In Medellín, and throughout Colombia, people speak little English. The music is mainly in Spanish, on television everything is dubbed, so that children are not encouraged from an early age to learn another language.

On the other hand, children often have several hours of English classes every week from the age of around 7, until they finish high school. In total, they have around 10 years of classes where we can conclude that children learn relatively little. This is mainly because the teachers themselves speak little English, have to stick to a curriculum and mainly teach grammar.

Because relatively few Colombians speak English well, this means that if a person speaks English well, it is easier to find formal work.