LANGUAGES IMPROVED HIS ODDS
Polyglot from Peru saw the power of communication
For 39-year-old Cristiaan Aguilar, everything comes back to language.
The native of Lima, Peru, was just 15 when he first realized its potential. On a tour of northern Peru, he used what little English he knew to serve as a liaison between a Spanish-speaking tour guide and visiting Germans.
It changed the experience for the Germans. And it changed the course of Aguilar’s life.
He learned English. And French. And Italian.
He taught students at the elementary school level. He began teaching adults.
It wasn’t the most prestigious of jobs, Aguilar said. But it was valuable. He felt settled.
Then his father summoned him to the United States. He traveled across Lima to fill out paperwork, get vaccinations, pay fees and get a passport.
In 1998, Aguilar came to the States. He was 21.
“That was very challenging,” Aguilar reflected. “I was almost engaged. I had to disengage. I had to resign from my job. I had to quit school — I was going for management.
“I had to stop and pretty much unplug all of the groups and circles I belonged to.”
Still, Aguilar figured he was in a better position than his father, who struggled with English for years. A top salesman at a big corporation in Peru, his father was forced to sweep floors in the United States. Aguilar was wrong. His credentials — his fluency, his education, his job experience — meant nothing.
“Nobody would call my references,” Aguilar said. “I had to start over.”
Yet, Aguilar knew the United States held more potential for him than his home country. And many of his fami-
ly members — not just his dad — were in New London, Waterford and Stonington. So he worked briefly at a bakeshop. Then he took a job attending to the lavatories at Foxwoods Resort Casino.
“I was mad,” Aguilar said. “I had to walk in to work in the middle of December and January for a job that I believe paid me $6 an hour.”
The experience, he said, was “humbling,” which might be an understatement. Frustrated, Aguilar at one point saved enough money to return to Peru, but he never did.
For some immigrants, the work was enough. Not for Aguilar.
Aguilar began to excel at his casino job. He paid attention. He asked questions. And when an opportunity came, he seized it.
The year was 1999. A bilingual trainer at Foxwoods called out of work. Aguilar told a supervisor he could fill in.
“I said, ‘If you like what I do, keep me here. If not, I’ll still have a job,’” Aguilar said. “She decided to give it shot.”
He never cleaned floors there again.
Language unlocked Aguilar’s world. He went from Foxwoods to Mohegan Sun to gigs in Rhode Island, California and Washington, always in a supervisory role.
In 2000, he met and fell in love with a U.S. citizen whom he later married. Aided by the extra urgency 9/11 created, he worked toward and succeeded in becoming a lawful permanent resident in 2003.
Aguilar and his first wife divorced in 2006. But after he spent the required five years in the country as a lawful resident, he decided to apply for citizenship. Among other things, he wanted to be able to travel to Europe without having to obtain a visa.
Aguilar became a U.S. citizen in 2011. He was 34.
Spouses of U.S. citizens have one of the fastest paths to permanent residency, as they are able to apply for a visa immediately. Spouses of permanent residents also have a relatively quick route to a green card.
According to the U.S. Department of State’s July Visa Bulletin, spouses of permanent residents can get a visa number — a number they need in order to continue on the path to a green card — in about two years’ time.
For perspective, the wait for unmarried sons and daughters of citizens is closer to seven years. For siblings, it’s anywhere from 13 to 23 years.
Now, Aguilar is back at Mohegan Sun as a human resources training specialist. He has taught various language courses locally — whether to those in the medical field or those in adult education — and has volunteered at churches doing the same. Just remarried in January, he attended a graduation ceremony at Seattle University last month after getting a master’s degree in adult education and training. His dream is to teach English, but because that requires so many certifications and endorsements in Connecticut, for now he’ll settle for teaching the other languages he knows.
“I know so many people who start (English as a second language) and only keep going till they feel comfortable enough to get by,” Aguilar said.
He wants to show them they can participate on a deeper level — by catching cultural references, for example — by continuing their education, even if they can’t shed their accents.
“If I want to join the conversation, I need to make an effort,” Aguilar said, summing up his philosophy. “The relevance of what you learn determines how successful you are.”