Recent Media Coverage of FasTrac Language Solutions
Bradenton Herald 12/20/2004 Found in translation.
www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/business/10457097.htm Published on: 12/20/2004 Last Visited: 12/21/2004
Chris Stubenberg, owner of FasTrac Languages in Bradenton, wants to help people communicate at work by offering short, concise language courses that target specific terminology unique to individual industries. "People are now beginning to realize that with the growing Hispanic workforce, it's for their own benefit to open up the lines of communication," Stubenberg said. FasTrac Languages designs courses for employers who want workers to learn basic language skills to help them communicate with customers and with each other.
Classes are usually conducted at the company and vary in length and price; a 12-hour course may cost about $125 per student, but some classes run up to 40 hours. Stubenberg teaches courses in Spanish and English only; he also has about five key people he hires on a contract basis for specific jobs or other languages such as German, French, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese and American Sign Language. "They're people I trust who will do it the right way," Stubenberg said. The right way to teach a foreign language, according to Stubenberg, evolved from his experience doing volunteer work in Colombia beginning in 1979. Through a church program, he donated his time working on building projects and communications services while teaching English to make a living. "Since it was unpaid, I developed this to support my family," Stubenberg said. Stubenberg tried to find the most effective way to teach language skills to company executives. "We were dealing with executives of multinational companies who didn't have the time for extensive English courses," Stubenberg said. "They needed something that would get them started fast."
Stubenberg moved back to the United States nine years ago and incorporated his experience into a business, starting FasTrac Languages in 1999. He said he also works as an adjunct professor at Manatee Community College, which offers workplace language classes to employers, and he presents the Wise Guys teenage pregnancy prevention program at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County. Stubenberg realized that people don't need to know a language perfectly in order to communicate with others, so he devised short courses based on need-to-know material. Most importantly, he tries to give his students the confidence to try speaking the language without the fear of getting the words wrong. "You can have 10 people who studied (Spanish) in a university but only one can converse in Spanish," Stubenberg said. "They might know more than me by they're afraid to communicate." "I think his gift is that he takes away any fear," said Marlene Resnick, who works at Manatee County Head Start where Stubenberg taught a short introductory Spanish course.
Stubenberg also adopted a Montessori school-like approach to teaching, which relies on hands-on self-learning. He uses teaching aids, such as wooden rods, scarves and bouncing balloons to help students learn language situations visually instead of relying on textbooks. "We want the person to avoid looking at the (written) word and mentally translating it," Stubenberg said. "The key is to avoid mental translation. It's an extra step." Stubenberg also tries to get students speaking the new language immediately. "Instead of talking about the language, we put them in situations where they have to use it," Stubenberg said.
Gregory Alexandrea Jr., senior personal banker at Bank of America at 4545 14th St. W. in Bradenton, attended on of Stubenberg's Spanish classes a few years ago with other colleagues at the bank. Once the students have a grasp on the basics of a language, Stubenberg introduces targeted work-related vocabulary and phrases. For instance, FasTrac offers specific courses for construction sites, bank tellers, doctor's offices, real estate and law enforcement, among others. As a resource, he also incorporates material from Command Spanish and Workplace Spanish, two companies specializing in occupational Spanish instructional guides.
Stubenberg currently works with 14 students at Key Packaging Co. in Sarasota; previous clients include Honeywell; the supervisors of elections for Manatee and Sarasota Counties; and the Sarasota tax collector, Stubenberg said.
Tilde Herrera. Herald business reporter can be reached at 748-0411 ext. 7037 or at therrera@bradentonherald.com.
— Owner: Chris Stubenberg