Spanish for Professional Purposes...

...for teachers and students who see the need for Spanish language and Hispanic cultures knowledge in professional contexts.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

How to Say "résumé" in Spanish

To talk about your professional "résumé" in Spanish, use on of these:

currículum


historial personal


hoja de vida

Be careful of the "amigo falso" resumen which is a summary in Spanish.

An academic curriculum in Spanish would be plan de estudios, programa de estudios, or currículo.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Summer Plans: Santiago Beltran and FAC Internacional

This summer UNC junior Santiago Beltran will return to Guatemala to expand the microfinance initiative started there last year: El fondo de apoyo comunitario.   This summer FAC will expand its training programs, increase the capital savings of its participants, and continue the successful microlending projects.

To prepare for the growth and expansion of FAC, Santi has received a Burch Fellowship to be trained as a savings office by two microfinance organizations: CrediFamilia in Colombia and Fondesol in Guatemala.  This training will help Santi to better understand how to help the world’s poorest populations build capital despite the limitations imposed by their circumstances:  How do you teach financial literacy to the illiterate? How do you handle the potentially complicated dynamics of a group-shared loan? What are the implications of empowering women through these programs?

We'll know more when Santi gets back to campus in August...

Monday, May 16, 2011

Last Names in the Spanish-speaking World

In the Spanish-speaking world it is common to write names in the following way:

First name(s) + father's last name + mother's last name


The last name used for family name, identification, etc. is the father's last name--its function is the "last name."  



It is not a "middle name" even though it appears between the first name(s) and the mother's last name (what you might call the "mother's maiden name").


Here are some examples:


José Manuel Cureño Naranjo (last name = Cureño)


Edna Vila Aguilera (last name = Vila) 


María Victoria Villasana Rivadeneyra (last name = Villasana)


A seemingly minor bookkeeping or bureaucratic error in which the mother's maiden name is erroneously presumed to be the last name can essentially change someone's identity.


Because of this, many Latinos in the U.S. either hyphenate the two names or drop the mother's last name. 

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Se busca... Job Opportunity in Carrboro

Assistant Director of Human Rights Center in Abbey Court, Carrboro, NC:

We are looking for a bilingual person who will live rent-free at the
Human Rights Center, Abbey Court, as the Assistant Director. The person
would be paid a stipend, and the amount depends on what they wish to be
involved with and their preferences. Since the beginning of the HRC,
that person has been involved in the after-school program. We will miss
Alfonso Hernandez, but understand his decision to pursue a BA degree in
Oregon.

Judith Blau
919-929-7885

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

"Nice to Meet You..." Navigating Introductions in Spanish

Proper introductions are an important part of professional life--you have to be able to introduce two colleagues who don't know each other in a professional manner.

Here are a few pointers for pulling that off in Spanish:

  • Start with the name of the "highest ranking" person (use your judgement: in each situation, is it the boss, the visiting guest, the oldest person present, the person with the most seniority at the company?)
  • Use titles where appropriate, which is more common in Spanish than in English: Doctor, Doctora, Licenciado, Licenciada, Ingeniero, Ingeniera, Señor, Señora.
  • Say: the title and name of the person you will introduce + "le quiero presentar a" + the name of the person you are introducing:
 -"Doctora María Sánchez, le quiero presentar a mi colega, Kevin Jones."

When you are the one who has been introduced to someone you've never met before, you can say:

-"Mucho gusto."

-"Encantado." (if you are male)

-"Encantada." (if you are female)

If the other person beats you to it, simply reply:

-"Igualmente."

And the most important thing to remember is that the Spanish verb for "to introduce" is presentar.

(NOTE: The verb introducir exists, but is used in a context such has inserting a coin into a Coke machine or inserting your card into an ATM.  Watch out for that false cognate!)

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Spanish Dictionaries

As much as possible try to use a true Spanish dictionary (such as  ).
 
If your goal is to be a fluent Spanish-speaker then you have use a Spanish-Spanish dictionary! That's what native speakers do.
 
A good online Spanish/English-English/Spanish dictionary is: That's a great reference for spelling, gender of nouns, different possible uses and meanings; in other words, it is a good reference for language learners.  But fluent speakers would use the Spanish-Spanish dictionary a lot more.
 
Try to find a way to use both!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Spanish-speaking Volunteer Opportunity in Carrboro This Summer

This summer, LINC (Linking Immigrants to New Communities) will continue and we need help! We're looking for volunteers for our once-a-week classes: Thursdays from 7-8:30 pm. Class will beginJune 2


We'd love to have people would could make a weekly commitment, but if you can't, please still contact me and we'll keep you involved. Volunteers will be working one-on-one or in small groups with community members looking to begin learning English, improve their language skills, or just practice with a friend. 


We may be experimenting with some new class formats depending on how many tutors we have with us, but everyone will have all the materials they need. 


Please email me Anna McCreight (anna.mccreight@gmail.com) if you'll be around for all or part of the summer, and you're interested in participating.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Summer Opportunity for Very Fluent Spanish Speaker

Sabrina Simon is looking for someone to administer a client satisfaction survey for her program, Bilingual Children's Resource Coordination, at the Carrboro Community Health Center. It involves approximately 12-16 hours of work to be completed ideally in the next couple of weeks on a very flexible schedule, preferably including some evening and/or weekend hours. Most of the work will be done via phone and can be completed at the Carrboro Health Center or from home. Very fluent Spanish required. Stipend is $160 for the project.

Contact: Sabrina Simon: SimonS@piedmonthealth.org

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Summer Opportunity to Use Spanish in Chapel Hill / Carrboro

If you are interested in working  one on one with the latino/a community of Chapel Hill and Carrboro  and are staying in town this summer, Volunteer for CEF Latino!  


Help people sustainably transition out of poverty through, the creation of their own small businesses, regular meetings, financial education workshops, savings opportunities, etc. 


Please contact Daniela Velando (daniela.velando@gmail.com) or Linda Chamiec-Case (lchamiec@gmail.com)

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Spanish for the Professions (SPAN 265): Register Now for Fall 2011

Spanish for the Professions (SPAN 265) pre-registration form is NOW AVAILABLE: romlcourses.unc.edu/Spanish/professions

Monday, April 4, 2011

Why Translations Are So Tough...

Too often, we assume that a few semesters of Spanish qualify one to translate, especially if it's something simple like signs or labels. It's only after a few more semesters that it sinks in how impossibly hard that can be--and a new respect for the highly specialized discipline of translation is born.


Here's one example of a sign in a park that was translated to Spanish: 


jardín de las familias de plantas con flores


Is this a garden full of things from the family of plants that flower in the spring?


Is it a garden with flowering plants in it for families to enjoy together?


Is it like a Rose Bowl parade float in which a mom, dad and some children have been constructed out of flowers?


Some snooping around on the Internet, yields these options for flowering plants: "plantas que dan flores," "plantas que florecen," "plantas que presentan flores."


If it's a garden for families to enjoy, it should probably be a "jardín de familia" or "jardín familiar" (but that might imply that the garden belongs to the family that cultivated it and "jardín para familias" might be better).


At a recent presentation on translation, Mike Doyle (who is certified by the American Translator's Association to both English to Spanish and Spanish to English translations) talked about the importance of being "biliterate" and not just "bilingual"--and these examples show why. We need the lens of literacy to understand and convey meaning. And in the world of translation, being faithful to the spirit of the words is as important and changing the words directly from one language into the other.


So in the end, the English-language sign in the park says "family flower garden," but what is the best way to say that in Spanish? It's certainly not as simple as looking up those three words in a dictionary!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Fall 2011 Registration Opens Soon!

Registration for rising juniors at UNC-CH starts on April 15th.  We hope to have the link for Spanish for the Professions (SPAN 265) on April 12th.

For courses in the minor in Spanish for the Professions, we will start registering students for the second and third sequential courses in the minor on April 13th.  The new registration system will be able to screen for pre-requisites so that students can enroll themselves in the final course in the minor: La comunidad hispana (SPAN 335).

In all courses, students in the minor will sign up on paper forms in class in order to be enrolled in the minor courses for fall.  Once we have the student's signature, that student's seat in the course is secured and we will manually enroll all students from the department office.

We cannot access the registration system before the students' own registration windows open so the course will NOT appear on student schedules when they first go in to register for other classes, but it will appear soon.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Become a Spanish teacher in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

Become a Spanish teacher in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
No education experience or coursework required.
TEACH Charlotte is a unique initiative of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to recruit, select and train outstanding midcareer professionals and recent college graduates to teach critical shortage subject areas (math, science, Special Education, and Spanish) in the schools in our community that need them the most. Practitioner Teachers will teach while attending classes to earn their teaching license. We are currently accepting applications for our April 4th application deadline, and interviews are limited.
For more information about the program and to apply online, please visit http://www.teachcharlotte.org/

Friday, March 25, 2011

The Key to a Perfect Phone Message: Take Control

Conversation class prepares you to talk face-to-face with other native English-speaking students of Spanish.  In the real world, you may need Spanish to work with clients, colleagues, employees or supervisors in other countries. Some of those interactions will inevitably be over the phone.

Phone calls are scary because all the visual clues are removed from the conversation. If you’re receiving the call, the context is usually out of your control.

Never make a general request for repetition (¿Qué? / ¿Cómo?). It’s hard to resist the instinct to do this, but you must in order to keep control of the conversation.

Whenever possible, make statements instead of asking questions:


  • Tell the caller you are taking a message (instead of asking if you can take a message): No está en este momento. Le voy a dar un mensaje. ¿Cómo se llama Ud.?



  • Tell the caller to repeat something one number or one letter at a time instead of asking them to repeat the same thing you don’t understand over and over: Repita su apellido una letra a la vez, por favor. / Repítalo un número a la vez, por favor. 



  • Asking for specific information allows you to stay in control of the conversation: ¿Cúal es su apellido?

  • Repeat key information back to the caller to confirm that you are correct & accurate: Su número de teléfono es _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. ¿Correcto?

The key to success is to take control of the conversation. Master this flow chart then expand on your own to get a more detailed message from the caller.



Thursday, March 24, 2011

Master Small Talk in Spanish

University Spanish courses often cover ‘academic’ topics, not real world small talk. 

Even if you take conversation courses you might not ever learn how to strike up a conversation in a conference room, break room or at a party. 

Here are 10 key phrases in Spanish to smooth over those awkward social moments.
Do this…
Here’s how:

Introduce yourself and identify yourself and what you do.
-Buenas tardes. Soy Heather Smith estudio economía en la Universidad.
-Hola. Me llamo Sam Barber y soy el asistente de María Gomez.
Say ‘nice to meet you’ when introduced to someone.
Mucho gusto.             
Encantado/a.                          
Es un placer.
Interrupt politely. If you are interrupting someone or are about to enter their office or other personal space. Or when you need to say ‘excuse me’ to take leave of a conversation.


Con permiso.
Recognize different ways to say ‘how are you?’ In your class you learn ¿Cómo estás? but don’t be surprised by ¿Qué tal?, ¿Qué onda? ¿Qué hay? ¿Qué hubo?
Appropriate answers are the same as if you had been asked ¿Cómo está?:
Muy bien, ¿y Ud.?                              
Bien, gracias. ¿y Ud.?
Accept a compliment.  If someone compliments you (or your beautiful Spanish), it’s best to be humble.

Gracias. Ud. es muy amable.
Network based on people you know in common.
¿Cómo conoce Ud. a _(person in common)__?
Get people talking about themselves and their lives, starting with what they do for a living.

¿A qué se dedica Ud.?

Comment on things around you, such as weather or other circumstances.
¡Qué ____! ¿no?: ¡Qué frío! ¿no?, ¡Qué interestante! ¿no?, ¡Qué lío! ¿no?

Eating requires special respect.
Before beginning to eat anything when you are with other people: ¡Buen provecho!
Praise the food: Está rico/a., Está bueno/a.
Take leave with more than just ‘Adiós.’
Que le vaya bien.       
Que lo pase bien.       
Que pase un buen fin de semana.


Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Summer School Registration at UNC Starts Tomorrow

Registration for summer sessions one and two begins tomorrow on UNC-CH's campus.

The 8 students who have pre-registered for the Minor in Spanish for the Professions - Medical Track will be enrolled in four courses: Spanish for the Professions (SPAN 265), Medical Spanish (SPAN 321), and La comunidad hispana (SPAN 335) plus a one-credit service-learning add on (SPAN 293).

There are up to 12 seats left for interested students.  Email Darcy Lear lear@email.unc.edu for a pre-registration form. More information is online at romlcourses.unc.edu/Spanish/professions

Monday, March 21, 2011

Abroad Opportunity in Costa Rica


UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School's Center for International Business and Education Research Announces:


COSTA RICA PROGRAM 
May 13 - June 4, 2011 



Elective course  
Immersion in Costa Rica is an intensive three-week summer program designed for students and for business people who are interested in learning Span-ish. This program is open to participants with no lan-guage experience, as well as those with varied profi-ciency levels. The program provides participants the opportunity to maximize their language, business and cultural learning experience in a real life setting. Par-ticipants will have four 2-hour classes with the program leader prior to departure. 

Program Highlights: 

Five Hours Of Daily Language Instruction - in small groups with experienced teachers from our partner schools. 
Homestays - Students will be assigned to a host family; one student per family. Students will further enrich their homestay experience through daily breakfast and dinner with their family during the first and third week of the program. 
Four Business Visits - Participants will meet with company managers to tour the facilities and learn firsthand about the firms’ initiatives and business practices. 
Four Lectures - Students will learn about the Costa Rican economy, society, business cul-ture, history and political climate. 
Project-Based Learning - Students will deepen their Spanish skills through a company or service learning project. 
Community Outreach - Participants will apply their language skills through community service. 
Cultural Excursions - The group will visit important cultural sites (i.e., Arenal Volcano, and the National Park “Rincón de la Vieja” 

2011 Program Fee 
$3,900 (airfare not included) 
Program fee covers: 
Language classes 
Business visits 
Lectures 
Project-based learning experience 
Community outreach activity 
Homestays and hotel accommodations 
Three 2-day weekend cultural excursions (i.e. Arenal Volcano, Rincón de la Vieja National Park, Hot Springs, Jaco) 
Cultural activities: horseback riding and canopy tours 

For additional information, please contact: 
Maria Elena Rodriguez 
Director, Working Languages 
Tel: 919-962-6822 
rodrigum@kenan-flagler.unc.edu 

Costa Rica Program Itinerary 

Week One: Heredia 
Friday, May 13th - Arrival and homestays 
Saturday, May 14 - Overnight cultural excursion to 
Arenal Volcano, stop at historic Zarcero 
and Sarchi, visit the hot springs “Tabacón” 
and enjoy the horseback riding or canopy tours 
Monday, May 16 - Language classes and lecture 
Walking tour of historic downtown 
Tuesday, May 17 - Language classes and lectures 
Visit to INCAE and company visit 
Wednesday, May 18 - Language classes 
Community outreach at orphanage 
“Hogar del Niño con Cariño” 
Thursday, May 19 - Language classes 
Company visit 
Cultural excursion 
Friday, May 20 - Language classes 
Depart in the afternoon for a two-day 
cultural excursion to Jaco and transfer to 
Sámara, the hidden fish and farming commu-nity on the Pacific Ocean. 
Week Two-Sámara 
Monday, May 23 - Hotel Belvederes 
Walking tour of historic downtown 
Language class and lecture 
Tuesday, May 24 - Language class and lecture 
Local cultural excursions 
Wednesday, May 25 - Language class 
Community outreach 
Thursday, May 26 - Language class 
Company visit 
Group dinner with guests 
Friday, May 27 - Language class and lecture 
Saturday, May 28 - Two-day cultural outing: Parque 
Nacional Rincón de la Vieja and other cul-tural activities. Walking tour through Focus Natural Pool and transfer back to Heredia. 
Week Three– Heredia 
Monday, May 30 - Language class 
Company visit 
Tuesday, May 31 - Language class 
Project-based learning assignment 
Wednesday, June 1 - Language class 
Project-based learning assignment 
Thursday, June 2 - Language class 
Project-based learning assignment 
Friday, June 3 - Language class 
Presentation on the project-based learning experience 
Reception and farewell dinner 
Saturday, June 4 - Return to the U.S. 


Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Medical Track, Spanish for the Professions in Summer School

The Summer School at UNC-CH is offering the entire minor in Spanish for the Professions, medical track for the first time in summer 2011:

SIX students have alredy signed up.

That leaves a maximum of 14 seats still available.

Contact Darcy Lear: lear@email.unc.edu to pre-register.

Monday, March 7, 2011

How Do You Say....in Spanish?

Here's a question about translation that comes up in the context of Spanish for the Professions:

What's the best way to know what to call an organization (or a person) in Spanish?

The answer: ask that organization (or person)!

For example, how do you say "Census Bureau" in Spanish?

The answer is always: what does that organization call itself in Spanish?  Don't waste your time translating when someone else has probably already done it for you.

Digging around on the U.S. Census Bureau website will eventually turn up some option in Spanish. But an even faster way to get results is to type the Google search in Spanish: "el censo de los estados unidos."

The U.S. Census Bureau calls itself: La Oficina del Censo de los Estados Unidos


The Latino Community Credit Union headquartered in Durham, N.C. calls itself La Cooperativa Comunitaria


What we used to call the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) is now ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).  The INS calls itself El servicio de inmigración y control de aduanas in Spanish.  But if you snoop around on the Internet, you'll also find out that that organization has always been la migra in Spanish!




Friday, March 4, 2011

"To Have Fun" Does Not Have a Literal Translation to Spanish

To say "to have fun" in Spanish, you have two choices:

divertirse: Me divertí en la fiesta.

pasarlo bien: Lo pasé muy bien el fin de semana pasado.

Do not try to make up literal translations from the English "to have fun"-they don't work!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Addressing People Using Titles in Spanish

When talking to someone for the first time in a professional context (or when introducing two people to each other in a professional context), it is a good idea to use titles.

Some common titles used with last names in Spanish include:

Doctor / Doctora


Profesor / Profesora


Presidente / Presidenta


Licenciado / Licenciada (with a college degree)

Ingeniero / Ingeniera


Señor / Señora


When addressing a person directly, use TITLE + LAST NAME:


Ingeniero Gallegos, es un placer conocerlo.


Ingeniero Gallegos, le quiero presentar a la Doctora Montrul del Instituto Superior.


When talking about a person in the third person, use a definite article (el or la) before the title:

El Señor Sánchez me dijo que la Profesora Jackson se mudó.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Want Search Results in Spanish?

The Internet provides access to a wealth of information in Spanish--almost anything you are interested in in English, you can find in Spanish on the Internet.

Almost any kind of practice you want with Spanish (listening, reading, speaking, writing), you can find on the Internet.  There are social media sites like Facebook in Spanish that allow you to do all those things.

But you won't find much if you type in your search terms in English.

To find search results in Spanish, type in your key words in Spanish!!!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Recognize Different Ways to Say "How Are You?" in Spanish

 In your Spanish classes you learn ¿Cómo estás? as the way to say How are you?


But don’t be surprised by:


 ¿Qué tal?


¿Qué onda? 


¿Qué hay? 


¿Qué hubo?



Appropriate answers are the same as if you had been asked ¿Cómo está?:

Muy bien, ¿y Ud.?  
                                 
Bien, gracias. ¿y Ud.?

Monday, February 28, 2011

Spanish for the Professions at UNC-CH: By the Numbers

The minor in Spanish for the Professions at UNC-CH by the numbers:

8 semesters in existence

65 new students each semester = 520 students

7 courses rolled out (6 of them new starting from fall 2007)

4 profession-specific tracks: business, medical, journalism, law

3 service-learning courses offered per semester

30 hours of work in the community per student = 1,800 hours of community service per semester

2 minor programs served by the courses (students in the minor in entrepreneurship can take "Venture Creation in the Spanish-speaking World--SPAN 327--as their workshop course for that minor)

Friday, February 25, 2011

Spanish for the Professions: Past, Present and Future

PAST:

Over the course of 8 semesters the Department of Romance Languages at UNC-CH has rolled out 6 new courses to accommodate students in the new minor program in Spanish for the Professions.  Prior to fall 2007, the only course already in existence was the Business Spanish course (SPAN 320).

The program has been successful in accommodating the specific needs of relatively large numbers of students from professional schools (business, journalism, etc.) who were previously taking Hispanic studies courses in the department.

It took five semesters to roll out all the courses and adjust for student demand for the four different professional tracks: business, law, journalism and medicine.

PRESENT: 

This semester the focus has turned to better articulated the courses in the minor so that students can transition more smoothly through the three-semester sequence of courses.

To better prepare students for the rigors content-based profession-specific courses the first course, Spanish for the Professions (SPAN 265) is being taught with a significant grammar component for the first time this semester. The text "Manual de gramática" by Iguina and Dozier has been added to the curriculum.

To better prepare students for the research component of the third and final course in the minor, La comunidad hispana (SPAN 335), a research project has been added to Spanish for the Professions this semester.  Students must identify a professional field and geographic region (presumably aligned with their personal goals). Then they research the Latino demographics of that region, gather existing Spanish-language resources for clients and practitioners in that field, write an analytic essay comparing and contrasting the information they found so that they can identify an unmet need that they could potentially fill. That unmet need is their final presentation--presented in a poster session format as would be the norm at a professional conference.

To better integrate the service-learning component into the profession-specific courses (business, medical, law and journalism), we have added the only Spanish-language textbook on community service learning, Comunidades by Annie Abbott to those curricula.

FUTURE:

The minor will offer the entire minor--medical track only--in Summer School for the first time in 2011. This is to accommodate the exceedingly high demand for the medical track.

Aside from a few isolated courses (Spanish for the Professions in Seville, business in Madrid, medical in Guadalajara and Santiago de Chile), it is hard for students to complete minor courses abroad.  In the future, we would like to collaborate with UNC's Study Abroad office to offer more of the minor courses abroad in order to encourage more students in the minor to participate in immersion experiences.

The service-learning component of the minor continues to evolve as we seek to collaborate with organizations who can maximally use students Spanish-language and Hispanic cultures skills while providing students with opportunities to practice.  We strive to develop long-term collaborations that cross semesters and student groups, but it is always a challenge to complete meaningful community projects in semester-long chunks of time given the resources community partners, students, and professors possess.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Study on Dangers of Computer Translations

HealthDay reporter Dennis Thompson has written an article about the dangers of computer translations of instructions for use of prescription drugs.

This is an excellent example for students studying Spanish for the Professions--it highlights the need for bilingual and bicultural professionals and warns of the dangers of short cuts.

The examples of bad computer translations in the article include one problem made famous by an episode of the tv show "ER": the English "once" and the Spanish "once" could create huge problems on a prescription bottle since taking something once a day (in English) is completely different than eleven times a day (in Spanish)!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Pre-Resgistration for Fall Sections of Spanish for the Professions

Pre-Resgistration for Fall Sections of Spanish for the Professions (SPAN 265) will begin the week of April 4, 2011.

When the pre-registration form goes live on the minor website a blog post, Tweet and Facebook status update will be posted.  Because the posting of the form requires collaboration across departments (ie we submit a request to post the form and it is done asap), we cannot guarantee any exact day or time.

The posting of the pre-registration form will coincide with the registration date of rising juniors since current juniors and seniors cannot possibly start the minor (it requires a minimum of 3 consecutive semesters on campus to complete the minor).

Thursday, February 17, 2011

"Darse cuenta de que" = "to realize"

Remember to use the expression "darse cuenta de que" for the equivalent of the English "to realize something."

The verb "realizar" does exist in Spanish, but is used only in the sense of to realize a dream to to carry out a transaction.  Just one of the many "amigos falsos" to watch out for!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Private Language Immersion Abroad

CHICLE Language Institute, a private language school in Carrboro, N.C., offers language immersion programs abroad.  The trips are designed to be an alternative to university-sponsored study abroad trips,  designed for students who don't have time to spend a whole semester abroad and who want to focus on language immersion more than course credits and grades.

This is a particularly good fit with the minor in Spanish for the Professions program at UNC-CH.  Few of the required courses for the minor are offered through university-sponsored study abroad.  This means that students in the minor who do go abroad often cannot count much of that coursework toward the minor program.  However, immersion experiences are vital to language development and everyone who minors or majors in Spanish ideally should spend time abroad in a Spanish-speaking country. These short, immersion-focused programs are one possible middle ground.

The CHICLE program offers programs from one to four weeks in length in two places:     Academia Hispana Americana in San Miguel de Allende, México and Centro Panamericano de Idiomas (CPI) in Flamingo, Costa Rica with prices ranging from $1,200-$2,500 (not including airfare).   


For more information, visit www.chi-cle.com and go to "study abroad" (in purple box on right frame of website) to see the full-length brochures for both programs.  Or call 919-933-0398 or email chicle@chi-cle.com

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Premios...Awards

It's awards season throughout the world!

Last weekend was the Goya Awards ceremony in Madrid on the same night as the BAFTA awards in London.  The BBC covered the red carpet in Spanish. You will recognize all the same stars from the awards shows in the US, but be sure to read the captions in Spanish.

If you prefer music awards shows, look at these images and Spanish-language captions from the Emmy's (also on BBC's site).

Monday, February 14, 2011

Minor in Entrepreneurship: Interest Meeting Tuesday

UNC-CH's innovative Minor in Entrepreneurship will hold an interest meeting on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 in Gardner 209 at 5:00 p.m.

The Minor in Entrepreneurship overlaps with the minor in Spanish for the Professions, where the Venture Creation in the Spanish-speaking World course (SPAN 327) can count as the second workshop course in the Minor in Entrepreneurship or as the second profession-specific course in the minor in Spanish for the Professions (or both if you were minoring in both!)


Friday, February 11, 2011

Bilingual and Bicultural Ads Are Much More than Translations

An earlier post asserted that knowing how to conduct business in Spanish as well as English can give you access to a huge market segment in the US and abroad.

This week students in Spanish for the Professions looked at an even more nuanced aspect of bilingualism: accessing the huge segment of the population that is bilingual and bicultural.  The task: find bilingual and bicultural advertisements aimed at Spanish-English bilinguals in the US.

We start with the example of the "Got milk?" ad that features the Mexican legend of La llorona.  In order to really appreciate the ad:

  • you need to know the legend of La llorona (straight out of Mexican culture)
  • you need to be familiar with the Got milk? campaign (straight out of US culture)
  • you have to recognize the Spanish language on the cover of the book "La leyenda de la llorona" and understand the ghost saying "leche!"
  • you have to understand the English on the milk carton ("Milk") and the ubiquitous "Got milk?" black-and-white text.


From that starting point, students have found many wonderful bilingual and bicultural advertisements for everything from Hot Pockets to cars.  Many of the best ads can be traced back to one Miami-based agency, Zubi.  Their Chase Bank ad is an excellent example of gaining a competitive advantage by filling a previously unmet need--in this case, Spanish-language statements.  Ford is a long-time client of Zubi and the "Ready Pa' Tu Mundo" campaign targets a fully bilingual, bicultural, tech-savvy youth culture.

The ReachHispanic blog has recently praised Zubi and offered advice on successful (and accurate!) marketing to Latinos in the US.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

"¡Buenos días!" / "Good morning!"

"¡Buenos días!" is a great greeting to use--before noon!

Remember to switch to "¡Buenas tardes!" after noon.

Just as in English, the use of "¡Buenas noches!" can vary--some people would use it late in the day (for example, when leaving work and you know you won't see the person again until the next day). Others might find that use odd because they only use it at bedtime.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Understanding the Competition in a Bilingual and Bicultural Context

As part of the unit on business & entrepreneurship, students in the Spanish for the Professions course at UNC-CH read an article about the importance of access to financial institutions for immigrants (both so the immigrants can use the goods & services offered by the institutions and so that the institutions can increase their client base--a real win-win)

In class, students quickly realize how complex it can be to understand competition. When you ask "for a financial institution that wants to attract new clients who are immigrants, what is the competition?", the first thing that comes to mind is obvious: other banks. But dig a little deeper and you find that the competition is complicated and closely tied to culture.

For financial institutions trying to attract immigrant clients, the competition might be the coffee can under the kitchen sink where all money is kept in cash. It might be the family in the home country where a lot of earnings are sent by money transfer. Bad experiences with financial institutions in the home country might be a deterrent.

If you want the competitive edge, you have to dig deep and understand the underlying cultural factors that affect your customers' behavior:

how do you overcome the concerns that drive someone to keep all their money in their home in cash?

are you going to offer competitive wire transfer services?

how are you going to attract someone with an inherent distrust of financial institutions in the first place?

Combine this approach to understanding your customers with business savvy and you will have a winning combination!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

UNC Alum's Start-up Now Hiring Spanish-speakers

Cupondia is an early-stage, NYC-based start-up focused on providing the Hispanic market with a targeted, relevant collective purchasing offering. We offer consumers discounted deals on goods and services from local businesses (similar to Groupon) in cities with prevalent Hispanic populations. Cupondia is currently in the process of launching in NYC, and planning to expand to cities across the U.S. during the first half of 2011.


Those interested in the following positions should contact Nick Miller: nick@cupondia.com. 973-769=8875.


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Marketing Intern:

Job Description

Intern will work directly with Cupondia’s Director of Business Development to manage our direct and grassroots marketing. Intern will be given significant responsibility, including day-to-day management of Cupondia’s direct marketing campaign and will also work with the CEO and marketing team to develop and implement creative grassroots campaigns in conjunction with our customer acquisition and PR efforts.


Qualification

Cupondia is looking for an enthusiastic and talented individual that is excited about working at a young start-up and having a significant impact on the direction and day-to-day activities of our marketing efforts. Ideal candidates will be conversational or fluent in Spanish and preferably will have marketing experience at a start-up or small, B2C company (though this is not a requirement).


There is potential for optional travel to work on the ground as Cupondia launches in more cities across the US.



           Approximate hours per week: 40


Salary: Negotiable


Start date: Summer 2011


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Social Media Intern:

Job Description

Intern will work directly with Cupondia’s Director of Business Development to manage our social media presence. Intern will be given significant responsibility, including day-to-day management of Cupondia’s presence on Facebook, Twitter, and blogosphere media/PR, and will also work with the marketing team to develop and implement creative marketing campaigns via social media in conjunction with our customer acquisition efforts.


Social Media Intern can work from anywhere in the US.


Qualification

Cupondia is looking for an enthusiastic and talented individual that is excited about working at a young start-up and having a significant impact on the direction and day-to-day activities of our marketing efforts. Ideal candidates will be conversational or fluent in Spanish and preferably will have experience with social media marketing or an individual presence on social media sites (Twitter, blogs, etc.).


Approximate hours per week: ~10


Salary: Negotiable


Start date: ASAP


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Content Editor:

Job Description

Content Editor will manage creation of daily deal descriptions to convey the value proposition of featured businesses in an accessible and engaging way for Cupondia’s customer base. Editor will initially be responsible for writing NYC daily deal descriptions for distribution via email & social media sites (Facebook, Twitter), with potential to take on an editorial role overseeing a team of writers as Cupondia expands to other cities across the U.S. Editor will also work with Cupondia team to update content on website, with significant input on the tone of the existing website and any future updates.


Content Editor will report directly to Cupondia’s CEO and will work closely with Cupondia’s business development and merchant relations teams.


Cupondia is open to hiring for this position on a part- or full-time basis, depending on candidate.


Qualification

Cupondia is looking for an enthusiastic and talented individual that is excited about working at a young start-up and leading our efforts to develop a unified public persona for Cupondia through our website and daily offer descriptions. Ideal candidates will be fluent in Spanish and will have experience in writing and/or editorial roles with a focus on writing copy for marketing purposes. Candidates should be able to demonstrate ability to engage readers with appealing descriptions of products and businesses.


Salary: Negotiable


Start date: Spring or Summer 2011

Friday, February 4, 2011

Spanish for the Professions Programs: A "Build It and They Will Come" Scenario

Looking for a way to get more students through a Spanish program while using fewer resources?

Worried about enrollment?

A Spanish for the Professions program could be the answer.

The minor program in Spanish for the Professions at the University of North Carolina started in the fall of 2007 as a way to relieve some of the pressure on the department's limited resources while also meeting high student demand for Spanish classes.

The minor in Spanish for the Professions consists of three core courses, each with two major components and a fourth "allied course"(50% of course content related to Spanish-speaking world) from another department.

Students take a fifth semester Spanish for the Professions course that includes a significant grammar component in addition to the survey of professional areas & practical workplace skills.

The second course is a profession-specific course with a service-learning component that allows students to apply what they are learning in the real world. The profession-specific courses offered at UNC are business, medical, journalism and law (corresponding to the most popular majors among students in the Spanish program at the time the minor was started).

The final core course has a significant research component as students study "La comunidad hispana," focusing on US Hispanic communities.

In the spring of 2006, we spent a lot of time visiting fourth semester classes to promote the minor and recruit students.  By the spring of 2007, we were experiencing such overwhelming demand that we had to turn students away and carefully screen to make sure we were getting even enrollments in the various profession-specific tracks.  The medical track is the only one for which we can never come close to meeting demand and it seems as if this is also a new demographic of students (ie they would not be majoring or minoring in Spanish absent the specialized minor).

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Say "Gracias, muy amable!" When Given a Compliment

An appropriate response when given a compliment in Spanish, is "Gracias, muy amable!"

This is especially important if someone compliments your Spanish language skills. You don't want to sound arrogant (as in "yes, I know!") so adding the "muy amable" softens it.  You are letting the person know that they are nice--and perhaps even generous--for paying you the compliment.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Tweak Your Spanish for Professional Contexts

It seems that everyone with a beginning foundation in Spanish language skills would like to be able to tweak that Spanish for the workplace context, but too often there seems to be a gap between the Spanish one has learned and the Spanish one seems to need in the professional context.

For example, everyone learns numbers and letters in the first days of studying Spanish.  But then those building blocks are too often discarded as "basic" and never revisited after those first days of Spanish class.

However, imagine all you could get done in a work place if you really know how to manage the simple building blocks that are numbers and letters:


  • you could take accurate phone messages
  • you could provide addresses and phone numbers
  • you could spell the names and talk about dosages of medicines
  • you could make sure important forms (taxes! birth certificates!) are filled out accurately
  • you could ask for spellings of words you are not understanding when spoken
  • you could "talk money"--asking for and giving prices, totals, offers and counter-offers
  • you can talk about time in increments of hours, days, weeks and months.


Here are some ways to maximize your knowledge of letters and numbers in Spanish:

First, practice to make sure to know all the letters and at least the numbers 0-9.

Then develop strategies for getting and giving information in a form that you can understand.  For example, it is sometimes useful to give an honest assessment of your Spanish skills: "no hablo mucho, pero puedo escribir un mensaje."

Concentrate on making very specific requests and asking specific questions:

Número por número, por favor.            One number at a time, please.
¿Lo puede deletrear, por favor?            Can you spell that, please?
Más despacio, por favor.                        Slower, please.
Le voy a repetir la información…         I am going to repeat that back to you...   

Avoid asking for general repetition using "¿Qué?" and "¿Cómo?" That tends to frustrate both parties and cause the communication to break down rather than improving the exchange of information.

Try this at work!!