also missing one vital element.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"postList\">\n<li id=\"c089\" class=\"graf graf--li graf-after--p\"><em class=\"markup--em markup--li-em\">English.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 id=\"f213\" class=\"graf graf--h4 graf-after--li\">Boosting the expat community<\/h4>\n<p id=\"2b01\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--h4\">It&#8217;s not that people in Barcelona in general are lacking English skills. As a person that&#8217;s learning Spanish, I think people&#8217;s skills generally are too good, it makes me learn the local language much slower.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"70a5\" class=\"graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetLeft graf-after--p\" data-scroll=\"native\">\n<div class=\"aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked\">\n<div class=\"aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image is-canvasLoaded is-imageLoaded\" data-image-id=\"1*-WPphFpAghK0qiLK0c1D7w.gif\" data-width=\"450\" data-height=\"238\" data-scroll=\"native\"><canvas class=\"progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas\" width=\"75\" height=\"38\"><\/canvas><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/1200\/1*-WPphFpAghK0qiLK0c1D7w.gif\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/1200\/1*-WPphFpAghK0qiLK0c1D7w.gif\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p id=\"9414\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--figure\">It&#8217;s more about the willingness to adopt all the great activity in the tech ecosystem from Spanish to English.<\/p>\n<p id=\"2fde\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">There&#8217;s too many interesting events and meetups around Barcelona that are done in Spanish. And there&#8217;s too many expats, digital nomads and visitors that aren&#8217;t able to attend.<\/p>\n<p id=\"903f\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">The more active people, the stronger an ecosystem is, and if we want Spain and Barcelona to grow one of the strongest communities in Europe, we need\u00a0<em class=\"markup--em markup--p-em\">everyone<\/em>\u00a0we can get our hands on.<\/p>\n<p id=\"9a02\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">Barcelona is already attracting a lot of talent from abroad, but I&#8217;m sure more people would set up shop if they knew they could survive with only English, everything to make the transition easier.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"0ea7\" class=\"graf graf--h4 graf-after--p\">An old man&#8217;s\u00a0problem<\/h4>\n<p id=\"776c\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--h4\">Before writing this article I talked with many local entrepreneurs and developers in Barcelona. I was a bit hesitant to ask them the question, I don&#8217;t want to come as a guest, asking them to abandon their language.<\/p>\n<p id=\"d9d3\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">But everybody I talked to agreed. Spanish is great, but the tech community would benefit from being solely in English.<\/p>\n<p id=\"d31e\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">The people I spoke to were young people, and I think I would get another answer from some of the older generations of entrepreneurs, which unfortunately is where the power often lies as well.<\/p>\n<p id=\"0c30\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">At itnig we&#8217;re\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"http:\/\/itnig.net\/people.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-href=\"http:\/\/itnig.net\/people.html\">many Spanish people,<\/a>\u00a0and the lunch chat is usually conducted in Spanish. But all of our events, media and content are in English, and all of our employees can at any time switch over to English.<\/p>\n<p id=\"c877\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">That&#8217;s why many of our recent hires has been people from outside Spain: Lithuania, England, Germany, Italy, Norway, etc.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"de61\" class=\"graf graf--h4 graf-after--p\">Far from a Spanish\u00a0thing<\/h4>\n<p id=\"eb8b\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--h4\">Before writing this post, I was aware that this is a topic you either agree or disagree with. You hate it or like it.<\/p>\n<p id=\"9b90\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">Either way, I think it&#8217;s important to know that this is not a Spanish challenge (if it is a challenge at all), it&#8217;s a concern all entrepreneurs living outside an english speaking country should address, at least consider.<\/p>\n<p id=\"6254\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">Both Berlin and Paris are thriving startup hubs in Europe, and their tech communities are growing rapidly, despite German and French being the main language. But Barcelona (and many other cities) doesn\u2019t have the privilege of being financial and economic centers in Europe, and to speed up the development of the current ecosystem, a common language might be helpful.<\/p>\n<p id=\"663b\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">According to EDCi\u00a0(European Digital City Index) Stockholm and Copenhagen ranks as the 2nd &amp; 7th best cities on the continent.<\/p>\n<p id=\"56f2\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">If you research some of their biggest startup communities like\u00a0#CPHFTW\u00a0in Copenhagen, or SUP46 in Stockholm, they&#8217;re all communicating in English, making it super easy for all kinds of people to join in.<\/p>\n<p id=\"e61d\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">Amsterdam and Helsinki are the 3rd and 4th countries on ranking. All of these countries are known for good english skills, the EDCi even lists it as a criteria for ranking so high.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"fa9b\" class=\"graf graf--h4 graf-after--p\">Small, but necessary step<\/h4>\n<p id=\"d45d\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--h4\">Many would probably argue that there&#8217;s other more important things to change or improve to boost Spain and Barcelona as a tech friendly environment, than increasing English as a working language.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"postList\">\n<li id=\"6f92\" class=\"graf graf--li graf-after--p\">Friendlier tax regulations would certainly help.<\/li>\n<li id=\"0c0f\" class=\"graf graf--li graf-after--li\">More access to venture capital would be fantastic.<\/li>\n<li id=\"b47f\" class=\"graf graf--li graf-after--li\">And for more established tech companies relocating to the city could also be great.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"e967\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--li\">My idle theory is that a broader use of English could make all of the above happen faster.<\/p>\n<p id=\"3206\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">Huge tech companies would be more likely to relocate if they knew they could operate in English.<\/p>\n<p id=\"cef6\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">This again would stimulate the ecosystem, and more VC&#8217;s would open their eyes to Spain, and know that they could operate deep in the community without worrying about language.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"86ee\" class=\"graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetLeft graf-after--p\" data-scroll=\"native\">\n<div class=\"aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked\">\n<div class=\"aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image is-canvasLoaded\" data-image-id=\"1*rfzWmXnXFiDCbwS-tJfhww.gif\" data-width=\"357\" data-height=\"200\" data-scroll=\"native\"><canvas class=\"progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas\" width=\"75\" height=\"41\"><\/canvas><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/1200\/1*rfzWmXnXFiDCbwS-tJfhww.gif\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/max\/1200\/1*rfzWmXnXFiDCbwS-tJfhww.gif\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p id=\"3f05\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--figure\">And in the end, if key tech players together with an increasing amount of VC&#8217;s establish themselves in the country, the authorities would eventually follow and adapt.<\/p>\n<p id=\"5582\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">A Spanish ecosystem where English is the main community language wouldn&#8217;t fix everything, it&#8217;s always a work in progress, but it&#8217;s about putting up\u00a0<em class=\"markup--em markup--p-em\">the right domino<\/em>\u00a0so all the others follow.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"9cc3\" class=\"graf graf--h4 graf-after--p\">Do you have NO national\u00a0pride??<\/h4>\n<p id=\"e3aa\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--h4\">Please, I understand that you\u2019re proud of the Spanish and Catalan languages, they are beautiful, complex and huge &#8211; bigger than English.<\/p>\n<p id=\"da15\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">If Spanish was the spoken language by Silicon Valley companies, and most tech hubs around the world, my argument would be different, but right now all are more or less done in English.<\/p>\n<p id=\"1c0f\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">I would\u00a0<strong class=\"markup--strong markup--p-strong\">never<\/strong>\u00a0want anyone to stop speaking Spanish to their friends and family. Like I\u2019ll never stop speaking Norwegian with my friends.<\/p>\n<p id=\"7ec9\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">But it\u2019s about breaking down barriers for business, including people in the ecosystem and making it easier for both tech giants and small startups to relocate to beautiful Spain.<\/p>\n<p id=\"87e5\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--trailing\">I think it&#8217;s a matter of time, but why not speed it up?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>World Economic Forum recently published an article\u00a0that Lisbon was aimingat becoming the next unexpected tech hub in Europe, just like Ireland has become the last decade. Lisbon is a great city with an increasing number of tech startups, now hosting the Web Summit, and the government recently made an investment fund of 200 million for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6856"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12375,"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6856\/revisions\/12375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itnig.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}