Sonia Gil

Sonia Gil (born 24 September 1981) is an entrepreneur and travel vlogger. She is the co-founder of the digital language learning platform Fluenz, where she leads the creation of all learning content. She is also the host and co-creator of Sonia's Travels,[1] which airs weekly on YouTube and Yahoo Screen. She also stars in the Ulive travel series Almost Free. She is the winner of the 2012 People's Voice Webby Award for Best Web Personality, and the 2014 People's Voice Webby Award for Best "DIY-How to" online show for her How to Travel series.[2] She was named the 4th most influential person in travel social media by travel blog Skift in May 2014.[3]

Sonia Gil
Gil with her Webby award in 2012
Born (1981-09-24) September 24, 1981
Venezuela
Years active2005-present
Known forLanguage learning software, vlogging
Websitewww.soniagil.com

Early life and education

Sonia Gil was born in Venezuela, in a multilingual family.[4] She grew up in Caracas and Boca Raton, Florida, and attended Cornell University, where she studied plant genetics.

Career

During the first few years of college, Gil worked on an Internet start-up. The portal loquesea.com was online from 1997 to 2002, and was known as a very early social network for young people.[5] The company "became the largest network of sites for youths in Latin America", and at some point had "19 sites running in 4 languages".[6]

After graduating, Gil went to the Amazon rainforest and worked with an NGO.[7] Then she went to Paris and brushed up on her French.[7] She traveled to China, where she encountered obstacles in the traditional way of learning the language. She realized that language couldn't be taught the same way all over the world.[7] There needed to be a common ground between traditional instruction and modern presentation.

According to Joshua Cohen, Gil started the vlog Sonia's Travels after she began traveling extensively for her work with Fluenz, which "make the costs of producing Sonia's Travels marginal instead of prohibitive".[8] She partnered with Mariana Hellmund, an award-winning filmmaker with an extensive career,[9] and together they developed the visual style that characterizes the web series.[10]

Another one of her projects, the non-profit Fluenz.org, distributes free English language programs for people in need.[11]

Gil also has her own video series, Almost Free, on Scripps Network's Ulive.com.[12]

In the spring of 2016, she became a co-founder and investor at Nuverz.[13]

References
  1. Vanderborg, Carey. "Sonia Gil Takes Viewers Back To The Heart Of What Traveling Is All About With 'Sonia's Travels'". International Business Times. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  2. "Travel Tips: Best Travel Website". Yahoo! Screen. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  3. "Influencers Leaderboard". Skift. Archived from the original on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  4. "Sonia Gil: Interview Outtakes BTS Behind the Scenes". Wall Street Journal Digital Network. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  5. Del Pozo, Fernando. "Loquesea.com". Failbeta. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  6. Goode, Lauren. "Fluenz hopes to help users to fluency". Digits. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  7. Markelz, Michelle. "One Global Gal". Profile. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  8. Cohen, Joshua. "You Haven't Seen An Independent Online Show Like This". TubeFilter. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  9. "Mariana Hellmund". Movies & TV. The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  10. "Through the eyes of… Sonia Gil". Travelettes. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  11. Acevedo, Inti. "Fluenz.org: "El idioma es un derecho humano"". Alt1040. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  12. "BREAKING: Toldja! Scripps Networks' ULive.com to Debut a Dozen Online Originals". VideoInk. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  13. "Shape Up Your Memory Muscles: 7 Steps to Learn a Language". Nuverz.
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