You can write clean code. You can solve complex algorithms. You can architect systems that handle millions of requests. But when your American tech lead says "Let's circle back on the blockers from the retro" — you nod and hope context fills in the gaps.
Technical English for developers goes way beyond programming terminology. It's the language of standups, code reviews, Slack messages, and performance evaluations. This guide covers the vocabulary that nobody teaches in coding bootcamps.
Why Tech English Matters for Your Career
Remote work has opened incredible opportunities for Latin American developers. Companies in the US, Canada, and Europe are hiring globally. But the #1 reason LATAM developers get rejected isn't technical skill — it's communication.
Hiring managers report that candidates who communicate clearly in English get offers 3x more often than equally skilled candidates who struggle with language.
Meeting Vocabulary
Daily Standup / Scrum
| English | Spanish | Portuguese | Meaning | |---------|---------|------------|---------| | Blocker | Bloqueante | Bloqueador | Something preventing progress | | Unblock | Desbloquear | Desbloquear | Remove an obstacle | | Carry over | Arrastrar | Arrastar | Task moved to next sprint | | Spike | Investigación técnica | Investigação técnica | Research task to reduce uncertainty | | Timebox | Limitar en tiempo | Limitar no tempo | Set a fixed time for a task | | Scope creep | Expansión del alcance | Expansão do escopo | When requirements grow beyond original plan | | Ship it | Desplegarlo | Entregar | Deploy/release the feature | | Roll back | Revertir | Reverter | Undo a deployment | | Hot fix | Corrección urgente | Correção urgente | Emergency bug fix in production | | Greenfield | Proyecto nuevo | Projeto novo | Building from scratch (no legacy) |
Sprint Planning & Retros
| English | Spanish | Portuguese | Meaning | |---------|---------|------------|---------| | Velocity | Velocidad | Velocidade | Team's capacity per sprint | | Story points | Puntos de historia | Pontos de história | Effort estimation units | | Tech debt | Deuda técnica | Dívida técnica | Shortcuts that need future fixing | | Refactor | Refactorizar | Refatorar | Restructure code without changing behavior | | MVP | Producto mínimo viable | Produto mínimo viável | Smallest useful version | | Edge case | Caso límite | Caso extremo | Unusual scenario that could cause bugs | | Happy path | Camino feliz | Caminho feliz | The expected, error-free user flow | | Bottleneck | Cuello de botella | Gargalo | The slowest part of a system/process |
Code Review Language
Giving Feedback
These phrases make your code review comments professional and constructive:
Suggesting a change:
- "Have you considered...?" — ¿Has considerado...? / Você já considerou...?
- "What do you think about...?" — ¿Qué opinas de...? / O que você acha de...?
- "A possible alternative would be..." — Una posible alternativa sería... / Uma possível alternativa seria...
- "Nit: [minor issue]" — Nitpick (detalle menor) — used for style/preference issues
Requesting a change:
- "This could lead to [problem]. Could we...?" — Esto podría causar [problema]. ¿Podríamos...?
- "I think this needs to be addressed before merging." — Creo que esto debe resolverse antes de mergear.
- "Blocking: [reason]" — Bloqueante: [razón] — used for must-fix issues
Approving:
- "LGTM" (Looks Good To Me) — Se ve bien / Tá bom
- "Ship it!" — ¡Despliégalo! / Pode entregar!
- "Clean implementation, nice work." — Implementación limpia, buen trabajo.
Receiving Feedback
- "Good catch, I'll fix that." — Buena observación, lo corrijo. / Boa observação, vou corrigir.
- "Makes sense. Updating now." — Tiene sentido. Actualizando ahora. / Faz sentido. Atualizando agora.
- "Could you clarify what you mean by...?" — ¿Podrías aclarar qué quieres decir con...?
Slack/Chat Communication
Common Abbreviations
| Abbreviation | Meaning | When to Use | |-------------|---------|-------------| | LGTM | Looks Good To Me | Approving something | | PTAL | Please Take Another Look | After making requested changes | | WIP | Work In Progress | Something not finished yet | | TL;DR | Too Long; Didn't Read | Summary of a long message | | AFAIK | As Far As I Know | Hedging your answer | | IMO/IMHO | In My (Humble) Opinion | Giving personal view | | FYI | For Your Information | Sharing without action needed | | ETA | Estimated Time of Arrival | When something will be done | | OOO | Out Of Office | Away from work | | EOD/EOW | End Of Day/Week | Deadline reference |
Useful Slack Phrases
- "Heads up: [information]" — Just so you know (no action needed)
- "Quick question:" — Short, specific question incoming
- "Circling back on..." — Returning to a previous topic
- "Tagging [person] for visibility" — Making sure someone sees this
- "Let me know if you need me to unblock you" — Offering help
- "I'll take a look after lunch" — Setting expectations on timing
Architecture & System Design Discussions
| English | Spanish | Portuguese | |---------|---------|------------| | Scale horizontally | Escalar horizontalmente | Escalar horizontalmente | | Single point of failure | Punto único de falla | Ponto único de falha | | Load balancer | Balanceador de carga | Balanceador de carga | | Throughput | Rendimiento | Throughput/Vazão | | Latency | Latencia | Latência | | Idempotent | Idempotente | Idempotente | | Race condition | Condición de carrera | Condição de corrida | | Dead letter queue | Cola de mensajes muertos | Fila de mensagens mortas | | Circuit breaker | Cortacircuitos | Disjuntor | | Eventual consistency | Consistencia eventual | Consistência eventual |
How to Discuss Trade-offs
In system design interviews and architecture meetings, you need to articulate trade-offs clearly:
- "The trade-off here is [X] vs [Y]." — El trade-off aquí es [X] vs [Y].
- "If we optimize for [A], we sacrifice [B]." — Si optimizamos para [A], sacrificamos [B].
- "This approach is more [scalable/maintainable/performant], but at the cost of [complexity/cost/development time]."
- "Given our constraints, I'd recommend..." — Dadas nuestras restricciones, yo recomendaría...
Performance Review & Career Conversations
| English | Spanish | Portuguese | |---------|---------|------------| | Growth areas | Áreas de crecimiento | Áreas de crescimento | | Exceeds expectations | Supera expectativas | Supera expectativas | | Take ownership | Tomar responsabilidad | Assumir responsabilidade | | Cross-functional | Multidisciplinario | Multidisciplinar | | Stakeholder | Parte interesada | Parte interessada | | Alignment | Alineamiento | Alinhamento | | Impact | Impacto | Impacto | | Leverage (verb) | Aprovechar | Aproveitar | | Bandwidth | Capacidad/Disponibilidad | Capacidade/Disponibilidade | | Push back | Objetar/Cuestionar | Questionar/Contestar |
Phrases for 1:1s With Your Manager
- "I'd like to take on more responsibility in [area]." — Me gustaría asumir más responsabilidad en [área].
- "What would success look like for me this quarter?" — ¿Cómo se vería el éxito para mí este trimestre?
- "I need more clarity on the priorities." — Necesito más claridad sobre las prioridades.
- "Can I get your feedback on how I handled [situation]?" — ¿Puedo recibir tu feedback sobre cómo manejé [situación]?
Pronunciation Traps for Spanish/Portuguese Speakers
| Word | Wrong | Right | Tip | |------|-------|-------|-----| | Debug | "deh-BOOG" | "dee-BUG" | Short "u" sound | | Cache | "cash-AY" | "CASH" | One syllable | | Queue | "keh-WEH" | "KYOO" | Sounds like the letter Q | | Schema | "es-KEH-ma" | "SKEE-muh" | No leading "es" | | Agile | "ah-HEEL" | "AJ-uhl" | Soft "g" sound | | API | "ah-pee" | "ay-pee-eye" | Spell each letter | | SQL | "sequel" or "ess-cue-ell" | Both acceptable | Pick one and be consistent |
Practice Tech English Daily
The best way to learn tech vocabulary isn't flashcards — it's using it in context. With Voza, you can simulate standups, practice explaining technical decisions, rehearse code review discussions, and prepare for English-language technical interviews.
Start practicing tech English conversations at voza.talk — because your code is world-class, and your English should be too.