From «D» Grade to Business Fluency: How Personalized Spanish Lessons for Business Professionals Change Everything

Fast forward decades later, and he’s not just conversing in Spanish—he’s passing DELE exam preparation courses, networking at business events in Tijuana, and building the foundation for a Latin American enterprise.

What changed? Not a sudden gift for languages. Instead, Dice discovered what thousands of business professionals struggle to find: a learning approach that actually aligns with real-world goals.

During the COVID pandemic, Dice faced a career crossroads. His consulting company offered him a European engagement, but it required relocating to Ireland—an expense not covered by his package. «I decided to move to east coast time zone,» he explains, «but obviously, you know, I have my residence in California. I’m already, you know, we have mortgage and everything else. So I didn’t want to pay for an additional rent in New York obviously, right, because it’s very expensive.»

The solution? Medellín, Colombia. With a cost of living around two grand a month, Dice could maintain his California mortgage while working remotely in a timezone that matched his project needs. He spent three months there, and that experience crystallized two powerful realizations that would shape his Spanish learning journey.

«When I was in Medellín, I met a lot of engineers and students,» Dice shares. «And I learned their sort of skill sets and salary structure and understood that I would be able to hire engineers with some of the required skills that I’m looking for for probably one-third of the price that I would get for a US resource.»

The math was compelling. Dice could pay engineers out of his own savings to do work that would cost three times as much in the United States. But there was a catch: effective business communication in Spanish wasn’t optional—it was essential.

Beyond building a team, Dice identified another opportunity: «I also figured out that there was a lot of remote opportunities available with the type of work I do and it didn’t really matter where I was. And if I were to live in Colombia, I could probably save most of my salary.»

«You thought about like moving there?» Daniela asks.

«Exactly. I actually thought about getting a house there and moving there and then just bank a whole lot of money in a short period of time,» Dice confirms. «It hasn’t worked out that way, but that is still in the back of my mind.»

This wasn’t about casual travel Spanish. Dice needed business Spanish proficiency to execute a sophisticated career strategy. As he puts it: «Anytime I pick up something, whether it’s hobby or language or anything, it’s for an ultimate goal, right? So it’s utility driven.»

«Every step of the way or the milestone, I’ve been able to get an ROI from it,» Dice explains about his approach to adult learning. But getting that ROI required abandoning the one-size-fits-all approach that dominates online language education.

Like many professionals, Dice started with the obvious tools—Duolingo, online courses, self-study apps. These helped with basics, but they couldn’t solve the real challenges:

«Initially the listening part was a lot harder,» Dice admits. «Even when you are able to do certain things with Duolingo or other methods that you’re using at home and you feel like you can now kind of construct basic sentences and go out and do shopping or go to the restaurant, that’s one thing. But then encountering and meeting certain people locally and having informal chat is a whole different ball game.»

The problem? «There’s a whole lot of slang, the sentences are very abrupt, it’s never a complete sentence which makes it really hard for your ears to pick up. It still is difficult for me anyway.»

In Dice’s case, generic curriculum meant learning vocabulary he’d never use. «I’m more interested in let’s say business terminologies and technology terminologies as opposed to let’s say a dating terminology or something, right? So it’s very specific and we don’t spend time where we don’t need to and we go right into where it matters.»

This realization led him to Spanish immersion in Tijuana with CAD Spanish School—a decision that would prove transformative.

«How did you find CAD?» Daniela asks during their conversation.

Dice’s path to CAD started with practical needs. He and his wife had been visiting Rosarito and Puerto Nuevo regularly, and coming to Tijuana for restaurants had become routine. But when they needed veterinary care for their dogs, he started seriously looking for resources in Tijuana—including English-speaking Spanish schools.

A missed flight at Tijuana airport gave him the extra time he needed: «I had to stay overnight in Tijuana and I had missed the flight and that kind of led to ‘okay I have some extra time, let’s find this place, let’s go there.'»

«So this is for me the key difference between just kind of learning Spanish online or using apps,» Dice explains. «In regards to going through and learning with you, it’s a personalized kind of experience whereby Daniela and the team, they know the goals that I’m trying to attain, right? And then we kind of work backwards from that goal.»

This goal-oriented approach meant:

«For example, renting a house down in Tijuana—I was able to achieve that through help of the team here,» Dice notes. Not just learning vocabulary, but applying Spanish to accomplish specific objectives.

«For example, we studied last year for the DELE exam, remember?» Daniela prompts.
«Yeah, luckily I was able to pass A2 and that was a big milestone for me,» Dice responds. «Going from let’s say A1 to A2 is a big jump. When you pass A2, you kind of get to that place where you’re like, ‘Hey, you know what? You could travel somewhere and be stranded in the middle of nowhere and you could probably find your way out.’ It got me feeling like, hey, you know what? I’m in Tijuana all the time or I’m in other countries in Latin America and I’ll be okay. And that’s the level of confidence that I have.»

«And now we’re working toward the other one like B1,» Daniela mentions.

«Exactly. We don’t have the date, right? But we’re working to continue progressing,» Dice confirms.

The ultimate target? «Establishing a business out here in Latin America,» with each lesson building toward that concrete outcome.

«The main difference here is having the physical presence here in CAD and being able to meet the whole team here and having built a certain level of relationship and trust and having that sort of history of you understanding the team and then the team understanding myself and what I’m trying to achieve,» Dice emphasizes. «That really helps in terms of progressing toward a goal that I’m specifically trying to attain.»

He continues: «When you’re using online resources or whatever, it’s generic, right? So they’re not really concerned about what you’re trying to attain.»

CAD’s approach extends beyond the classroom through regular community events. «I was able to meet a lot of different people through the events that you guys host and other opportunities that you’ve been able to create through the CAD team, whether that’s a reading event or other events,» Dice shares. «I was able to meet a lot of different people here and actually have personal relationships, and that allows me to use Spanish in a wider capacity.»

These weren’t just social gatherings—they were practical testing grounds. «Each and every time, if you’re goal-oriented and if you’re considering coming down here and doing the same, I think it’s a good sort of milestones to set forth so you can kind of put yourself on schedule and then test yourself. Every team event you come, you could focus on ‘hey, I’ll talk a little bit this event’ or ‘I’ll see how my listening is improving.'»

«Duolingo, it’s kind of a controversial topic in that a lot of people don’t like Duolingo, right? A lot of people think it’s repetitive and it’s only vocabulary,» Dice acknowledges. «I tend to come from a different perspective in that it’s more about consistency.»

His reasoning: «If you’re a professional working professional and you have other priorities, you could spend five minutes here, another five minutes there, 10 minutes before you go to sleep and before you know it you could get through five six lessons a day. And that keeps you kind of on schedule.»

The proof? «I adamantly use Duolingo. I’m getting close to a thousand days now.»

«Wow. Yeah, thousand day streaks,» Daniela responds. «So yeah, if I could do it, anybody could do it.»

«I use Lingo Pie as well,» Dice shares. «I don’t use it too often, but when I do it’s good. It’s a way of kind of getting away from work.»

The value shows over time: «Whether it’s been a month or it’s been few weeks or whatever, you come back to Lingo Pie and you listen for an hour or two and you’re like, ‘Hey, you know what? I wasn’t as good let’s say a month ago, a month and a half ago, or now I understand these words that I didn’t before.’ I tend to notice the improvements.»

«From your end as a student, wherever the level you’re in, you have to kind of take care of your basics, whether it’s grammar, if it’s some new grammar techniques or items are introduced, right?» Dice advises. «You’re supposed to kind of do your own little research and homework. And then if you have any questions, go back to the team and say, ‘Hey, you know what? I don’t really understand this. Give me a context as to how I would best use this or whatever.'»

He continues: «I make sure that when certain things are introduced or some things come up out of the conversation, I look into it.»

For professionals in Southern California, Spanish immersion in Tijuana offers unique advantages that no other location can match.

«If you’re in let’s say San Diego or Orange County, and I’m sure if you’re in San Diego or Orange County, you probably crossed the border and you probably went to Rosarito or you probably went to Puerto Nuevo and did the same things that I have, right?» Dice observes.

But there’s more to discover: «Do take the time, maybe stop at CAD, talk to the folks here. Maybe go to the central and go to the restaurants, because it could be 15 minutes or five miles away from San Diego and yet it’s entirely a different world, especially when you dig deeper, right?»

The difference? «You go beyond some of the shops that and the vendors that speak English to you, but you go beyond that, it’s an entirely different country. And once you can kind of immerse yourself into that, I think you’ll gain a lot more than just going out to Rosarito and having some shrimp.»

«Anytime I pick up something, whether it’s hobby or language or anything, it’s for an ultimate goal, right? So it’s utility driven,» Dice emphasizes. Without concrete motivation, consistency becomes nearly impossible.

The difference between personalized Spanish lessons for business professionals and standard curriculum: «They know the goals that I’m trying to attain, and then we kind of work backwards from that goal. Whatever you’re kind of, there’s the ultimate goal, let’s say as far as I’m concerned, establishing a business out here in Latin America, but prior to that there are some intra milestones that we’re trying to hit.»

«CAD hosts an event usually once a week and I’ve been invited to other events as well, whether it’s like a book reading events or food tasting events or there’s some other events that are available for the students to attend,» Dice notes. «That really allows me to test my language skills or look to see where I am. It’s kind of a verification method.»

Personalized lessons provide structure and expert guidance
Duolingo maintains daily contact with the language
LingoPie offers progress checkpoints
Community events deliver real-world practice
Independent research deepens understanding

For San Diego and Orange County residents, Spanish immersion in Tijuana provides authentic experiences without international travel costs. «It could be 15 minutes or five miles away from San Diego and yet it’s entirely a different world.»

Located just minutes from San Diego, CAD Spanish School offers the immersive experience and customized instruction that turned Dice’s business vision into measurable progress. From certification programs to networking events, discover how business Spanish education designed around your objectives can accelerate your timeline.

Take the first step: Visit CAD Spanish School in Tijuana and experience the difference between studying Spanish and actually using it to achieve your professional goals.

«I’m really happy like doing this because you have been studying Spanish for about like three years,» Daniela says at the beginning of their conversation. Two and a half years later, Dice isn’t just studying anymore—he’s living and building a future in Spanish. Your journey could start today.