KAMMS World Wide Blog

I just received an email from a gentleman about an article I wrote for Virgina Beach Woman magazine. Although the comments were less than flattering, I am grateful for him taking the time to state his position. I hear people make comments like his all the time, which is exactly why I feel so strongly about what we do at KAMMS.

He began the email by telling me how “misguided” I am. In the article, I presented a metaphor about learning a little Spanish. I suggested that we offer an olive branch to Spanish-speakers. The idea is that we learn a few Spanish phrases to communicate and since they are also learning English, communication becomes easy. Not only can this help to improve communication in many different circumstances, i.e. work, school or in the community; it also brings many other assets to our lives. Besides being fun, studies have shown that learning another language has countless benefits to our lives in general, i.e. increased memory ability, better test scores, etc. There’s so much to write about these facts, it will have to be another article.

So, his opinion that he believes I am misguided doesn’t concern me, but the next part of his comment does. He goes on to say that he “resents” people who speak their native language around him. He says this makes him “suspicious” of them and that this is scary at a time like these.

I know that many people are against other languages being spoken in America. You hear it on the news everyday. Companies prohibit employees speaking their native language at work, or laws are made about language usage. But to feel resentful, suspicious and scared. That really is a shame.

I can’t imagine living my life this way. There are 337 languages spoken in the US. It must be hard to get through the day resenting everyone. There are so many things to worry about in the world. Peaceful people speaking their native language, communicating with each other, shouldn’t be one of them.

I’ve heard all the reasons people create to rationalize their fears about different languages spoken in the US.  No matter how strong they feel about them, they simply aren’t based on facts. You could write a whole book on this irrational fear. (There’s an idea:)

I know there are many people out there who feel disconnected from their fellow Americans because of language barriers. For now, my company, KAMMS World Wide will continue to make efforts to improve the situation. Our goal is simple: help to improve communication among all our citizens and by doing so: promote unity, strength and peace in our country.

Wishing you all great success! Stacey Kammerman

Please feel free to comment below.

“Hispanics account for over 50% of job growth in the United States; they have the highest rate of labor force participation across any race or ethnicity and by the end of 2010 it’s estimated over 16 million more persons will be added to the U.S. workforce.” Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics

Over half of all Hispanics report they do not speak English well. Why the concern? Breaking down language barriers is critical to maintaining a safe work environment. As the number of employees with English as a Second Language (ESL) has increased over the past decade, the number of workplace injuries has risen disproportionately. Even the U.S. government has recognized this trend and earmarked more than $2.2 million in funding for education.

Our country’s workforce has a critical need to learn essential language skills in order to avoid accidents, poor service, frustrated customers, mistakes, misdiagnosis, etc.  They need an immediate solution and they don’t have time to spend months or years studying a second language.

In response to this pressing need, KAMMS has created two series of convenient, affordable and effective job-specific language learning programs: Spanish on the Job & English on the Job. These audio, video and workbook programs immediately help to build a bridge of communication between Spanish and English speakers in the workplace.  As opposed to other expensive and time consuming language learning programst; we provide an affordable, convenient and instant solution by helping people to quickly and easily learn the essential short and simple phrases they need for a particular profession, situation or industry.

1. Hispanics constitute the largest minority group in the United States.
2. Over 45 million Hispanics/Latinos live in the United States.
3. States with the largest population of Hispanics: California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Arizona, New Jersey, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada.
4. North Carolina, Arkansas, and Georgia were among the states that experienced the greatest growth in their total Hispanic populations.
5. The Census Bureau estimates that of 8.7 million unauthorized migrants were living in the U.S. in 2000, 5.4 million (62%) were Hispanic, and 3.9 million (45%) were from Mexico.
6. The Census Bureau predicts that whites and minority groups overall would be roughly equal in size by 2050, with the Hispanic and Asian populations tripling by that time.
7. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the projected Hispanic population of the United States in 2050 is 102.6 million people, 24% of the nation’s total population on that date.
8. Hispanics population growth- 3 percent a year, vs. 0.8 percent for everyone else.
9. “Over 400,000 documented Latino immigrants enter the US every year. This is the highest flow of Spanish-speaking immigrants in the history of the U.S. Most of these immigrants are filling low-skilled, blue-collared jobs.” Pew Hispanic Center
10. Even though Hispanics make up only 14% of the U.S. population, they are currently 22% of the nations workforce. This number is expected to increase to 55% by the year 2050.                                                                                           Now you know why the Spanish on the Job and English on the Job series are so crucial for our nation’s workforce.

Please comment below. We’d love to hear you thoughts.

You may be familiar with someone I admire greatly and the Nobel Peace prize winner, Muhammed Unas. Dr Yunus created the concept of micro-finance. He started the Grameen bank that gives small loans to low-income women and men to start and build businesses. His guidance and inspiration has empowered thousands of poor people to create small businesses which take them out of poverty, ultimately promoting peace in the world. I strongly believe that we all have unique gifts that can help people in many different ways and (in the big picture) promote peace in our world. The reason I’m so passionate about what we do here at KAMMS is because I feel communication is the essence of humanity. It’s an innate desire we all possess: to communicate with other human beings. I also believe that bringing people together through language and understanding each other’s culture will promote peace in the U.S. and around the world. And I’m not the only one! Here are a few examples of others who share my sentiments about the importance of languages and culture:

• The top official for the United Nations stated that “multilingualism is a means of promoting, protecting and preserving the diversity of the world’s languages and cultures.”
• Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information said: “Languages, which ones you understand or speak, read or write, whether on the Internet or in your society, can make the difference between knowing and not knowing”.
• The UN Coordinator for Multilingualism said: Knowing languages can also make the difference between “being able to participate and being excluded.”

I think we can all agree that it’s crucial to learn other languages and understand other cultures, given our ever growing diversity, instant connectivity to around the world, and opportunities it would afford us. So why then do so many of us choose not to gain this knowledge. Let’s explore one of the responses I receive when I ask this question:“I’m no good at languages. I tried in high school (or college) and just couldn’t do it.” This one bothers me the most; considering I was a high school Spanish teacher and I witnessed the many antiquated teaching methods still in use today. It’s more than likely you were taught with the following:

• irrelevant vocabulary you’d never use (my school taught vocabulary for going fishing, scuba diving and skiing)
• grammar rules first (you learned approximately 50 ways to conjugate a verb – good luck figuring out which one to use when you’re trying to have a conversation)
• vocabulary out of context (you learned a list you had to memorize, so you know a lot of words, but you can’t put them together to form a sentence)

First thing first: You have an innate ability to learn languages. As many as you want! You learned your first language easily and without stress. The problem is that most educational institutions don’t teach you the way you learned your first language. They start with grammar. You didn’t learn the grammar of your first language until you were in second grade. At that point you had already heard the language for seven years, you were able to communicate and you could put sentences together on your own. The reason you weren’t able to learn easily in high school or college was because most of their teaching techniques go against every law of language acquisition methodology I know. Because of my experience watching and using these techniques as a grade school and high school teacher, I know they don’t work. This is why, after 10 years of research, I created the Spanish on the Job and English on the Job programs; so that learners can understand and speak the relevant language they need immediately. I have watched people learning with my programs be able to converse within three months. I’m very proud of this, but I’m also frustrated that more people don’t know that they CAN learn languages easily.So please, when you meet me, please don’t tell me that you can’t learn languages. AARGHH! I know you can! If you’d like to check out the programs or to contact me, please go to our website: www.kammsworldwide.comI wish you great success! Stacey Kammerman CEO KAMMS WorldWidePlease give us feedback or questions in the comment section below and we will reply promptly. Thanks!