Internship in Spain by Karl Keller

As a UAH intern, I was selected to attend a four week Spanish Business course at the Barcelona, Spain campus during the summer session. This course prepared me for the Basic Spanish Certificate for Business from the Madrid Chamber of Commerce. My program consisted of 10 hours in Spanish for Business covering Accounting, Human Resources, Marketing, Spanish Economic History, and European Union Operations and Functions plus Business etiquette, etc., plus 20 hours each week for Spanish grammar, vocabulary and conversation. The course was very enjoyable, especially having the chance to study along with people from different places: Joanna, Geneva; Charles, France; Dali, Croatia; Glen, Houston, Texas; Letisha, Cullman, Alabama.

A lot of material was covered which included several team projects. The first team project was to develop and present a marketing plan for a fictitious company. Each student had to present his or her results individually. The second project required inventing a startup company: a one-stop center for Barcelona students which allowed students allowing students to do their laundry while sipping coffee or enjoying tapas or a light breakfast, or using a computer all located in the same building. This idea was presented to potential investors (instructor and class members) as a feasible and profitable venture. A consultant for the Don Quijote School, asked pointed questions, found problems in the proposal and made suggestions for improvement. He felt the group did well in all the assigned projects and conducted themselves in a manner similar to an actual group of businesspersons doing the same functions.

While on a trip to Rome, our idea had been put in practice. I brought back an Italian café's business card as proof and showed it to my classmates. The class had thought our 'company' up independently, not realizing that we weren't the first to think of and market such a venture. With the completion of this course, I took an eleven-hour bus ride to Salamanca where I received the Don Quijote employee orientation. The atmosphere in the Salamanca office was really great, my co-workers were friendly and the work schedule was flexible. Carmen Cantarino, the manager of Don Quijote section that handles USA and Canadian marketing the largest and most profitable division within Don Quijote, assigned me two projects. The first project was to compile a database of USA Travel Agencies that specialize in trips to Spain. Don Quijote wanted to have these agencies include a Spanish course along with each trip, if possible. The second project involved locating library websites, in major USA cities, that might allow Don Quijote to form a link.

Five major libraries were approached, but only a Houston, Texas public library responded and its response was not encouraging. I approached Carmen with an idea that she accepted: to develop a contact inside Spanish departments in USA universities and explain the benefits Don Quijote could offer their language students. Don Quijote would supply colorful posters and brochures. I compiled a spreadsheet with contact information for Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, and Texas before my internship ended. I was invited to an office party on last day, confirming my positive relationship with my Spanish co-workers. My fluent Spanish is the direct result of UAH's Spanish faculty instruction.

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