FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Submit a question
Why
learn Spanish?
The Hispanic population of the United States has more than doubled in the
past ten years. Hispanics now account for over 16% of the US population –
that's more than 50 million people. As we just saw in the 2012
presidential election, the Hispanic community is a force to be reckoned
with.
Learning relevant Spanish, especially in your workplace, will build
teamwork and customer loyalty, reduce accidents and mistakes, and enable
medical & governmental organizations to offer higher levels of service.
What is Workplace Spanish®?
Workplace Spanish® is a series of job-specific Spanish learning programs (Englis
h
learning programs too!) that are designed to enable basic, effective communication,
in Spanish, without having to learn the entire language" in the
traditional way.
Our materials contain
both workplace and conversational expressions.
Each program contains meeting & greeting phrases, time & timing, days of the week, etc. that you expect in a "conversational"
program. They also include
the key terms & expressions,
organized by topic, that are critically important for a specific occupation or
industry.
Do I have to learn grammar?
NO!
Rather than having to learn grammar,
complex rules, verb conjugations, etc., you learn by identifying and repeating
selected terms and expressions that are important to communicating at
work. By narrowing the scope of language
that you need to learn, it is much easier to master important Spanish
terminology.
Academic
Spanish Differences
Studying academic
Spanish requires learning all
the elements of the language – vocabulary, grammar, rules, conjugation,
etc. This is important if proficiency or fluency
in the language is your objective. It takes a great deal of time and study
to become proficient in a language — most experts state that it takes 4 to 5 years of study and practice to become
fluent.
Which type should I study?
Only you can determine your needs.
Certainly, becoming fluent or proficient in Spanish can be very beneficial.
Key factors in determining your goals are your actual language needs and the
time, effort and cost you must devote to materials and study.
If your objective is fluency or
proficiency, by all means take the steps to learn the Spanish language
in one of the more traditional ways. However, if your needs are more basic and
revolve around work communication, then Workplace Spanish® is right for you.
Is Spanish
difficult to learn?
Compared to French, German and
the Asian languages, it's much easier. There are many similarities
between Spanish and English -- and thanks to the growth of the Hispanic
population and the many Mexican restaurants in the US, you already somewhat
familiar with Spanish terms & pronunciation.
How
do I use Workplace Spanish® programs for self-study?
-
Follow our "Golden
Rules" suggestions to get the best results. Select the topics you
want to learn in order of importance to you. Ignore topics that you don't need – leave them for
later learning or reference. You don't need to learn everything in the
manual.
-
The second step is to master
Spanish pronunciation. Read that section in your manual while listening
to the audio CD. Go over Spanish pronunciation until you
gain confidence and and are comfortable with the vowel and consonant
pronunciations. Use the examples in the manual and on the CD.
-
After pronunciation, start on the key topics and expressions that you absolutely HAVE TO KNOW! Work
on these one at a time -- repeating frequently until are comfortable and
confident. Listen to the material on the CD – if you are a newcomer to
Spanish, repeat them with the American speaker who pronounces them
"phonetically".
-
The biggest mistake people make
is trying to say everything too quickly! At this early stage, don't strive
for perfection – strive for becoming good enough to be understood!
So slow down. Even if you have to drag a word or phrase out, and
repeat it a couple times, you'll be understood – your goal is to communicate
in basic Spanish – you don't need to be perfect.
-
Read through the Practice Conversations
that cover scenarios you would find in your workplace. Listen to them
on the audio CD while reading, so you get the flow of the interaction.
Try repeating the Spanish part of the conversation aloud with the CD.
-
The "Drills for Skills" can be
used to test your knowledge. But above all, practice aloud! The biggest hurdle
most newcomers to Spanish have is gaining the confidence to "say it in
Spanish" -- so repeat, repeat, repeat until you are comfortable
speaking Spanish aloud.
Why does your audio
use both a native and an American speaker?
-
Our audio CD's are unique in
that we use BOTH a
native speaker and a non-fluent American speaker to pronounce the Spanish terms
and phrases. The American speaker pronounces the Spanish phonetically
and at a slower pace making it easier for newcomers to understand.
-
In our classes, we have watched well over 1,000
students, from all types of occupations, struggle to replicate the sounds
made by a native speaker. We determined that newcomers to Spanish
learned much faster listening to an American pronounce the Spanish
"phonetically", rather than trying to imitate the
native speaker.
-
Typically this is very helpful to those
new to Spanish, although we have heard some complaints from traditional
instructors that we are not teaching "perfect
pronunciation." Our goal is NOT perfect pronunciation;
it's to help you communicate in Spanish so you are understood.
Can I play
the audio CD tracks
on your Smartphone, iPod or MP3 player?
Absolutely. Just as you would "rip" tracks from a music CD,
you can rip our tracks and convert to MP3 or iTunes format:
-
You need to use music
player software like Windows Media Player, iTunes or Real Player
-
Follow the instructions
in your software to "rip" the tracks into the format of your choice
-
You can rename the
tracks and choose the quality level from your media player software
-
Save the ripped tracks
to a folder on your PC and download using your devices instructions
We also sell our audio programs in
downloadable MP3
format
for iPod, SmartPhones, etc.
Where do I find a
Workplace Spanish® class?
In the metro Atlanta area, we offer customized group classes for companies and government organizations (sorry
- no
open enrollment classes). Contact
us for details or visit our class information
page. Outside the metro Atlanta area, please
contact one of the many language schools
and colleges that teach our programs across the country.
How long are typical classes?
College or group classes in Workplace Spanish® generally range from a
minimum of 12 hours to a max of 24 hours depending on the
type of program and objectives of the group or organization.
Generally, we recommend that classes be 2-hours in length and, if
possible, meet twice a week.
Can I download your
learning programs?
Yes, our learning manuals are available in a PDF eBook format which can
be downloaded and used on Tablets & SmartPhones as well as a PC.
The matching audio tracks can be download in MP3 format.
Do you
offer custom programs?
Yes, we can combine programs to develop a customized program (e.g., a
combined program for Supervisors and Human Resources) -- OR -- we can
develop a completely customized program that meets the specific needs of
an organization.
Do you license your
programs to organizations?
Yes, we will license our standard programs or a custom program to an
organization. It can be printed as needed, put on the
organizations network and added to locally. It's very economical.
