Tag: bilingual
Advantage #2: A more culturally diverse group.
It has been my experience that people who are bilingual are more inclined to want to learn more about other cultures, they take more risks with people who they don’t know yet, and they can handle unfamiliar circumstances a bit easier. Have you noticed this as a manager? Bilingual folks are usually fascinated by other cultures and languages therefore they enjoy the challenges that lie ahead. I can include myself in this group since I love to learn about other cultures, global trends and global markets.
In addition, bilingual folks usually connect to their local community to a larger degree and like to get more involved with the organizations within the area. So, if a company hires bilingual employees, they might get the benefit of having local representation at an event. You can read my personal story of “What motivated me to become Bilingual”. You can also read the two blogs I wrote about “Mr. Brown: My First Friend in the US – part 1 and 2”.
April 2, 2010
When companies want to sell their products and or services to people in other countries, or want to target a different demographic whose language is different than their own, they hire bilingual staff to get the work done. The bilingual employees are able to communicate and connect with the new perspective customers. The bilingual staff starts with the face of the company; the bilingual receptionist. It can also include managers, sales, accounting personnel, customer service and others. There are many advantages to having a bilingual staff, and I plan to condense the advantages to the ‘Top 5’.
Advantage #1: Better internal and external communication with employees, vendors and customers of the company.
Below is a true example that illustrates the importance of having a bilingual staff.
A company in the US is expanding overseas to Latin America and India. They will need to have all of their HR policies, procedures and company benefits translated into Spanish and Hindi, as well as, their web site, services and products brochures. In addition, they will need to interview and hire personnel overseas to work with local suppliers and vendors in the newly established locations. Can they make all of these new additions and adjustments without bilingual personnel? With so much to do, the company decided that it was necessary to have a bilingual staff. Not only would it help strengthen their knowledge of the language, but also help them to communicate more effectively with the international markets.
Check back later this week for more advantages of having a bilingual staff. You can also click here to learn more about the ‘Five Emerging Industries for Bilingual Careers’.
March 23, 2010
Q: What do you think are the best attributes to include on a resume? Bonnie
A: Most employers have a small window of time to review the numerous resumes they receive, therefore, some of the more appealing information to include is:
- Career objective
- Problem-solving and decision-making skills
- Oral and written communications
- Leadership skills
- Team-building skills
- Bilingual skills
- Performance and productivity improvement
- Project management skills
- Prior employment that is relevant to the position being applied for
The goal is to set yourself apart from other applicants by highlighting your skills, experience and qualifications.
February 16, 2010
Q: English is not my first language, but I consider myself fully bilingual. I worry that the people interviewing me for bilingual customer service jobs doubt my qualifications because of my thick accent. What can I do to ensure that an interviewer is focused on my qualifications and not my accent? Valdemar
A: I faced the same predicament when I first looked for a job in the U.S. I still have an accent because I spoke only Spanish until I was 21. I suggest interviewing in person as opposed to over the phone so that you have a better chance of making an impression with your credentials, your personality, and your willingness to work hard. If you are concerned about your accent during the interview, mention it directly. You can say something like ‘You might have noticed that I have an accent (the person might smile at your comment) but I want you to know that I am fully bilingual and would love the opportunity to prove to you that I can provide quality customer service in both languages’. Ask the interviewer if they have any particular questions about your qualifications for the job. In other words, don’t leave the interviewer with any doubts because of your accent.
You may also want to read some of my previous posts about interviewing, as well as this post about the stages of becoming bilingual. Good luck.
January 26, 2010
After attending college for several months and taking the English course, it was time to spread my wings. The faculty at the college felt like our group had learned enough English and was ready for the real world in the United States. One of the things I realized was that I had to say good bye to many new friends. I was headed to Syracuse University and most of my new friends were staying near New York City, and continuing with their plans there. I also realized that my bus ride was coming to an end, because I was headed to upstate New York.
Saying good bye to Mr. Brown that morning was not going to be easy. It was the last day of my English course. He knew today was the last day I would be on his bus. So did I. We had discussed it a few times in the last several weeks.
Mr. Brown got to the bus stop a little earlier than usual this morning. Only two of us were waiting for him. I had already explained to the other passenger that today was my last day in school. I had seen her before and Mr. Brown had ‘made me’ talk to her, as well as to other bus passengers. I explained to the lady that this morning, I had to say good bye to my friend, Mr. Brown.
As he reached the bus stop, he opened the door and smiled at me and said, “Good morning, Mylene”. He was not quite himself this morning, I thought, because he didn’t quite give me his warm smile. I said, “Good morning” back to him, and entered the bus. We had to wait a few minutes for other passengers, since he was a little early. We started to talk about the last few months. He sounded kind of depressed and didn’t want to talk that much this morning. I tried to cheer him up by getting my camera out. Of course, I wanted a picture of ‘my first friend in the USA’!
Mr. Brown was so nice to me for all of these months. He didn’t really want me to take his picture but I did it anyway. About four other people entered the bus and we drove off. I said to myself: “My last ride with Mr. Brown has just begun”. I sat near the front, as I recall, but neither one of us said much. The only person that knew what was going on was the other lady, whom I had told before. The rest of the people didn’t know why Mr. Brown and I were so quiet this morning. We reached the college. As I walked by him, when I was leaving the bus, I gave him a hug and thanked him for being so nice to me. He said to me then, “You are going to be somebody, Mylene, because of your enthusiasm and your desire to succeed. You will see. One day you will be. Mark my words”. That’s how much Mr. Brown believed in me.
At this point, I thanked him again and we hugged each other. When I got out of the bus, I had a lump in my throat. I watched the bus ‘leave me’. “Adiós, Mr. Brown. And thanks for being a good friend.”
Our lives in America were about to go on. A ‘chapter’ of our lives was ending and a new chapter was about to begin.
***
(Part 1 of this story is here.)
September 15, 2009
Once I made the decision to move to the States, there was no turning back. My airplane, headed for New York, reached twenty five thousand feet altitude and I had just said good bye to my family and friends. At this point, I could no longer see the blue ocean that surrounds the island of Puerto Rico, or the palm trees, the tall buildings, or any roads in San Juan. What worried me the most though was leaving my loved ones behind. I was not going to be able to see them every day anymore… my parents, my friends, or my neighbors. I only knew about five people in the entire state of New York; and in the whole USA, for that matter. How was I going to make it? I did not know.
I guess the flight attendant could see the emotion in my face, and she smiled at me several times throughout the trip. I smiled back at her through my tears. It seemed like I had gone through about twenty tissues so far. But I kept encouraging myself because I was determined to learn English and to become bilingual.
As soon as I arrived in New York City, I looked for and enrolled in an intensive English course. On the day of my first class, after walking ten blocks and having to wait for the bus, I wanted to sit down. Well, I was out of luck this particular morning because the available seats were all in the very front of the bus, where I thought, handicapped and older people sat. The bus driver looked at me and offered me a seat in one of the front seats. He gestured for me to sit. So, I did. I smiled at him in return and he looked at me several times from his rear view mirror, to see how his ‘new passenger’ was doing. I think that he knew this ‘bus routine’ was all new to me. He was about fifty-five years old and a true gentleman. He had a very warm smile. Unbeknownst to him, he made me feel at ease with my first bus ride in New York City.
When I reached my college, I smiled at the bus driver when I was getting out of the bus, and he smiled back. The next morning, he was my bus driver again. This time, I noticed his name tag. His name was ‘Mr. Brown’. He remembered me from the day before, and smiled really big this time. The bus was kind of empty the second day. It turned out that the day before there was a mechanical problem with another bus and Mr. Brown had ‘inherited’ a lot of other passengers from the other bus. But they were not there this particular day. Today there was ‘Mr. Brown’ and about ten other passengers. There was a lot more room on the bus. But I sat in the front again anyway.
Mr. Brown looked at me and asked me, “What’s your name?” I understood that, and answered, “Mylene”. By my face, I guess he realized that I was afraid to speak English back to him. He then asked me, “Learning English?” I understood that too. I answered, “Yes, sir”. He smiled and kept driving the rest of the way. Every day, afterwards, I looked forward to seeing Mr. Brown.
As time went by, he kept asking me different things, about what I was learning in my classes, and about new words I had learned recently. I particularly remember when I was learning the alphabet; how I would practice with him and how he would ‘correct’ my English. I also remember when I was learning the names of different fruits. I would practice my pronunciation with him and he would be happy and proud for me. We also practiced ‘telling time’, as I was learning how to read my watch. He would always ask me, “What time is it, Mylene?” and I would look at my watch and respond. For months we did this. He enjoyed it as much as I did. I would pay for a seat on the bus, but I would never sit. I would just stand up near Mr. Brown, near a pole, in front of the bus, for the duration of the bus ride, about half an hour each and every morning.
Mr. Brown gave me so much courage to continue to learn and to do well. He would give me such big smiles when I pronounced words and phrases correctly.
By the end of three months, Mr. Brown kept saying that I had to stop talking to him and start talking to the other passengers on the bus. He kept saying that he loved talking to me but that I was ready for the rest of the world now. He was so pleased with my progress. He gave me so much positive reinforcement. More than he will ever know! Without him or me knowing it, he became my first friend in the USA! Mr. Brown, yes, he was my first friend in the United States. And I will never forget what he did for me, when I needed him the most.
Note: Part 2 of ‘My first friend in the US’ is coming. Mr. Brown’s story continues…
You can read about what motivated me to become bilingual here. I’ve written about the five stages you go through to become bilingual here.
September 10, 2009
Today I will share a personal story with you. A story that brings back lots of memories and one that changed the course of my life. This is the story of what motivated me to become bilingual.
First of all, let me share with you that when I was in high school, I was totally certain that knowing Spanish was good enough for me, and that I didn’t have to learn English to be successful. But my life took a different path when reality struck one Wednesday afternoon.
While finishing up my Associate degree with a concentration in advertising in Puerto Rico, I did an internship at a large advertising agency on the island. It was during my last semester.
From day one, I liked the people at the advertising agency and felt welcomed by everyone. I asked to be in the creative department of the agency because I wanted to write commercials, which is called ‘copywriter’ in the advertising industry.
One of the senior copywriters at the agency was Ms. Perez. She was creative and had earned the respect of everyone in the creative department. Ms. Perez was also bilingual… and I guess that she didn’t think much of people who were not.
Over the course of my internship, I participated in many creative projects and felt comfortable with my writing, with my ideas, and with what I was learning at the advertising agency. One of the things I noticed was that the copywriters had to translate their ads into English because most of the clients were American and only spoke English.
In the process, I kept joking with myself and everyone in the department about not knowing much English, and about being glad that I didn’t have to translate anything for the clients. However, after three months of the internship, I got a harsh reality check one afternoon.
This particular day, Ms. Perez told me that to complete my internship, I had to translate a Kraft Cheese commercial from Spanish into English. She said: “You keep saying that you don’t know English, and I want to test you to see just ‘how bad’ your English really is.” I laughed and replied: “You will find out.”
I went to a desk and started the translation. Soon thereafter, I realized that I hardly knew any of the words. Once I finished the Kraft Cheese translation of the print advertisement, I couldn’t help but notice that 90% of the words were blank. I simply didn’t know the words. I reviewed the ad one more time, and was still teasing myself, like “you see. I’m really bad. I don’t know much English.” Well, what happened next is what changed the course of my life.
Ms. Perez asked me to come in into her office. I gave her the piece of paper, the translated Kraft commercial… which had little lines across each row, which represented the words I didn’t know. Ms. Perez looked at the paper, and noticed the blank lines, and then looked at me in disbelief. She stared at the piece of paper, for what seemed like an hour to me. She finally looked up at me. Her face got red. Her eyes got big. And she said (I really should say ‘yelled’ here): “My son, who is four years old, knows more English than you do.” And then she threw the piece of paper across her desk, in what seemed to me like a state of fury. The jovial Mylene couldn’t believe what just happened. I didn’t know what to say or what to do next. She said it loud enough for everyone in the creative department to hear it. I was embarrassed, hurt, and shocked. I waited a few seconds (again, it seemed like an hour to me) and then I picked up my stuff and left Ms. Perez’s office. This was a Wednesday and I only had two more days to complete my internship.
My drive home was a very emotional one, to say the least. I had so many tears in my eyes that I could not see. Ms. Perez had just embarrassed me, but she had also told me the truth. A child who was four years old knew more English than me. I was quiet and subdued for the next few days.
Two weeks later, I announced to my parents, and to my sister & brother, over dinner: “I’m going to move to the States and learn English.” My Mother’s quick response was: “Yeah and we just hit the lottery jackpot last night.”
Over the next few weeks, my parents realized that I was not joking, that I was going to learn English, and that I was moving to the states. The family got behind my new dreams and we made plans for my big move to the US.
Initially, I thought that Ms. Perez had ruined my life, with her tough words. But soon after that rough afternoon, I realized that she was right; that I couldn’t make it in the advertising world without speaking English and becoming bilingual.
After the college internship, I moved to New York City and enrolled in an intensive English course. My fellow students were from all over the world. Our common thread was that we had just arrived in the US and we all wanted to learn English.
After the intensive English course, I continued on to get a BS Degree with an advertising major at Syracuse University. With only one semester left, guess what I did? I called Ms. Perez up and set up an appointment with her, while on a Christmas break in Puerto Rico. She was nice to me when I called her. I went to see her at the advertising agency. I took a piece of paper and imitated what she did to me, and I used the same words she used with me. She felt bad for what she had said. I told her that this was not my intention, to make her feel bad, but instead, that I wanted to thank her because if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have had the desire or the courage to become bilingual. We had a great meeting, and she realized that I was thankful for her frankness, and for what she had done for my life.
This story serves to show all of us; life can make you bitter or can make you better. I chose the latter. I became bilingual, worked in the radio market in Virginia (in English), and later on, formed my bilingual advertising company and the Bilingual Job Fair, where we connect employers and bilingual candidates.
Thank you Ms. Perez. You truly changed the course of my life… and made me better prepared for the world.
Today I’m fully bilingual. I went through five steps to become bilingual, which I shared in this post. Also, if you want to learn more about the advantages of being bilingual, you can read more here.
September 3, 2009
Most people have the desire to learn two languages and realize that it takes a large degree of commitment to be able to do so. Becoming bilingual is a process. I have broken the process down into five stages, and explained each one below.
Here are the 5 stages I believe people go through before becoming bilingual:
STAGE 1: The Terrified Stage
You want to learn the new language, yet you are afraid to speak it. You want to ‘try it’ but are frightened that you will not sound right or that people will laugh at you, or that they won’t understand what you’re saying. You freeze up and do not try. You get a bit frustrated with yourself because you feel like you’re not trying hard enough. You surround yourself with people who speak your original language, so you can stay in your comfort zone. In the meantime, you’re not learning as much as you should because you’re only associating yourself with people who speak your native language.
STAGE 2: The ‘Try a Bit More’ Stage
You are still afraid, but you try to speak the new language sometimes. When you say something wrong, or people don’t understand you, they say: “Pardon me, can you say that again?” or “What was that again?” or “Excuse me. Can you say that again?” And you repeat what you said. In the process, you get a bit of what I call a ‘complex’, because you know that people do not understand what you’re saying. You also understand that you have an accent, which leads to…
STAGE 3: The ‘I am different and I have an accent’ Syndrome Stage
You realize that you sound different among the people who speak your new language and you develop a concern about it. You want to sound ‘normal’ and not to be asked “where are you from?” or be told “you sound so cute”. By people saying this to you, it makes you realize over and over that you’re ‘different’ and that everyone realizes that you are not from ‘around here’. At this stage you realize that you must try harder and start speaking in the new language. You are starting to form a new world speaking a new language, while keeping in touch with your old world and with your native tongue.
STAGE 4: The Assimilation Stage
You realize that yes, you are ‘different’ but that you will be okay. You start talking more and more in the new language and your ‘accent syndrome’ starts going away. Acceptance sets in. You become fluent in the second language and start feeling comfortable with who you are and how you talk to others. You are now feeling better about your new skill.
STAGE 5: The Bilingual Stage
Yes, you have made it. You can now switch from language to language. Sometimes you realize that your thoughts came into your head in the new language, and you smile. You come to terms with the fact that you might have an accent, but it doesn’t really matter! You are proud that you persevered and learned a new language. Lots of people want to do it, but you got it done.
It takes an enormous amount of time, discipline, commitment, and desire to be able to learn a new language. Lots of people want to do it, but not all learn to be bilingual. Congratulations if you did – and congratulations if you made it to ‘Stage 5’. It’s a good feeling, isn’t it? Been there, done that… and I feel proud of it myself.
If you recognize these stages, if you categorized the stages differently, or if you have any funny stories or thoughts, please share them!
August 25, 2009
We all know that employers and employees need to work together in order to understand each other. Management needs to try to understand the employees better and the employees need to comprehend management to a greater degree. Plus, the diversification of America’s workforce over the years requires the workplace to reflect the backgrounds of all who work there.
Forward thinking employers see diversity as an opportunity to embrace a variety of opinions and cultures, and they do it because they believe in it, rather than just to fulfill their equal opportunity requirements and their quotas.
People who have known me for years can attest to the fact that although I’m a minority, I would not like to be considered for a position because I am Hispanic or because I am a woman. I want to be considered for a position because I have the right experience, the education, the appropriate knowledge, and the skills to get that position. Having said that, I like companies that are visionaries; companies that like to involve people of all ethnical backgrounds. With more diversity come more ideas, better products and greater services for the company.
When you have a multicultural atmosphere, you come up with multicultural ideas that can be embraced by the world, and consequently, the company can benefit. In my opinion, the more diversity there is in a business, the more diverse the ideas are in that business.
The leaders of multi-cultural teams need to take into consideration the many cultural facets of their employees. Here is a short list of things to consider (and there are plenty more):
- Religious Holidays and religious practices- Managers should try to understand their employees’ religious practices and embrace their respective beliefs, including special holidays.
- In some cultures, if a family member is sick – other family members must attend to their siblings’ (parents, next of kin) needs and would not have it any other way. An employee might need to fly to another country, to pay their last respects to a family member. If you assist the employees at particularly tough times, the majority of them will give you loyalty back for years to come.
- For some cultures, mourning the loss of a family member, especially close siblings, is a period of time to spend time with each other (after the family member’s passing), and grieve together.
- If two employees are from a specific country, and they speak to each other during their lunch hour or during their break, in their native tongue, don’t take it personally. No, they are probably not talking about you. But they might connect at that time with their past (with their roots). It might be that they don’t have anyone, but that co-worker, to speak in their native language.
- Take into account how long the employee has been away from their native country. If it is less than five years, they are still going through the feelings of being ‘homesick’. Be supportive and encourage them daily. With every month and every year that goes by, it gets better. The employee will get more accustomed to their new country, to the new customs, and to their new world.
- Keep in mind that if the employee came from another country, and spoke another language, that he or she has gone through a lot of adjustments and that they’re just trying to make their dreams come true.
As time passes, the multi-cultural employee will become bilingual and will feel more ‘at home’. They will never forget the leaders who helped them make it in their new country. I hope that you are one of those leaders.
Let’s learn more from each other and let’s create a more understanding world in the workplace.
August 18, 2009
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