How to learn English or any language in six months or less.

I have enjoyed helping many Spanish speaking immigrants toward the pursuit of living their dreams. As a trainer I conduct motivational programs in Spanish, I take complicated concepts and attempt to make them simple and easily understood.  As a real estate agent I helped to break down the barriers of home ownership by taking the pertinent information from English to Spanish.  I come across masses of people who have lived in the United States for a long time and are afraid to attempt to speak English. Many understand English but are afraid to speak it because of embarrassment.

 

If you truly want to have success, English plays an essential key towards your growth.  Look at any job classified and you will see how many employers prefer Spanish bilingual job applicants. Try to apply for a loan or start your own business and you will come across many barriers if you are not able to communicate in English. What if you have an emergency and nobody around you speaks Spanish? If you don’t speak English now, don’t get discouraged. I want to encourage you that you can speak English and you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to do so. There are many simple steps that if you apply them, will help you improve your communication skills. 

 

One of the reasons you are probably not learning English is because you are probably in a job where everyone around you speaks Spanish. This makes things comfortable and easy for you. This way you don’t have to get out of your comfort zone and you can continue without any struggle.  When I was an exchange student in Morelia, Michoacan, I didn’t have the luxury of having someone speak English around me, nor was their any posted signs in English.  I knew I had to learn to converse in Spanish very quickly. The best way to do that is to speak without fear or embarrassment.  Sometimes people laughed at how I pronounced things or didn’t understand what I was trying to say. By practicing, I was able to improve my communication. If someone laughed at me, I would laugh with them and continue to try to explain myself until they understood what I meant. People will respect you more for trying and not getting it right, then if you don’t try at all.

 

English classes are obviously a great step toward improving your English. There are many ESL classes that have flexible schedules and fees. I was a teacher of ESL classes and I was impressed about the curriculum. Classroom instruction gives you the essential basics in writing, pronouncing, and speaking English. It is also a great place to meet other people who are in similar situations.

 

The next step is that you need to practice your English everyday. Like anything, if you don’t practice you will not be good. Carry around a dictionary or phrase book. If you get stuck on a word, look it up. Converse with the cashiers and bank tellers in English. If you have a co-worker that you usually don’t talk to at work, tell him that you want to practice speaking your English with them. Don’t be afraid to tell them to slow down if they are talking too fast. Ask them to repeat something you don’t understand. Repeat back to them what they said to you. 

 

Watch T.V., and listen to the radio in English, even if for an hour a day. Watch the news or a funny show and always be actively listening to the phrases. Try to capture the meaning and look up words you don’t understand. One last thing you may try is to get a few children’s books in English. By reading these simple sentences you will learn how to speak correctly.

 Summary of steps for learning English in six months or less.  

• Classes
• Watching T.V. in English
• Listening to the radio.
• Reading children’s books.
• Practicing with native English speakers.
• Carrying around a dictionary.
• Speak without fear of embarrassment – it is better to try than not.

 

If you truly dedicate yourself to learning English, you can accomplish it in less than six months. You will be at a conversational level and able to communicate with anyone in any situation. Your English will not be perfect, but you will be on the path to constantly improving yourself and you will have a basis from which to grow.  Then you will be a more valuable commodity in the work place.  Remember, anything that you accomplish in life takes dedication and practice. Learning a new language is no exception but I know anyone can do it. Give it a try for thirty days of following the above steps. I promise you will see improvement after thirty days and will want to continue from there. Now go for it!

Cultural Differences in the Hispanic workplace

North Americans in the workforce are distinctly known for being direct and to the point.  It often is perceived by the Hispanic culture that the North American in general is rude and uncaring. In a leadership role, it is essential that the leader treats each of his workers as an individual first and foremost. This means using such courtesies as acknowledging everyone in the room. It took many years for me to get used to greeting everyone in an office with a handshake and a good morning as I entered into the Latino work environment. The standard North American entrance is to walk into a room and go directly to the person that you need to speak to, ignoring all the others and then walking out.  For purposes of time it may not be realistic to shake everyone’s hand in a larger office environment. Acknowledging the person with eye contact and a greeting will suffice.  Greeting everyone at once in a large room is also acceptable. The same goes when leaving a room. Don’t just leave without saying “goodbye”, “talk to you later” or the acceptable follow up. You are showing everyone that you don’t care by leaving a room without dismissing yourself.  It is extremely rude to walk up to two people who are together and only speak to one person in the group without acknowledging the other person. Don’t face one person and give your back to other person either. You are basically telling that person that they are not important and are insignificant. At a later time when you need to speak to the second person in the group they are going to remember how they were dismissed.  Don’t walk away while leaving the other person talking, that is incredibly disrespectful especially to the Hispanic.             Eye contact is important when speaking to your Hispanic employee or co-worker.  Due to diversity in educational and socioeconomic backgrounds from the Latin American countries, some will feel it is disrespectful to look their superior in the eyes. As a general rule, though it is the accepted norm to speak with the person and use eye contact to make sure they are following you.   Hispanics as well as any culture do not like to be spoken to in a demeaning manner. Everyone wants to be treated as a person as someone who matters for the organization. That person will do more than is expected of him, if he believes that their superior generally cares about their well being. Since the Hispanic is extremely family centered it is a good measure to find out about their family, where they came from, and what their kids are doing. You will not meet a more hospitable culture as long as they perceive that they are receiving respect.            Don’t assume every Hispanic is from Mexico. There are so many countries in Central and South America that makes up the Hispanic culture. It is often joked about or assumed that every person who speaks Spanish is from Mexico. Mainly because Mexico is our neighbor and there are a larger percentage of Mexicans in the United States.  Nothing is more offensive to a person from El Salvador to be called a Mexican and vice versa.  Learn where they are from. Everyone is proud of where they came from, their roots and their culture. Don’t mix everyone in one category. It is like telling someone from Canada that they are the United States or someone from the United States that they are Norwegian. There are differences of culture in every country in Latin America and even differences within those countries.  In fact, sometimes there is strife or rousing that occurs between different mixes of Latin American co-workers. Make sure that everyone treats all with equal respect and their country of origin is not used as a reason to be harassed.  As a manager, it is not your job or duty to know everything about your co-worker’s country and culture, but you’ll find that most Hispanics love to talk about their countries because they miss their family and traditions.            When someone hands you keys in your hand, you use the keys and then return the keys by throwing them back or sliding them along the desk, you have been offensive. You are showing that person that you do not respect them enough to give them the keys or object into their hands.  The same goes for money, papers or any object that you were handed. “That is how an animal is treated”, is often the thought when items are thrown back at the recipient.            North Americans often joke about mothers and wives and think it is funny. In the Hispanic culture any perceived insult of someone’s family member could spark a confrontation. One time in an office setting my wife was told by the owner that “your Mother doesn’t work here”. For the North American that means that everyone must pick up after themselves. My wife understood what the owner meant, but the fact that he used her mother into the conversation, she was immediately offended and ready to fight. She tried to take it in the context it was given but still did not appreciate the comment. Hispanics will not tolerate disrespect toward their family members. The worker himself might tolerate joking, or verbal harassing, but the instance you include their family member in the conversation be prepared.            You may think that as a manager, you have to work with many cultures and why should you have to specifically cater to the Hispanic culture.  All of the above mentioned items are actually common courtesies that everyone deserves. Courtesy and politeness has often gone out the window in lieu of time and efficiency. The truth is that it doesn’t take that much more time to treat someone with respect or ask about their well-being. You will find that the results you get from all of your workers will be tremendous. A worker will do more for someone that they care about than someone who is just their superior.  We ask our workers to treat our guests and customers with respect and caring, so we must also treat our employees as our customer.  Mutual respect will be reciprocal to the customer who ultimately determines the profitability of any organization.            

Your Physiology affects your Customer Service.

It’s Monday morning and you hate your job.  Your weekend was average. You tried to disconnect from your “prison” as much as you could, but the thoughts of your job still crept into your brain at every turn.  Saturday night you realized Sunday was near. Sunday night you zoned out in front of your television watching the Daily Ten on the E channel where you caught up on who is fat, who is on drugs, who is “hooking up”, and who is breaking up; by the last commercial you realize you have to work tomorrow. Tomorrow is now. Monday morning your alarm goes off for the fourth time of hitting the snooze button and you roll out of bed.  How does your face and body look at this time?  Come on, I know you’ve felt like this at least once in your life. Is your face tense and frowning? Are your shoulders slumped? Do you move slowly and languidly as you approach the shower? I even bet your breathing is shallow and soft.  (By the way if that is the way you feel at your job, get out!)

Erase that feeling of depression for now and think about another scenario. It’s Monday morning and your house phone rings. “That’s weird” you say.  “I never get phone calls at this time of the morning.” The person on the other line says, “This is KWXZ radio and we are calling to inform you that you have won an all expense paid trip to Hawaii!”  You scream, you jump up and down, your smiling uncontrollably, and your face loosens up.  You look like one of those crazy contestants that you use to make fun of on the Price is Right game show after they beat out the other screaming contestants for the Grand Prize.  Above are clear examples of your physiology.

Physiology is the movement of your body.  The movement of your body affects your moods and the moods of others. Physiology is the expressions of your face, the movement of your body, the position of your eyes, posture and breathing. What most of us don’t realize is that we can change our emotions and energy by the way we move.  What if in the morning after waking up, you actually stood up straight, take in a few deep breaths and smiled. Do something crazy.  Pound your chest, and shout a chant; “It’s a great day!” “It’s a great day!” You are setting yourself up to have a great day. You are forcing your body and brain to move into the position of being happy before you even start the day.  That is why some form of exercise or meditation is a great way to start any day because you are moving and breathing in a positive way and your emotions get a jolting charge.

 

 

 

 

How does this relate to customer service? Your positive or negative emotions affect everyone around you.  That is why in the customer service industry we are told to smile, even when we answer the phone. The smiling actually sparks a positive emotion to the customer in front of you. It is important while speaking to the guest to maintain an upright posture. If you are slouching or bent over the counter, you are showing the customer that you don’t even have enough energy to stand up straight and they will subconsciously feel their energy levels drain. 

When I observed the customer service training at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, I witnessed how important the pre-shift meeting was for their employees.  Bernie Vasquez, the Director of Customer Excellence of the MGM described the pre-shift meeting as a way to set the tone for the day.  It’s the opportunity to set the contagious mood of positive energy.

 

Eye contact is the key to any customer service engagement. Looking someone in the eyes while you are talking is a not only a sign of respect but it shows you are paying attention and willing to help them. This means that you are not shuffling papers, browsing your web pages or checking out the good looking patrons that are walking in behind your customers. Eye contact is difficult for some people. There are subconscious self esteem issues that causes some people to not be able to look someone in the eyes for a fixed period of time.  One of the most challenging exercises I did in a Landmark Forum seminar was to stand in front of another stranger and stare into their eyes without saying a word.  You find yourself laughing, looking at a fixed object, fidgeting and even sweating. A few participants even cried, because you can’t shield yourself from someone’s staring eyes.  This exercise really gives you a glimpse into your non-verbal communication and your self esteem issues that you were not aware of. Looking your customer in the eyes shows that you are in control and actively listening.

The tone and speed of your speaking sets the tone of your interaction as well. Did you ever have a teacher that spoke in a monotone voice? You spend part of the class making fun of the voice and the other part of the class drifting off into another world. You do everything but pay attention.  A captivating speaker speaks louder than normal but not too loud, also they use inflection and emphasis.  A good speaker uses good pronunciation for clear understanding. You emphasize certain emotion based words like wonderful view, beautiful weather, or exquisite cuisine.  A good customer service speaker nods “yes” while speaking and eventually the customer will nod and get in the “yes” mode themselves.

There is one final important key to your physiology and how it affects the emotions of your customers.  This final key is what author and speaker, Tony Robbins refers to as “mirror and matching”.  Did you know that if you mirror the movements and speech patterns of another person, they will like you and not know why? That does not mean that you are a mimic. You look for subtleties in the way that they speak. Do they speak fast or slow?  How are they holding their body? How do they move?  I remember observing a timeshare salesperson onetime who would take on the accents of the people in front of her, which I think is taking it too far.  If someone catches on that you are mirroring them, then they will be annoyed of course. The key is that you follow “some” of their patterns and that is how you build rapport with them.  Rapport building is the key to all good relationships because you are discovering a common bond between you.

You can move yourself into a good mood. You can talk yourself into a good mood and your good mood will send an electrical charge to the customers in front of you. You can set the tone and control interaction by keeping yourself charged. It’s not always easy because one negative encounter can zap your power. You must shake it off and say “next”, and pump your emotions up again by moving into it.   My challenge to you is that you try it for a few days. When you feel that you are slouching, jolt your body upright. When your face feels tight, loosen up and put a big smile on your face. Use your positive movements with everyone you come into contact with and see if you inadvertently change the emotions of the room or the customer you serve. Don’t get discouraged when it doesn’t always work. Be committed to conducting yourself in this way at all times and the people will be attracted to your energy.  Now try it!