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(August 18 to 31, 2006). - At the beginning of the year, the Peruvian Luigi Kaiserberger, consultant of MasterCard Latin America in Miami, sent an e-mail to the office of the company in Brazil, asking his colleagues about what countries they believed would be affected by changes in the exchange rate. He received a message in Portuguese saying that "no Brasil teria impacto."

The problem is that in both Spanish and English "no" means denial (não in Portuguese), but in Portuguese "no" is just a contraction of the preposition “em" (in) with the definite article "o" (the).  The result: it was a "yes" and it came as a "no" to Miami.

Now, Kaiserberger and six other executives of MasterCard are taking Portuguese classes in the office in Miami.  "Since Brazil is one of the most important countries in the region, it is vital to communicate in the local language and avoid problems with language," he says.

And they are not alone.  As the Brazilian economy grows and stabilizes, more Americans and Hispanic executives discover that speaking English and Spanish is not enough anymore, and are beginning to study Portuguese.  In addition to better interacting with their Brazilian colleagues, mastery of this new language is a good reinforcement in the curriculum of executives with regional action.

Language schools are already exploiting the success of Portuguese. According to Carolina Pinho, vice president of the Cultural Center for Languages Studies, the American division of the Brazilian CCAA school, the number of students in classes of Portuguese has increased by 20% a year. Berlitz has seen the increase not only of the demand for classes, but also of the so-called cultural training that teach subtleties of the culture of each country.  "The fact of negotiating in Brazil is different from Mexico," says Jorge Báez, director of Berlitz in the Brickell region, in Miami.

Instead, finding a Brazilian professional who speaks English and Spanish remain a difficult task. Paulo Onceen, director of Mídia Regional for Latin American of Lowe Worldwide agency, in São Paulo, took three months to find a director of regional planning who spoke English and Spanish.  "I interviewed many people, but nobody was trilingual," he says.  After eight interviews, Oncken sought help from a desktop of headhunters in New York.  At the end, a Brazilian who had lived eight years in the United States was selected for the vacancy.  "Indeed, the demands were four," recalls Oncken.  "In addition to the three languages, he needed to be competent."

Source: America Economía magazine.
 
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