Learn Spanish for Good

This past summer while visiting a friend in D.C. (she's originally from Oregon), her daughter came home to practice her part of a play (a small part). This wasn't an easy playwright either. I was floored to hear her Spanish, so refined, impeccable and every sentence, every word perfectly pronounced. She's 10. It embarrassed me, I'm certain others in the room as well, because of her strong grasp of the Spanish language, but I also swelled with pride. Mind you, her grasp of the language was poor when she was in the Oregon schools. Her mom recently exclaimed, "David, you have no idea how pride I am of her!" Environment, quality of the teachers, the encouraging atmosphere? What I do know is that when your young you can easily pick up, two, three or more languages. I'm certain when she picks up French, and Japanese the doors of opportunity will be opened even wider.

Learning Spanish is too easy. Just follow these simple steps:
1. Recognize, that being bilingual is valuable. Like most things with a deep and enduring value you must practice more than once, or twice to learn and have a facility for the language.

2. Understand that as you learn, others may envy you, and try to dissuade you from learning. Its the crab theory. Imagine a cage of crabs (after a long day at Newport, Oregon), and one crab tries to make its way out of the cage, the others will simply pull him down. Its simple, don't mind the critics.

3. Commit to seeing your progressive learning through. There is no greater sigh of relief, or pride when you've reached the finish line. And, in learning a second language the finish line is entirely up to you.

Again recognize, understand and commit.

Learn Spanish for Good
Learning Spanish can be financially difficult. Not everyone has a couple grand to invest. When I was an intern at the Institute for Central American Studies where I wrote for their international publication, Mesoamerica, I got to interact a lot with their language school students. One of which I met was Kevin. He was fresh from Michigan and knew some Spanish. By the time he and I left the country months later, his Spanish was pretty good. Now learning Spanish while being immersed in the culture, day in and day out, living and breathing in one of Latin America's safest and what I thought beautiful countries is one thing--its another to be able to afford it. If you can, three words: go-for-it! And, visit Tortuguerro while your at it.

Others will choose their local community college. And, it might take them forever, or they may pick it up pretty quickly. But in an technologically connected environment where Wi-Fi is in abundance, learning from your Mac or PC may sound odd, but considering the options, why not.

My friend Clay at Speak Shop connects people from all over the world with tutors (trained teachers) based in Latin America. And, you do it at your own convenience (in coordination with the tutor), you develop a tailored program (learn what you want to learn), and its affordable. Its worth a try!

I'm starting to think more businesses/organizations like the idea of expanding their demographic outreach, and recruiting more bilingual talent is the way to get to there 300m mark (remember human talent is the heart of any organization). What do you think? Do you think being bilingual has any merit at your workplace? Are you being encouraged for knowing a second language and are you using this second language to grow your organization/unit?

We'd like to know. As always, we'd like to hear from you. Send us your thoughts at, info@bilingualhireco.com.
-David Molina

Why the Importance of Being Bilingual?

As a 3rd grader at Washington Elementary in Mount Vernon, Washington, an exchange teacher from London once asked, "are you bilingual?" I thought, well I do translate for the family at the hospital, car dealerships, ordering food and the occasional telemarketer phone call. Sound familiar? For anyone calling the house, my family would always say, "diles que no estamos aqui" [tell them we're not here!]. I told the London teacher, "yes, I do know Spanish, but I must confess, I have some difficulty." At home, our Spanish is different than the Spanish usually heard on Univision. Much more broken. The teacher was quick to remark, "that's wonderful, my dearest David, that you're bilingual!" She told me, and the other 30 in the class that in her country the Europeans usually speak more than two languages. Some three, or four. She empowered me, "don't ever forget Spanish, not tomorrow, not ever." From that day on, I was determined to hold onto Spanish despite the opinion of others.

The Sad Truth
Throughout history, some "experts" have made gone out of their way to convince, persuade and sometimes coerce some Americans that speaking Spanish was "bad" and detrimental to their sons/daughters success in the United States. Many parents, sadly, did not teach or pass on Spanish to their children. Almost weekly I run into individuals that did not have the gift of Spanish given to them.

On the flip side, there is an increasing number of families where the 2nd generation is speaking English at home, refusing to speak and learn Spanish. Do you think these children will be better off in the globalized economy? In a country where Spanish is the fastest-growing language, in a world where it is the second most commonly known language?

Hindering Oneself
Just as my teacher from London pointed out, speaking two or more languages is critical for survival. Knowing a second language does not hinder success, it provides additional avenues for us to realize our goals.

The advantages of being bilingual for me have been three-fold:
1. The confidence of being able to communicate with my family back in Nayarit and Jalisco, Mexico. It’s embarrassing and a morale killer when you're not able to communicate with and draw the lessons of your extended family.

2. Bridging the gap between cultures. Being able to communicate with the Tapias, Rodriguez, Nuñez, etc., in my community and my school allowed me to have a much larger sphere of influence.

3. It helped me understand our world through multiple perspectives. At the Catholic Church where my family attended, the Pastor always had a way of explaining things both in Spanish and English that revealed the differing ways these languages filter our world. We are open to a much broader and profound view when we have multiple ways understanding our world.

Truth Is Often Universal
In Mexico, the fastest-growing language is English. Wal-Mart, Costco, and hundreds of other American name brands are flooding Mexican communities. Knowing English in Mexico has become as much a matter of economic survival as knowing Spanish is becoming in the U.S. In an increasing number of jobs, to apply you must know English.

What's your take? What did we miss? We'd like to know.
-David