Americans of Hispanic and/or Latino origin comprise the largest minority living in the U.S., and they are expected to make up around 29 percent of the entire U.S. population by the year 2060. Their contributions span all areas of public life: from agricultural fields to the political arena; from science, education, literature, and art to the world of business. It is therefore not uncommon to deal with Latinos on a daily basis. It is estimated that 13% of the population - 38.3 million Americans - speaks Spanish. Most Latinos in the U.S. also speak English, but there are still many situations when service professionals will encounter someone who speaks only Spanish, or when speaking Spanish instead of English will help clarify a difficult situation.
For this reason, we worked with industry specialists to create our Spanish on the Job series in order to help professionals in various careers improve their communication with Spanish-speaking communities. We began our series with Spanish on the Job for Healthcare Workers and Spanish on the Job for Law Enforcement. In these courses, industry professionals can learn not only important job-specific phrases - from Mirandizing suspects to helping in missing persons cases, and from taking a patient’s vitals to offering home care assistance - but also important cultural information that will help contextualize your experience within the Spanish-speaking community.
The course also features notes on Spanish grammar, helping learners take their knowledge of Spanish beyond basic recitation of set phrases and into more in-depth understanding. It also features realistic dialogues putting the phrases and grammar taught into live context.
Want to learn more about these courses? Visit our Spanish on the Job page.
