August 6th, 2021

 

 

Federico Goldenberg López started at Crandon at the age of 2 in 1988.  Crandon is part of his life and the group of friends he made during those years is the best memory he has. 

After finishing High School, Federico decided to study Engineering at Universidad de la República. «I went from classrooms of 25 people, at Crandon, to classrooms of 500 students, where there was no one-on-one interaction, at first, and teachers wouldn’t even know your last name.But Crandon gives you the tools to adapt to that challenge. Crandon students are very well prepared; the Engineering career is difficult, but in sixth grade I had Fernando Pelaez as a Math teacher, with a university level, that made it a completely seamless transition.» 

He got the degree of Ingeniero Industrial Mecánica in 2012, and tired  of studying, he decided to enter the job market. But he soon realized that he wanted to widen his studies, and he also wanted to live abroad. Studying in Europe or the United States was a very big investment, so Federico evaluated the available scholarships and applied for the Chevening Program and the universities in the United Kingdom that he liked the most. He was selected to be part of the prestigious Chevening Awards. During 2016 and 2017 he studied a Master of Science in Renewable Energy Enterprise and Management at Newcastle University, which he passed with a distinction.

Federico returned to Uruguay and worked for a while (one of the requirements of the scholarship scheme). Then, the desire to travel came back and a job opportunity arose in Washington, at the Inter-American Development Bank. Since 2019, he has been a consultant in the Infrastructure Sector, in the Energy Division. 

We talked to Federico about the English he learned at Crandon, the Chevening scholarship and studying abroad.

How did you get the English level needed for the Chevening Scholarship?
Well, I think there are a couple of key aspects, but having learned at Crandon sets you up for success. The first one is how you learn; it is very genuine. I learned from a young age. I was learning English and Spanish at the same time, with the same methodology, using games and songs. I was very young, so I wasn’t really learning English, I was playing around with English. 

Then, as you get older, it starts to get a little bit more intense. My first test was KET and I took it when I was 12. We were very well-prepared, I think that over 90% of our class passed. Crandon teaches you how English is measured in an exam environment. And also, I believe that the level of English you get when you leave Crandon, at the end of high school, is good enough. It is more than good enough. It is a very adequate level to get the scholarship or to stay in the U.K., without a shadow of a doubt. 

What did you do to achieve the required level for the scholarship?
While I was at Crandon I wasn’t too used to writing formal essays, so I had to take some classes with an English teacher to prepare a little bit of the essays for the scholarship application and the universities. But the foundations of the knowledge were still there. You just need to get back to the whole habits of writing and to know how to structure an essay with the main argument on top, then the development of the ideas and finally write a conclusion. I also tried to immerse myself in English again.

How did you immerse yourself in the language?  
I started watching movies with English subtitles, for instance. I listened to songs and the radio. If you like sport, I really encourage you to look for sport shows in English. You will be enjoying yourself because you know all about the sport of your choice, and you will start listening to the words, the vocabulary and the phrases. Podcasts are perfect for commuting and stuff like that, you can listen to a 30 minute podcast about whatever you like: Business, Finance, Medicine. Video games are also wonderful. If you like them, play in English!  

You were surrounded by the topics you chose, but a specific level is needed to be part of a university course. How did you get to the required level?
There’s a situation that may summarize this answer: The first two classes, I tried to take my notes in Spanish, but I wasn’t fast enough doing that. So I just started taking notes in English. And then, you know, when teachers say that you must think in English and try not to translate Spanish into English, you have to go along with it. And since it’s a full immersion in the language, it happens. You start dreaming in English and that’s amazing. You really get into the language and it just becomes part of your life. 

English in the classroom is different, but if you are prepared you don’t have to be scared of the level of English, because teachers know that they have a large intake of students from abroad. Us, people from South America, we have a very good level of English in comparison with people from Asia. And teachers have patience with you. They have support groups and supervisors, and you can prepare essays and presentations with them. But I don’t think you need that support if you learn English in an environment like Crandon. I don’t think there is much need for using those resources, and your brain switches once you get the full immersion in the country and the language.

Do you believe your brain switched because you had the English DNA that Crandon gave you?
Yeah. I think it makes  a difference to be able to learn English the way I did since kindergarten. That’s the only opportunity you have to get such a fresh brain. But even if you are just picking up English at a later stage of your life, you can definitely catch up. I think it is all about tools, it’s just knowing how to activate and get on with the work. It’s also a matter of effort. We all know English is a competitive advantage; now it’s mandatory for later stages of any career.

English is needed in University at the Bachelors’ level, but even more if you take a Masters’ or a PhD 
Yes, and especially when you start collaborating because you may end up working with people in France or in India and you have to speak English. It will be challenging because everybody has a different style in English. Even when we are all speaking the same language, it is hard to understand the accents. 

Studying English is part of being prepared to live abroad. You can communicate and you can generate bonds with other people through a fluent conversation. That really helps you in your everyday life, you need to be able to go shopping, speak with your colleagues or people you meet, play games, soccer or football. And it’s a tool that sets you off for the rest of your life. There’s Google Translate, but it’s not good enough. It’s not fast enough. It can change the words properly, but it won’t show your feelings. So, yeah, you need to kind of master the language.