Learning English with memes?
I never thought English would take me so far, or rather, that it would stay so close. It wasn’t something I planned or carefully crafted. It started by chance, through life itself, when I moved to Mexico City to study my degree.
I’m from Guadalajara, but at nineteen, I moved eight hours away from home to live one of the most incredible stages of my life: university. I studied Pedagogy, and although English wasn’t my priority back then, it started to sneak into my daily life in the most unexpected ways. I had a friend, Aldair Santes, who watched and read everything in English. Memes, series, articles… anything. I barely understood a few words, but I’d sit with him, reading them out loud, laughing, and asking him every few minutes, “what does that mean?” Little by little, without realizing it, he was planting the curiosity and, more importantly, the habit of surrounding myself with English.
Then I started doing it on my own. I’d read with a dictionary by my side, switched my favorite games to English (I already knew them by heart in Spanish, so I could compare), and watched my favorite series without subtitles. And something changed: I started understanding more. And before I knew it, I was following along just fine—not everything, but enough to keep up and laugh at the memes on my own.
Coming home and finding new paths
After graduating from university, I returned to Guadalajara for love and a fresh start. My (then) boyfriend lived here, and life led me to a new position at HM, then PureMBE, until a better opportunity knocked on my door: AMCO.
AMCO was more than a job: it was a refuge, a place that protected me during one of the most delicate stages of my life, and where I grew deeply. I worked as an instructional designer, and for the first time, English was no longer optional. I had to design content in English—just a bit, but enough to use it professionally. I also joined an internal English course, where I was placed at an intermediate-advanced spoken level, which gave me the confidence I needed. I had the chance to practice with a Canadian teacher who, unknowingly, gave me that extra push.
AMCO changed me. It gave me tools, made me feel capable, and showed me that English was already part of me, that I could keep growing. John Moreno, if you are reading this, thank you so much for all you gave me.
From comfort to real challenge
After AMCO, I felt it was time for a bigger challenge. I applied for a position at Canadian School, a bilingual school, and was accepted as a Maker Space teacher. That’s when English stopped being about theory or design: I had to teach primary school children in English, every day. I had to explain, guide, solve, improvise. It was a challenging experience in every sense. I learned that being a teacher doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not just “you’re hired, now you’re a teacher.” It’s a deep mix of vocation, respect, and community. It’s commitment.
Interestingly, at Canadian School, I understood why so many things I did at AMCO, from planning to structuring materials, made sense. I saw the other side, I lived what it meant to be in front of a group, and how everything comes to life when you apply it.
The launchpad and the big question
Then came PLAi, a brief but powerful step that became the launchpad for my current position as Head of the Educational Design Department at Tecnológico Superior de Jalisco en Línea. That’s where I realized that my bachelor’s degree was starting to feel too small. Everything I had learned, everything I had lived, had prepared me for a lot, but it was also calling me to do more. I knew I wanted something challenging, something big.
And when I saw Sheinbaum’s new cabinet, surrounded by women academics, prepared, with doctorates and master’s degrees, I knew my next step couldn’t be small. I saw how a prepared woman could have a profound impact on the country. And when María Elena Álvarez-Buylla became head of CONAHCYT, I thought: “I can give something like that to my country, or something similar within TECNM.” But for that, I needed more. To give to my country, I need something valuable to give.
Edinburgh wasn’t an obstacle, it was the answer.
When I found the Education Futures program at the University of Edinburgh, I just knew. It didn’t just inspire me—it called me. The detail: the program was in English. But that wasn’t an obstacle. It was the confirmation that I was ready, but that I also wanted to be better. I didn’t just want to “understand” the classes, I wanted to fully live them, to think and feel in English, to communicate with mastery.
What am I doing today to achieve this?
I’ve set the goal: Edinburgh. And if I go, I want to be ready. It’s not just about reaching a C1 or C2 level, it’s about learning, thinking, and communicating with excellence. I want to enjoy the experience, not mentally translate every word. I want to debate, write, create. So, with my background as an instructional designer and with my great friend ChatGPT, I designed a plan.
This new project includes:
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Critical reading of research sites and news in English.
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Heavy readings, where I identify key vocabulary and practice it.
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Audiobooks and podcasts like Teaching in Higher Ed and books by bell hooks.
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Constant writing, applying everything I’ve learned.
And yes, my Duolingo streak is still alive: 2,370 days. My streak is sacred.
English: the key and the door
Learning a language isn’t just about grammar rules. It’s culture, it’s memory, it’s identity. English has opened a door to a multicultural world. Now that I read research articles from different parts of the world in English, I see how the language changes depending on the culture, how it reflects different ways of seeing the world. English doesn’t mean losing my identity, it means expanding it. It’s about building a multicultural identity to better share the richness of my mother tongue.
Now, when I look towards Edinburgh, I don’t just see a challenge—I see the opportunity to fully live in that other language that, somehow, is already a part of me.
