The language of global business/ Knowledge of other cultures seals deals

When a Japanese businessman hands you his card, hold it with both hands and read it with rapt attention. Even pronounce his title out loud.

Giving it a quick glance and stuffing it in your shirt pocket would insult him. And that would be bad for business.

When doing business in Mexico - or Spain or Italy for that matter - forget your usual efficient, get-down-to-business self.

You'll appear aggressive and pushy. Even if they're on time, they won't be ready to cut a deal until they've gotten to know you a little. Relax and take it slow.

Around Arabs, never slouch or stick the nasty bottom of your shoe in their direction when crossing your legs.

It's a big world with lots of languages and cultures, and Fadia Farrell is fortunate to be fluent in five of them. When she isn't heading the French Department at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, she's running Globelink International Services, a business aimed at helping other businesses and individuals get off to a good cross-cultural start.

Farrell spoke Arabic, French and Spanish in her native Egypt.

She added Italian after her family moved to Rome and English during a five-year stint in Scotland, where she earned degrees in economics and business administration.

What she doesn't speak herself she offers through a networked team of independent contractors: 12 languages among about 40 people.

"In the classroom, I don't just teach language, I try to bring people together," Farrell says.

"It occurred to me that Colorado Springs is becoming a bigger city. Why not offer something to help bridge cultures?"

Getting help

The emergence of Globelink International is only one sign that Colorado Springs is, indeed, becoming a big and somewhat international city.

Another is the Springs' Office of International Affairs, an arm of city government housed at the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and headed by veteran world trader Carmon Stiles.

Also, the Small Business Development Center, a local affiliate of the U.S. Small Business Administration, is hiring a consultant to offer international trade counseling at its offices at 1115 Elkton Drive.

SBDC Director Luis Saldarriaga, who is originally from Colombia, has advised clients on Latin American trade during SBDC tenures in Georgia and Texas.

He says understanding the business etiquette of other cultures has become more important than knowing foreign languages.

After all, largely due to U.S. influence, English has pretty much become the international language of business.

"Speaking their language could help, but the top priority is understanding cultural differences," Saldarriaga says.

"It's the way you show the client you respect him."

Something practical

While launching Globelink from her Springs basement in 1999, Farrell's first client was Canada - or more specifically, Canadian military personnel required by their government to study French. They happened to be stationed at NORAD at the time.

Then long-distance giant MCI called, needing some software translations. Premiere Conferencing needed to set up a huge teleconference for IBM personnel speaking seven languages.

Applying her language skills in practical situations outside the university excited Farrell. The clients kept coming, mostly by word of mouth and, eventually, from an ad in the Yellow Pages and a Web site. She soon opened an office in an executive suite complex downtown and rented a classroom down the hall for language classes.

Farrell says her accountant has commended her on turning a profit from the start.

Globelink charges range from $12 an hour for group language lessons to $30 an hour for one-on-one intensive training.

Translations run around 15 cents a word, depending on volume and whether the desired language is written in the Roman alphabet, like English.

Farrell finds the demand still runs highest for training in European languages and cultures.

For example, French is still spoken in countries from Canada to Polynesia; Globelink has 10 people on its French team.

According to the most recent U.S. International Trade Administration data - 1999 - Colorado Springs businesses export more goods to the European Union than to the Chinese Economic Area.

"I am a natural people person," she says. "I've made something practical about the knowledge of several languages."

Steven Saint, The Gazette. Colorado Springs, Colo. Jan 28, 2002.