Berlitz centers teach students foreign languages at 495 centers

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Jan 31, 2004 by Kristen Keener

Already popular in Canada and throughout the francophone world, Celine Dion in 1989 prepared to expand her hold on music audiences. She began taking English classes and became proficient in the language in a matter of two months.

But don't blame Berlitz every time that treacly Titanic song gets radio play. The language centers also employed Ireland's greatest novelist. James Joyce, master of 17 modern and ancient languages, taught English at the Berlitz school in Trieste, France, from 1905 to 1915.

Sure, a lot of people think Celine sucks and that Finnegan's Wake is incomprehensible no matter what language it's in - what does all's fair in vanessy, were sosie sesthers wroth with twone nathandjoe even mean? Regardless, the Berlitz method has worked for 35 million other people since the first school opened 125 years ago.

There are 495 Berlitz centers in the world, about 50 in the United States, and five in and around Maryland - Lutherville, Odenton, Rockville, Washington and Tysons Corner, Va. There is also a virtual campus that allows students to study via the Internet 24/7. Requiring only a computer, microphone, sound card and Internet access, students meet with instructors online at any time from any location.

Foreign-language study that failed to forge a footprint during high school or college often crops back up for Berlitz students. Most opt to learn, or relearn, French, German or Spanish. English as a second language is another popular draw due to the international stream of capital-area transplants.

The learning centers also have training materials in a host of other languages - including Italian, Japanese, Amharic, Bengali, Farsi, Punjabi and Tagalog. Lessons in most any tongue can be arranged from a database of 30 to 40 instructors for each of the five local centers - all of which share teachers and resources.

At Berlitz's Odenton location, which caters to a lot of government employees, there is an especial demand for native-fluent instructors in Arabic and Urdu, according to Ana Maria Sanchis, director at the Lutherville center.

As international relations and commerce become more integral to the United States and its economy - especially with the labor market shifting globally and outsourcing growing more common - language and cultural barriers have to be brought down.

For this reason, government agencies, more than half of the Fortune 500 companies and, increasingly, small to mid-sized software, telecom and manufacturing firms send employees to Berlitz.

The centers' corporate instructors customize learning plans to teach the basics of a language, then focus on industry-specific vocabulary and company-specific buzzwords. Methods of teaching include individual instruction, total immersion, corporate group or semiprivate groups of five to 10 people.

Employees may meet at one of the learning center locations, or instructors will provide training in-house as needed. If requested by the employer, Berlitz also will attend to administrative details, handle scheduling and provide progress reports for each employee.

No 'ugly Americans'

Helping forge a global marketplace and community through common tongues is one aspect of Berlitz training, and an admirable one. But attendees at two recent small-group sessions were there to learn foreign languages for much more personal reasons.

Alan Gephardt, a 47-year-old museum director, wants to learn French to be able to communicate with a Quebecois friend. Mike Novak is determined to learn French and even responded to a reporter's questions en francais. The 50-plus corporate lawyer for MBNA is studying the language to embrace his familial heritage.

Insurance executive John Lang, 64, was at the center for his second session of introductory Spanish to build on what he'd learned during two semesters at the Community College of Baltimore County. He finds Berlitz's total language immersion to be more useful for learning. Lang's not there for work purposes, In my case it's almost recreational, just to fill in some time doing something constructive, he said.

Stan Wadsworth, a 60-year-old physicist, was at the Berlitz center partly because he enjoys Latin music and mariachi bands and would like to understand the words. Stacey Vokrot-Mello, 38, a sourcing manager, wants to learn Spanish mostly for personal gratification, but she hates expecting her international clients to speak English. She wants to be able to call her company's South American affiliates and be able to talk with them in their language.

Paula Johnson, a 33-year-old statistician, would like to be able to have conversations with her best friend's Spanish-speaking grandmother that go beyond I am hungry and I am thirsty.

Beyond these fairly specific reasons, most students in both classes cited travel as a big impetus for their foreign-language studies.

I love to travel, but I feel very obtuse when I can only speak English, Johnson said.

In 2002, more than 700,000 Marylanders traveled internationally, according to a July 2003 In-Flight Survey conducted by the Travel Association of America.