{"id":414,"date":"2025-07-15T14:15:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T14:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.ilingotraducciones.com\/?p=414"},"modified":"2025-07-15T14:16:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T14:16:02","slug":"french-woman-bogota-inside-outside-ilingo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.ilingotraducciones.com\/?p=414","title":{"rendered":"A French Woman in Bogot\u00e1: my Life Inside and Outside iLingo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Was I really ready to live and work as a French woman in Bogot\u00e1? That\u2019s what I thought. I had studied Spanish, knew a bit about the culture, and was excited to get started. But ever since I arrived in Bogot\u00e1, everything has been a surprise. The pace of the city, the customs, the way people speak. And at the translation agency, I learn something new every single day. The experience has been far richer and more special than I ever imagined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h2>Table of Contents<\/h2><nav><ul><li><a href=\"#speaking-colombian-spanish-with-usted\">Speaking Colombian Spanish&#8230; with \u00abusted\u00bb<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#university-in-france-and-colombia-two-different-worlds\">University in France and Colombia: Two Different Worlds?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#the-visa-challenge-and-the-cedula-too\">The visa challenge (and the c\u00e9dula too!)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#translation-agencies-two-differenty-approaches\">Translation agencies: two differenty approaches<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#life-lessons-as-a-french-woman-in-bogota\">Life Lessons as a French Woman in Bogot\u00e1<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"speaking-colombian-spanish-with-usted\">Speaking Colombian Spanish&#8230; with \u00abusted\u00bb<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the things that surprised me the most as a French woman in Bogot\u00e1 was the constant use of <em>usted<\/em>. In Spain, people use <em>vosotros<\/em> with friends, colleagues, or even strangers they\u2019ve just met, and reserve <em>usted<\/em> for formal situations. In Colombia, however, <em>usted<\/em> is present in almost every interaction, between friends, couples, coworkers&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At first, it felt very cold to me. How can two people who love each other speak that way? But I soon realized that in Colombia, <em>usted<\/em> isn\u2019t a sign of distance, but of respect, affection, even closeness. Learning to use it naturally has been part of my adaptation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And it wasn\u2019t just a matter of pronouns. I quickly noticed that Colombian Spanish is full of expressions I had never heard before. <em>\u201cYa le caigo\u201d<\/em> doesn\u2019t mean someone is about to fall, but rather that they\u2019re on their way. <em>\u201c\u00a1De una!\u201d<\/em> means \u201cof course\u201d or \u201cright away.\u201d Little by little, I left behind textbook Spanish and discovered a way of speaking that\u2019s more lively, more human\u2026 and way more interesting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"university-in-france-and-colombia-two-different-worlds\">University in France and Colombia: Two Different Worlds?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although the French and Colombian university systems share the same goal (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mineducacion.gov.co\/portal\/secciones\/English-version\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ministry of National Education<\/a>), training qualified professionals, their structure and approach differ significantly. The table below summarizes the main differences:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Aspect<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>France<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Colombia<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Study structure<\/td><td>Licence (3 years) + Master (2 years)<\/td><td>Undergraduate degree (usually 5 years)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Bachelor&#8217;s\/Master&#8217;s split<\/td><td>Clear separation<\/td><td>Master\u2019s-level content often included<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Total duration<\/td><td>~5 years for a Master\u2019s degree<\/td><td>~5 years for undergraduate completion<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Internships<\/td><td>Mainly during the Master&#8217;s<\/td><td>Often from early semesters<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Master\u2019s focus<\/td><td>Specialized programs (e.g. legal, literary translation)<\/td><td>More general, often research or management-oriented<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Internship importance<\/td><td>Important, varies by program<\/td><td>Highly valued, often mandatory<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Final degree<\/td><td>National diploma (Licence or Master)<\/td><td>Professional undergraduate title, sometimes with postgraduate studies<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-visa-challenge-and-the-cedula-too\">The visa challenge (and the c\u00e9dula too!)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A less shiny part of my experience: the immigration process. My visa application was rejected the first time, with no clear explanation. After several corrections, and thanks to support from my supervisor \u00c1ngela, it was finally approved. But that wasn\u2019t the end: I\u2019ve now been waiting over two months for my <em>c\u00e9dula de extranjer\u00eda<\/em> (foreigner ID), which makes basic tasks complicated, like opening a bank account or signing up for certain services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bureaucracy has its own language in every country\u2026 and here I\u2019ve had to learn to be <em>very<\/em> patient, unfortunately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"translation-agencies-two-differenty-approaches\">Translation agencies: two differenty approaches<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another difference I noticed right away was how translation agencies operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In France, many agencies focus on technical, literary, or corporate translation, and machine translation or AI tools are widely used. In Colombia, by contrast, many agencies specialize in official translations and immigration-related services: apostilles, translations for embassies, consulates, and universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It makes perfect sense, considering the high level of mobility in Latin America and the country\u2019s strong ties to the U.S. This experience has allowed me to develop new skills, attention to detail, time management, and to truly appreciate the importance of official translation, which is often underestimated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"life-lessons-as-a-french-woman-in-bogota\">Life Lessons as a French Woman in Bogot\u00e1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m discovering the world of official translation&#8230; and also a city as unique as Bogot\u00e1, which is teaching me as much as the agency itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At <a href=\"https:\/\/ilingotraducciones.com\/en\/\">iLingo Traducciones<\/a>, I work with all kinds of documents: certificates, legal procedures, and sometimes unexpeceted things, even love letters that need to be apostilled! This internship is changing how I see translation. Professionally, I&#8217;m learning so much. And on a personal level, I&#8217;m gaining new habits, meaningful lessons&#8230; and, for now, also the never-ending wait for my <em>c\u00e9dula<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Was I really ready to live and work as a French woman in Bogot\u00e1? That\u2019s what I thought. I had studied Spanish, knew a bit about the culture, and was excited to get started. But ever since I arrived in Bogot\u00e1, everything has been a surprise. The pace of the city, the customs, the way [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.ilingotraducciones.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.ilingotraducciones.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.ilingotraducciones.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ilingotraducciones.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ilingotraducciones.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=414"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ilingotraducciones.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":474,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ilingotraducciones.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions\/474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ilingotraducciones.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.ilingotraducciones.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ilingotraducciones.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ilingotraducciones.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}