Class Description
Advanced Business Spanish (4606) is a course designed to present an overview of contemporary business practices in various Spanish-speaking regions, and to help equip students with the cultural and linguistic awareness, knowledge, and skills to transition toward their goals for employment within that context. Organized in part around basic business topics—including general business practices, management, and marketing—the curriculum also addresses those entry-level characteristics currently identified as desirable by corporate sectors seeking recruits for business assignments involving the Spanish-speaking world.
Additionally, students will develop their skills to use web tools (such as ArcGIS StoryMaps) to design maps, infographics, and other multimedia content to put together—in conjunction with their knowledge of Spanish-speaking cultures—a cohesive, impactful story. The course focuses on skills which are particularly relevant for those working in marketing, business analytics, communication, journalism, human resources, management, and other roles where effective communication is prized.
The class structure is highly discussion and presentation based, giving students the opportunity to practice Spanish both orally and written. Additionally, the usage of ArcGIS StoryMaps has provided a challenging but highly interactive manner of conveying story. The course is taught in an inclusive manner yet provides enough opportunity for students of all levels to be better prepared in business no matter what their future roles may look like.
Class Reflection
Three class topics that we have devoted considerable time and that have been highly thought-provoking, both inside and out of the classroom include:
- Women and Men in the workplace and the surrounding dynamics
- How does money influence the flow of power in society?
- How effective is Latin focused marketing in the United States?
One of the most relevant topics that we discussed was the idea that men and women are held to much different standards in the workplace. My mother and sister are both working professionals, so I’ve been able to learn from them first hand about certain things that men have no problem with doing, but women are treated much differently for acting in the same manner. One of these differences is the way that men can get away with dressing / presenting themselves, where women would be looked at differently if they acted in the same way. For men, if they under dress or look a bit disheveled, they might be able to fly under the radar. If women don’t come into the workplace looking immaculate, people immediately notice and think there must be something horribly wrong with them and are judged quite negatively. Additionally, certain behavioral traits, such as being assertive or dominant, are much more readily accepted in males in the workplace, but from females, it is generally received more negatively. Now, there are obviously exceptions to this phenomenon, but from my family’s experience and my own, I’ve found this to be true. I don’t know the solution to having perfect equality in the workplace amongst men and women, but there is definitely improvement to be had in this area. Going forward, in any future jobs I have, I will be sure to curb any negative biases or perceptions I may have in the area of gender equality.
Another topic we have discussed in great length is the issue of Latin focused marketing in the United States. There is obviously a very large Spanish-speaking base in the US, so it stands that there should be a proportionate level of marketing for products and services in that language. In my own personal experience in Southern California, I see marketing in the Spanish language all the time – it’s truly quite common. But that hasn’t always been the case, and still isn’t in communities with a growing Spanish population but a disproportionate amount of marketing in English. It begs the question, what sort of responsibilities do corporations have to address their target audience and at what percentages? Is it simply a case of majority rule? How do companies make that choice to elect a language to proceed with their advertisements. Another question the class considered was the concept of “Latinx”, which is a non-gendered version of the term Latino (male) /Latina (female). In theory, this term is more inclusive as it doesn’t specifically reference a gender (males) when referring to the Latin population. However, surveys have shown that over 90% of the Latin populous actually dislike this term and prefers the gendered Latino to reference the entire population. If I am ever a part of any marketing efforts at future companies I am involved with, I’ll be sure to consider the target audience and the relevant languages, as well as specific gender-specific considerations that may affect the messages’ effectiveness.