#8: The Importance of Numbers (English)

Hello! Welcome to Spanish in the workplace. The podcast for professionals looking

to speak better Spanish at work, in order to create more money, more clients, more career

opportunities. My name is Anna Torre, I'm an actor, writer and Spanish teacher and I'm

going to show you exactly how to speak Spanish more confidently in high precious situations.

Hello Hintam! I hope you're having a great day whenever you're listening to this.

You might have noticed that I didn't release an episode this week. Basically I moved house

and I didn't have internet for four days, so it was impossible to get on your episode

to your last week. With here I am, with a brand new episode and I hope to stick to weekly

episodes in the new future. Today I want to talk about the importance of numbers.

If you're a professional, be there a lawyer, a doctor, a health worker, or even a sales person

that wants to speak better Spanish, you'll know that getting numbers right is actually a crucial

part of the job. This might not be something you ever thought about before, because in your native

language, it was never a problem. However, if you're trying to speak Spanish at work, getting the

numbers wrong can have disastrous effects. Numbers tend to be something that people take

for granted when it comes to language learning. I mean, anyone can say one of those three

squads with English say sit there or you know it is. Once you get to hire numbers, things

start to get complicated and especially if you work in the medical sector or in sales, you don't

want to get your numbers wrong. Imagine your salesman and you're talking to a potential client

about the price of your product and you tell this client it will cost $50 when it actually costs

500. Imagine the client wants to buy and at the moment of making the

transaction, you realize your mistake. Not only would it be embarrassing, but it will cost you

the sale and if you're offering services, it would definitely undermine people's trust

neurobility and professionalism. So, if you find yourself getting confused about numbers, what

can you do to get better? The first thing I would do is if you have numbers, you already know you

have to give to potential clients, write them down as they were spelled in Spanish, then write the

number next to them. For example, write 500 and then spell out Kineentos, which is the Spanish

from 500. If you are on the phone or on a Zoom call when you are talking to potential clients,

I would recommend having a list of the numbers you need in a cheat sheet because then no

master what happens or how nervous you get, you will never get them wrong. If you are meeting

with potential clients in person, then things get a little more challenging. What you need to

do in this instance is write down the numbers you need and try using memorizing method to get them

into your head. If you want to hear in detail how the memorizing technique works, go to episode 6.

I will give you an example here, talking specifically about numbers. Say you have the number 50

and you always confuse it with 500. I would write down sing Quenta, which means 50 and I would find

an image for it. Of course, just the same of 50 is an easy choice for an image, but that might not

always work, especially if you often confuse it with 500. So what you want is an image that you will

link to 50 exclusively and that you will never link to 500. For example, when I was a little girl,

I asked my granddad how old he was and he always said 50. For years, he said 50 until one day I

was like, granddad, he really 50 and he said, oh yes, I am because sing Quenta is like sing Quenta,

which means uncountable. My age is countless, that's why I always say I'm 50. I find that

very useful as an demonic for 50 because to relate 50 to uncountable means that I can think of an

infinite number of objects that can't be counted. In Spanish, I think of Sincuenta,

que no tiene Quenta. And I will not confuse it with 500 because Quintos doesn't sound

or have that meaning. The next thing I would do is find an image on a Monaco that works for

Quintos. In that way, make it even harder to ever confuse the two. Something of the top of my head

is Quero Quintos. I feel this works because the sound is the same but also Quero means want,

which would help you think I want to get 500 and not 50 in terms of the money you want to earn,

for example. It is important of course that you come up with your own image on a Monaco

for the number and that it is something that you make a strong connection to. It only needs to

make sense to you and no one else. If English is your first language, it might be that the number

Sincuenta reminds you of an English word or words that sound similar or it could be a hybrid

like the word sin as in doing a bad thing in a religious context and a bill which is Quinta

in Spanish. It doesn't matter what it is as long as it makes sense to you. As long as you follow

these steps, you should be able to always get the correct numbers. Give it a go. And if you have any

questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Thank you so much for listening. If you're ready to take your Spanish to the next level,

follow the link in my show notes to become free consultation. Have an amazing day.