Rising Roberto Campos baseball star accredited Taylor Swift's music for helping him with the language barrier after moving to the United States.
The 21 -year -old revealed that learning English was one of his struggles when moving in the United States when he was a teenager.
However, Campos spoke with the Detroit Free Press On March 5 without an interpreter and thanked American pop music for their progress. In doing so, the name of the 14 -time Grammy winner was called.
“Thank you, Taylor Swift,” Campos said with a smile in Detroit Tigers spring training in Lakeland, Florida.
Campos was 13 when he moved from Cuba to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional baseball player.
At 16, Campos signed a minor leagues contract with the tigers that included a $ 2.85 million bonus. At that time, it was the largest bonus that the Tigers had granted an international free agent.
Baseball phenomenon Roberto Campos thanked Taylor Swift's music for helping him learn English
The 21 -year -old was largely based on American pop music, movies and television to learn the language
When signing, Campos was assigned to play the minor leagues ball for the Tigres affiliate, West Michigan Whitecaps in Suburban Grand Rapids.
“My Latin friends said:” Hello, brother, you need to learn English because it is difficult when someone speaks to you and you don't understand anything, “Campos A Detroit Free Press told Campos.
To learn the language, the gardener said he saw action and comedies on Netflix with subtitles, placed his phone to English and saw videos to expand his vocabulary.
'It's amazing. Sometimes I'm in my room, and I say: 'Man, I did. Because when I got here, I said: 'I'm never going to learn English because it's very difficult for me. But now, every time I can answer a question, I feel great. Man, inside me, I feel yes, 'added Campos.
The Tigres star also pointed out how her best communication with coaches and teammates made things much easier and more pleasant.
Campos thanked the 14 -winning grammy artist in an interview with Detroit Free Press
“They treat me as if I were one of them,” said Campos. 'I feel good every day I come here.'
While Campos continues to make an effort inside and outside the field, the manager AJ Fanch has realized his progress.
“It's a good lesson for all of us in patience,” said Fuech, 50, to The Free Press. 'The acclimatization process is not just about learning about baseball. He has had to learn about living in a different country, in a different language and interacting with many different people.
Fuech added: “It only seems that it has taken a long time due to our lack of patience as an industry, not anything that has done or not having done.”