My Biggest Regret as a Software Developer

My biggest regret as a software developer is not been able to learn English before. English is the lingua franca of software development. I’ve could work without speaking English because here in Spain a lot of companies doesn’t use English on a daily basis. You are fine while you can read the documentation and write some function names in English. That’s what I’ve been doing all my career.

But, when I wanted to progress and change to a company where I could learn from others, in the technical field and in the personal, I realized that all of the companies I wanted to work have an international environment. Consequently, they use English as a language. I know some companies where all the people are from Spain and when they have to speak to each other they use Spanish. But, when they have to write the requirements of a project, a description of an issue they do it in English.

For this 2020, I planned to go to London with the purpose to learn English. I wanted to be there a few months without working. Then, once I would feel comfortable with my communication, search for a job. For those first months, I wanted to go to museums, try to speak with people in cafes and do some volunteer work to be surrounded by the language.

If I decided to learn English before, I would have gone to London before 2020. I would have my settlement status and Brexit would not be a barrier.

My recommendation for those who want to be in the software industry is that they should learn English before learning a new programming language. Even, if they don’t want to move to another country. The capacity to communicate in English will bring them a lot of opportunities.