Johannes learned Spanish with atrify and proved his skills in South America
atrify: that's around 160 colleagues from over 25 countries. And that's why our internal communication is not only in German, but also regularly in English. We love this diversity and are thankful that we have so many different nationalities represented at atrify.
The topic of language therefore also plays a central role in our employee offers. We would like to give you a little insight into language learning at atrify and also introduce you to Johannes. He learned Spanish with Babbel and used his language skills during his sabbatical, a 6-month trip through South America.
Johannes, you were on the road in South America for six months. Tell me: How did you come up with this plan?
I had originally planned to travel to South America with a friend in 2020 - the first Corona year. Unfortunately, that didn't work out, but the desire for such an adventure was awakened, so I was determined to make it happen. I then agreed on a longer "savings phase" with atrify, so that I continued to receive a salary and had health insurance during my sabbatical...
Yes, and then it was on!
Did you prepare specifically for the trip?
I started learning Spanish with Babbel before the trip. That turned out to be a good idea. In South and Central American countries, you don't really get far with English. Of course, I discussed the formalities of my sabbatical with my supervisor Peter, with my team and with Corinna from HR and started thinking about the route. At atrify we have many international colleagues who were able to give me great tips on travel destinations. One colleague even gave me his wife's number in case of an emergency, as she speaks Portuguese and Brazil was my first destination.
So tell me, where did your travels take you?
So it all started in Brazil, where I spent the first six weeks. Salvador, the beaches of Brazil, Lencois, the Chapada Diamantina National Park, Manaus and the Amazon enticed me with lots of nature and culture. I travelled alone for the first three months, via Panama to Costa Rica. There I met up with my girlfriend and we travelled together for the remaining three months. From there we went on to Chile, where we spent Christmas and New Year's Eve at the end of the world. From south to north, we hiked through the Torres del Paine, watched the stars on the Atacama plateau and experienced many different climates. Then we went on to Bolivia. We had three weeks to experience and see the Pampas, Lake Titicaca with the Isla del Sol, the 10,000 square kilometre salt desert Salar de Uyuni, carnival in Ururu, the deadliest roads in the world and other incredible things. We returned to Costa Rica via Panama, where we enjoyed another two weeks of relaxed Caribbean flair with surf and beach before heading back to Germany.
Wow, you've been around quite a bit! Are there any particular highlights you'd like to tell us about?
Of course, it is difficult to summarise, because the time is simply marked by an incredible number of impressions and experiences. But all in all, we experienced an amazing natural and animal world.
You see many animals that you would naturally never encounter here: from birds to alligators to llamas and alpacas. Nature is incredibly diverse. I was in (salt) deserts, on glaciers, in forests and in the Amazon. I've driven through dry desert towns and even got caught in a snowstorm once. Hiking through national parks, camping under the stars or carnival in Bolivia - these are all experiences I will never forget.
Do you have any tips for others who now also want to pack their 7 things and go?
You should think carefully about what you pack! You'll be carrying it around with you for half a year. But it's a good exercise to limit yourself to the essentials.
My personal tip regarding finances: Take two credit cards with you! Then you will avoid my experience of being without money in Panama: with ATMs that don't accept your card and then having to ask around for money. Very communicative, but I could have done without it ;). I also always got a local SIM card to plan trips and book hostels. Wi-Fi is actually available everywhere. Even at the end of the world, the speeds are sometimes higher than here. Apart from that, I would give the tip to stay longer in one place to relax and maybe meet some local people. We often travelled in short sections from one place to the next and you should be careful that it doesn't get too hectic.
These are great experiences. What else did you take home from your trip?
You learn to just get involved in situations, to be more open and to accept things as they come. Travelling is very intense because things always go wrong or don't go according to plan. And then you accept that and make the best of it.
I would also like to mention the food: I have never eaten such delicious and fresh fruit and vegetables. Everything tastes very different from here because you eat it directly where it grows and it has not been transported many kilometres across the sea by container ship.
On the trip, I also simply got to know many nice and open people. We were often the first tourists to return after Corona and were always warmly welcomed. The people are very, very helpful and are always happy when you make an effort to use your Spanish. We actually tried to avoid the bigger cities and travelled more in the countryside, where you can usually only get on with Spanish. I continued to work on my Spanish with the Babbel app during the trip and am now trying to keep it up here as well. At the atrify summer party, I was able to test my knowledge at least with our Spanish intern, and we also have many other nations represented here at atrify.
Overall, it was simply a great adventure that I wouldn't want to miss! I can only recommend anyone who has something similar in mind to take the plunge.
atrify Benefits: Our offer to learn new languages or improve your skills
Every new atrifyer takes an English placement test through our partner Carl Duisberg at the beginning of their employment with us. We do this not to check language skills, but to give everyone the opportunity to receive an individual assessment of their written and oral English skills. Based on the assessment, we can offerall atrifyers to voluntarily attend English coursesheld weekly over a period of half a year. Learning in a group is a great opportunity to develop English skills together and to meet atrifyers from other teams. The teachers are all native speakers and assist our atrifyers at different language levels. Of course, we not only offer the opportunity to participate in English courses, but also to take part in German courses.
Since last year we are proud owners of several Babbel accounts. All atrifyers can also volunteer for this. At Babbel you can find beginner, intermediate and advanced courses for a total of 14 learning languages - including special business courses as well as additional courses on many exciting and useful topics. Astudy has shown that with Babbel, in just 15 hours, you can learn the of learning the equivalent of one semester of a language at university. Impressive, isn't it? That means: if you learn for 20 minutes a day, you have managed the content of a semester in only 9 weeks!
Of course, the hardest part of self-directed learning is to keep the ball rolling. Here you can find a few tips and tricks to improve your language learning routine. We can also recommend the Babbel podcasts for in-between, with which you can learn the language on the way to work or while working out.
Our employee Ilteris, for example, took an intensive German course a few weeks ago and has made enormous progress since then. His opinion on learning languages:
"Do you know multilinguals earn 8% more on average than their counterparts? On the flip side, according to the World Economic Forum companies that have multilingual employees also enjoy 40% more exports and innovation. When atrify decided to invest in me with a German language course, this was a no brainer. I took it. I followed the A1 and A2 intensive courses in the last two years. As this is a continuous improvement progress, we at atrify follow the world's greatest investor Warren Buffett's guidance. -by far the best investment you can make is in yourself."
(Ilteris Oney, Market Unit Leader MO's)
We are very proud that so many atrifyers are working on their language skills and integrating learning into their everyday lives.
