Close your eyes and think of yourself giving a
presentation in Spanish. Or imagine that you've just closed a deal after
negotiating without using a single English word. These may seem such a long way
off that they're complete fantasy, but they are just a couple of illustrations
of the advantages of being a fluent Spanish speaker when dealing with companies
located in the Hispanic world on a regular basis. However, the difficulty can
be to know where to start.
Imagine giving a business presentation entirely in Spanish.
Or closing a deal after conducting negotiations without ever uttering a word of
English? While these may be long term goals if you are just starting out your
studies you can see that there are clear advantages in being able to speak
fluent Spanish if you deal with companies from Spanish speaking countries on a
regular basis. So where do you start?
First things first and learn how to great people. This
will always go a long way in helping to forge links and cement relationships.
By speaking the language of people you are dealing with you are showing them
courtesy and at the same time showing an interest in their own culture and
belief systems.
Once you're happy with dealing with people and asking
simple questions – asking how they are, about their families and other basic
questions that are polite and personal without being intrusive – it is time to
learn a bit more.
You may have already picked up some language of the
trade you're in just by hearing them, but a useful idea is to find out all the
relevant words and phrases to your job in Spanish. Say you sell computer spares
for example, you'll need to find the Spanish for memory chips, monitors, hard
disk drives etc. And if you're in real estate then you'll need to learn the
language appropriate for that.Learning some vocabulary appropriate to your
business is one step, but you'll find that using the words can be difficult
unless you can get a grasp of the context. This is why it is important to learn
more general conversational Spanish so you can really understand what is being
said and make an intelligent reply too.While focusing exclusively on the language of
meetings can move you forward, it is often better to gain a general
understanding of Spanish to be able to understand the position of where the
people you are dealing with. Often there are unconscious cultural attitudes
that you can't understand, but by going in deep with Spanish you begin to
understand not only the language but the culture and people meaning you'll be
ready for almost any situation you may find yourself in.º
