Getting a Virtual Assistant with Spanish Speaking Skills Can Be a Tough Job

August 3rd, 2010

Post Contributed by: Offshore Ally

Now and then, business owners begin to consider hiring Virtual Assistants to undertake a part of work, which is always hampering them to concentrate on the core of their business. Resorting to virtual assistants might be a good idea and you shouldn’t be afraid of counting on someone you haven’t met in person. Many businesses do it nowadays.

Virtual assistants are specialists with good knowledge and qualification. They usually know what you need as the majority of them are entrepreneurs. So they know how to do business with mutual benefit.

There are a lot of Spanish speaking virtual assistants available and ready to work for reasonable fees. It is true that looking for one, you will eventually find one. However, how much time it requires? What are the most common problems when it comes to Spanish speaking virtual assistants?

The problems I have come across while looking for Spanish speaking VA are:

  1. Bad qualification. Unfortunately, it was often the case when I tried to find one. The reason for that might consist in the high unemployment rate in Spanish speaking countries, which result in many individuals opting for online work. It is a fantastic thing about internet that people can overcome local conditions; however, it doesn’t contribute to searching qualified specialists.
  2. Spanish dialects. The general notion of the Spanish language is usually referred to Castilian dialect, the most commonly accepted dialect of Spanish. They doesn’t speak equally in Spain and in Latin America, it is the most important thing for you to understand. I had a nerve-racking experience hiring a Castilian speaking VA for my customers from Latin America. You see, my VA was not willing to adjust to customers’ Spanish! He thought he was right saying this or that way.
  3. Cultural issue. When different cultures are engaged in cooperation, there’ll be some cases of misunderstanding. Understanding and, what is more important, accepting these differences is a key to working with Spanish speaking VA. It is instrumental, in this respect, to set fourth all requirements, obligations and bonuses associated with work from the very beginning.

Overall, I had a hard time looking a Spanish speaking virtual assistant that suits me perfectly. Some of them failed to meet my requirements, so I have been looking for a long while without stopping. Eventually, I’ve found the one that is a perfect match for my business. I have a lot of Spanish speaking customers and finally they are satisfied with me.

It is Never Too Late to Try to Learn Spanish

April 11th, 2010


Image taken from "www.up6.podbean.com"

Image taken from "www.up6.podbean.com"

I have been around the Spanish language all my life and yet I find it hard to speak it fluently. The problem, I suppose, is not because I cannot learn Spanish, it’s just that I prefer to think and speak in English.

All my life my mother has been pushing me to speak in Spanish and I did for a while, but then I just stopped. Probably because I found that there was really no need and that more people spoke English around me. The fact that I understand the Spanish language does not seem to help.  Speaking and thinking in Spanish are very different from simply understanding it.

I have heard of software like Rosetta Stone and Rocket Spanish that are supposedly very successful in teaching one how to be fluent in the language. I guess it works for a lot of people as they would not be the top choices if they didn’t. So how come I still cannot speak it fluently?

Mind set. Somehow, my psyche has convinced me that I can communicate in English successfully with other people and I may not need Spanish, so maybe that is why I am having difficulties. But I noticed one thing though. The other day, I answered the phone and my mom was asking me rapid fire questions about something that she was concerned about. I, of course, tried to calm her down and tried to talk to her. After about 10 minutes, I realized that my mother had a kind of curious tone to her voice and I asked her what was wrong. She said that I had been speaking Spanish to her, albeit a little broken, but clearly in Spanish.

This surprised me a lot and I was intrigued with the idea of learning the language all over again. Maybe, this time, if I had the right attitude and incentive, I could speak Spanish in no time at all, and maybe I will just get those Rosetta Software. Maybe I can speak fluent Spanish like I used to as a little girl.

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