Commercial Language Solutions

Iwas born in a bilingual home. My mother is Colombian and has always spoken to my brother and me in Spanish; my father is American and has always spoken to my brother and me in English. As an adult, my bilingualism has helped me in many of my jobs. While in college, in my customer service jobs, my bilingual skills were oftentimes used so we could communicate with Spanish-speaking customers. As a graduate student, I worked for a Psychology professor, oftentimes serving as a translator for her interactions with a Psychology professor in Ecuador. And later in life, I used my language skills to become a High School Spanish teacher. I am now using my bilingual language skills as a business owner. However, the benefits of multilingualism aren’t just limited to the individual. Its impact is also felt in organizations, big and small.

In an increasingly interconnected business world, organizations are facing language barriers that can negatively affect their business. In a Forbes Insights survey, 65% of companies surveyed face language barriers that lead to ineffective collaboration in workgroups, low productive output, and increased inefficiency (Schecterle, 2011). John Wicks, owner of Commercial Language Solutions

multilingual/multinational clients, helping businesses expand their client base and reach (Desgagné, 2016). Multilingualism also helps provide organizations with a workforce that is adaptable to the complexities of the global marketplace. Organizations that don’t adapt to a culturally and linguistically diverse economy can incur great economic costs. Miscommunications due to linguistic and/ or cultural misunderstandings, according to government data, cost Great Britain’s economy almost £50 billion per year, and it costs the U.S. economy almost $2 billion per year (McCulloch, 2019).

At Commercial Language Solutions, we help businesses navigate a multilingual and multicultural business world through English and Spanish-language instruction and cultural consulting for businesses with large Hispanic workforces, those looking to expand to Latin America and/or Spain, and those in Hispanic communities.

To learn more about Commercial Language Solutions, you can visit our website at www.commerciallanguage.org or email us at commerciallanguage@google.com 21