by Moses Leos III
Starting in July, the Buda Area Chamber of Commerce (BACC) will begin a pilot program aimed to help local business owners learn Spanish.
However, what the BACC has in mind is not your typical Spanish course from high school. Instead of trudging through textbooks and filling out endless worksheets, the BACC will offer a face-to-face structure to help owners refine their conversational Spanish.
The goal is to help business owners find a better understanding of Spanish, to better aid native speakers of the language.
“Having a knowledge of Spanish is smart business. To learn the Spanish language helps bring in the Hispanic market,” Gonzales said.
Entitled, “Spanish for Business: 101,” the BACC will take participants through a three week, six course tutorial on understanding the Spanish alphabet, conjugations, basic greetings and conversation pieces. While the BACC will not teach a formal Castellan Spanish, the Chamber hopes to better acquaint business owners with the language.
“The course will teach the basics to business owners,” J.R. Gonzales, managing director of the BACC, said. “It will give them an opportunity to practice [Spanish] with native speakers.”
“The class will help owners find key words, as well as ask questions and respond back to questions in a formal way,” Gonzales said. “Some customers may speak English, but are more comfortable speaking in Spanish. If we can help an owner respond in Spanish, it may set that customer at ease.”
Currently, the BACC is using the initial course as a pilot program. In the future, Gonzales hopes to branch out “Spanish for Business: 101”, tailored towards specific industries, better helping business owners.
For now, the course will teach the basics, without a cumbersome book.
“It is not high school Spanish. It is more of teaching business owners how to communicate in the language; to be more culturally sensitive to their customers,” Gonzales said.
In addition to learning conversational Spanish, participants of the pilot program will learn about the different cultures of Spanish speakers. The BACC aims to give insight on how Spanish in one culture may not translate to another.
“We want to teach students about not only the Mexican culture of Spanish, but also from Central America and Puerto Rico,” Gonzales said. “Many cultures have different nuances in [Spanish]; some words may have different meaning. While [students] will not offend anyone, not having a full understanding of Spanish may not make them clearly understood.”
According to Gonzales, business owners are receptive towards the BACC initiative.
“The reaction from business owners has been positive,” Gonzales said. “Folks understand the need to understand the language and culture. If they ignore the market, they stand to lose out.”
According to an April 2010 report from the United States Census Bureau, Language Use in the United States: 2007, 19.7 percent of Americans spoke a language other than English at home. Of that statistic, 62.3 percent spoke Spanish or Spanish Creole.
In Hays County, the American Community Survey of the 2010 Census estimated over 23 percent of the population to speak a language other than English between 2007-2011. Of the 23 percent, 21 spoke Spanish.
With the number of native Spanish speakers in the area, Gonzales hopes Buda business owners take full advantage of this opportunity.
The estimated buying power of Latinos and Hispanics grew from $212 billion in 1990 to $951 billion in 2008, based on data from the Texas Association of Mexican American Chamber of Commerce (TAMACC). The organization estimates it could rise to $1.4 trillion by 2014.
“Spanish for Business: 101” is slated to begin on Monday, July 8, with another class following on July 10. The classes are twice weekly with each session lasting 90 minutes. Gonzales said the class runs from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at the Buda Area Chamber of Commerce office. The course fee is $75. Class size is limited to 10 participants.
“We want smaller classes, as we aim to make sure people have a great learning experience, but also learn what they need,” Gonzales said.
The program is not limited to BACC members, according to Gonzales. For more information, contact the BACC at 512-295-9999.
