The English language It is still the main basis of coding and the necessary skills of IT companies. Technology In the region, which creates a significant barrier to attract more people to the industry.

According to a recent study by Spanish IT services company Everis, 55% of companies. Latin America They said finding the right employee was hard, While experts estimate that by 2025 there will be 10 million new IT vacancies in the region.

In this context, Primitive Roman Montero, Who was always fascinated by coding, had difficulty learning programming languages ​​due to his dependence on English when he attended the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Tepeaca in Mexico.

The logic of the most famous programming languages ​​such as Python, Based on English vocabulary and syntax. In addition, many of the most popular educational resources for learning coding, including stackexchange, They are also in English.

“When I started, everything was in English,” Roman told Rest of World. “It was very difficult to translate and understand it constantly in my language.”

As the region sees interest from venture finance and tech companies, there is growing momentum to eliminate labor shortages in the region’s technical community. Preparing workers to work in Spanish.

Developers Software Roman, Bootcamps coding and meeting organizations have launched their own initiatives, From the delivery of translations of educational materials to the creation of a Spanish-based programming language.

Examples of programmers in Spanish

The fact that Spanish cannot change common programming languages ​​reflects the challenges of creating a Spanish-speaking work environment for Spanish-speaking technical workers. Marian Villa Roldan Is a programmer Colombia And co-founder PioneerMedellin-based nonprofit organization that Helps women learn coding.

She agrees to be one The main barriers for Spaniards are the lack of a Spanish programming language and the lack of coding resources in that language. Pioneerdev organizes workshops, boots, and meetings dedicated to programming education.

The organization translates as much content as possible into Spanish, but for the most part it focuses on helping people learn coding languages ​​without knowing English. “We have technicians who understand the implementation, but they do not feel comfortable speaking English,” Villa told Rest of the World.

LaboratoryThe organization was established in st Peru Offices across Latin America that help women learn coding and get employed in technology take a similar approach.

Gabriela Roche, The company’s co-founder and chief operating officer said Laboratoria conducted the experiments Teaching English as part of their curriculum; But he still conducts an entire six-month intensive camp in Spanish. Only 14% of its students have an advanced level of English, 50% an intermediate level and 36% a beginner level, he said.

Like PioneersDev, The lab works with the belief that students should know enough English to learn coding and access to educational documentation. But not necessarily to reach a higher level.

“Latin America is an accustomed region [inglés] “And how can we deal with that?” He said. Rock. “The vast majority of our students’ abilities are still in Latin America and do not require English.” More than 75% of the jobs that Laboratoria students take do not use English as their primary language.

Finally, you have Elijah Torres, Founder and CTO DriftSales and marketing platform based USA It is estimated at $ 1 billion in 2021.

Torres, who grew up in Nicaragua and moved to the United States when he was 17, has just turned his attention Establish links between US and Latin American technology ecosystems. One such initiative is to hire drift staff in Guadalajara and bring this type of “high-tech” work to Mexico.

As Latin America pushes to create a robust and self-sufficient technology sector, the language barrier will continue to be a major obstacle. Especially for high quality posts.

To establish the autonomy of the American technological ecosystem, Roman said that Technology companies in the region will have to change their mentality.

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