By IRASEMA ROMERO
When Cynthia Halliday moved from Brazil in 1996 to obtain an MBA at BYU, she had difficulty understanding idiomatic business expressions.
'It took me a considerable number of years to actually understand the business environment in the United States,' she said.
Halliday now realizes the importance of knowing the business culture of other countries and in her capacity as Managing Director of the Global Management Center seeks influence others to learn.
The Global Management Center offers bilingual students language courses in business providing advanced skills to work in an international environment.
The business language courses are part of the Global Management Certificate, which provides an international perspective and experience for students wanting to utilize a foreign language in their profession, Halliday said.
'We are living in a global world and it's becoming more important to understand other cultures for a competitive advantage,' she said.
To enroll in a business language class students are not required to be in a specific major or minor. The only prerequisite is to have a 300-level proficiency in the language.
Because many students learned a foreign language serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the context of the language is not necessarily sufficient for business interaction, Halliday said.
' speak the language but they do not understand a lot of the business culture,' she said. 'We take them to the next level of proficiency.'
Throughout the semester, students learn business terms, write r?sum?s and cover letters, make presentations and develop awareness of business practices in other countries.
Learning the business culture of other countries will not only be beneficial for students wanting to be involved in international industries.
'Even though students might never want to work in another country, the United States is becoming more and more diverse,' said Halliday. 'It's good for them to understand those aspects of a culture.'
Taking a business language class helped graduate student Christi Burningham, who served a mission in the Dominican Republic, increase skills needed in serving others.
'I think that learning a language and becoming more proficient in any language is always going to increase our capacity to contribute,' she said. 'In order to be able to communicate, contribute and respond to national situations, we need to be able to have access to different languages.'
For international students, an English business class is designed to educate in terms of the national business industry.
'The business environment is so different from just a regular life that many people get lost,' said Zhenya Kuznetsova, Global Management Certificate specialist.
Eleven business classes have been scheduled for the winter semester in languages including Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, Chinese, German and French. They are listed under Business Management 596R.