We recently connected with Myron Travis and have shared our conversation below.

Myron, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I was using my smart phone to record videos of myself practicing my target language (which is Spanish). Realizing that eventually, my phone would run out of space. I decided to post my videos publicly on social media. I didn’t want to completely erase my videos, in doing that I wouldn’t have any way to track my progress. I took the risk of publicly posting in thought of others. I knew that there could be people just like me, with the same goals. Who may needed motivation to continue the language learning journey.

And I was absolutely correct, slow I built a following. Some language learners and others inspired content creators. I’ve been able to Collab and work with other creators. I’ve also had the opportunity to teach some and there’s some other great opportunities I will further explore this year.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a family man who learned a second language while working a full time job and managing a family. And has used social media to build relationships and business opportunities.

I’ve always had an admiration for the Spanish language. I’ve even pursued it in my middle school years. Yet, I didn’t find that dedicated mindset until eight years ago.

I provided online Spanish lessons for beginners, also language exchange services for my Spanish speaking clients. Clients are able to learn all the basics knowledge of Spanish and work towards the intermediate level.

I would want potential clients and followers to know that I am passionate about what I do. I’m going to always give it my best and that their feedback is always welcome and important to me. My desire is that others find joy in the language learning process. Any ways that I can encourage that or spark that, I want to.

What sets me apart from many is my approach to language learning. The whole goal for learning a language is to speak it. Many teachers and tutors will bore their students with grammar rules, which are important. Yet this approach can kill the very desire to learn, depending on the personality of the student. My approach is to find ways to use the language right away and let grammar rules come naturally.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

With language learning mistakes are inevitable. The sooner we learn this, we will be ready to advance in our target language.

I remember years ago I would be so nervous at a Mexican restaurant trying to practice my Spanish. I would start in the parking lot rehearsing what I am going to say when I get inside. I would imagine their next words to me and all. I would finally make my way to the door rehearse still in my mind. Note that language learning is also repetitive learning.

This particular day, I was ordering that delicious street corn in a cup. But, I didn’t know the proper term for it. I didn’t know that there are two different words for agricultural corn and culinary corn. So I asked for the agricultural kind instead of the culinary kind. The lady who was taking my order was so confused. She finally laughed when she realized what I was trying to say. From there I learned the proper term and a valuable lesson. A lesson for anyone that wants to learn a language. Mistakes are great for learning and helps us advance if we are willing to take the risk.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When I first started learning the Spanish language, it was confusing. I would see the different genders for nouns. Then there was the conjugation chart for verbs. I discovered that there was castellano Spanish and Latin American Spanish. The more I looked into Spanish the broader it had gotten before my eyes. I can remember being at a stand still and not knowing how to continue. It was when I discovered the Dominican culture. I realize that I was on the right road and that language learning was indeed for me.

There’s a saying in the language learning community; “you know nothing about your native language until you’ve learned a second language.” This is so true because learning Spanish has taught me, that these two languages are completely different. They have some similarities and that has been tricky for many people. But, in the learning process we have to separate the two. Don’t always be quick to trust words that look similar. There’s a thing called “false friends,” in language learning. I often say that every word is an idea with Spanish. That way we are not looking for it to mean one particular thing, but rather looking for how it functions.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myjourney2fluency/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/BrotherMyron/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@myjourney2fluency220

Image Credits
Jessica Feliz