Spanish for Human Resources Managers [Paperback]

Wiliam C. Harvey M.S. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1997

With increasing numbers of non-English-speaking Hispanics entering the national work force and making positive contributions in business and industry, it's important for personnel managers to know a few fundamentals of spoken Spanish, plus Spanish phrases to cover the specialized vocabulary used in personnel offices. Such ability enables them to interview prospective employees, make sensible hiring decisions, help applicants fill out forms, and explain job duties and employee benefits. William Harvey offers basic Spanish instruction that avoids the drudgery of formal grammar training, but gives personnel managers and job supervisors enough of the language to communicate effectively. Helpful dialogues are presented that simulate bilingual interviewing and job instruction, and all needed words and phrases are accompanied by easy-to-read pronunciation aids to speed the learning process. The book also features a bilingual glossary and a study review section.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Spanish

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (August 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812098870
• ISBN-13: 978-0812098877
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,855,366 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William C. Harvey has taught Spanish and ESL on the West Coast, in public schools, community colleges, and in private industry, where he has organized language workshops and seminars.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Grammatical errors and mistranslations, January 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Spanish for Human Resources Managers (Paperback)

This otherwise useful book is marred by a number of grammatical errors and mistranslations. For example, on p. 281, "Wait for the tone" is translated as "Espere por el tono." It should be "espere el tono"--the translation in the book means "wait on behalf of the tone." Tax return is translated as "reembolso impositivo," which actually means "tax refund." "Workers' compensation" is translated as "compensación de obreros," but it is actually called "indemnización por accidentes de trabajo" in Spanish. "Sexual harassment" in Spanish is either "acoso sexual" or "hostigamiento sexual," but not "acosamiento sexual" as indicated in the book. "Final decision" should be "decisión definitiva," not "decisión final," which means "last decision." "Listen for the alarm" is translated as "escuche por la alarma," which means "listen on behalf of the alarm." The bottom line: be VERY careful with this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This book has a lot of flaws, April 21, 2003

By 

Marianopolita2005 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spanish for Human Resources Managers (Paperback)

The intent of this book is commendable as its goal is to provide a quick hands on Spanish vocabulary reference that's specific to Human Resources terminology and related vocabulary however there are some serious translation errors not be taken lightly. At first glance this book seems great but as you go through it page by page the errors become evident.

Terminology in a language must be correct and I am surprised at this production by Barron's because they usually do have good educational material even in a foreign language but this one has some really bad translations which a learner of Spanish and even natives have to be aware of since English has great influence in the spoken and written Spanish on the US and Canada.

Some of the many errors include:

1) Contact persona= "la persona de contacto". This is such a literal translation and as a result is incorrect. Sometimes the long phrases are the only equivalents. It s/b "la persona con quien puede hablar"
2) Think about it= Piense en eso. More correctly in Spanish it s/b "Piensalo"
3) How long ago= Hace cuanto. It s/b "Hace cuanto tiempo"
4) Take a seat= Tome un asiento. It s/b "Tome asiento"
5) Mutual Funds= los fondos mutualisitas. Please do not repeat this one. It s/b "fondos mutuales" or "fondos de inversion"
6) Sunglasses= gafas del sol. This is a big grammatical error. It s/b "gafas de sol".

These are just a few examples but the list goes on. The editors of this book should have caught these errors because they could really jeopardize the quality of your Spanish. Even the basic command structure is incorrect. In the book "vamos a... is translated as "let's". That is incorrect. Vamos a = we are going to...." Let's" is a command and requires a special verb form. For example let's work= trabajemos. It cannot be translated as "vamos a trabajar".

All I can say in a nutshell is proceed with caution. The same way this book may help you it may very well embarrass you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfecto, November 17, 2000

By 

Larry (Costa Mesa, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spanish for Human Resources Managers (Paperback)

As manager of a small business, I recently needed to communicate at length with a new Spanish speaking employee. This book made it possible! I strongly recommend that EVERY English speaking professional in management invest in this outstanding book-audiocassette package. It has been a life-saver!