Living in Osceola County in central Florida, I get a heavy dose of influence from my Latino and Spanish friends from countries all over Central and South America. They are all an interesting lot, alike in many ways and unalike in others.

My local Toastmasters Club in Kissimmee is like attending a meeting of the United Nations. We have Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Brazilians, Haitians, Mexicans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Argentines and natives of China, Russia and the Philippines.

Almost 44% of Osceola County is of Spanish descent. Some of my books have been translated into other languages. “It’s the Customer, Stupid!” was translated into Brazilian Portuguese and Russian.

Who knew the Russians were interested in customer service? I learned from 2 former members from Russia that 80% of their economy is “underground capitalism.’

South American Portuguese is spoken and written differently from native Portugal. Brazil is more of a guttural accent with descriptive words. You learn about all these differences when you are exposed to other cultures or speeches of these extraordinary members of Toastmasters.

I struggle to understand how some members speak. I quickly realize they speak with an accent because they know at least one more language than I do.

One of the inspirational quotes comes from a fellow Toastmaster from Colombia: “If you are too afraid to try, you will never know if you can do it.”

How many of us would risk everything, including our lives, to come to America to have a better life? My grandparents on both sides moved here from Beirut, Lebanon.

Interestingly, there is no more resourceful sect of people than Cubans. Over the years, I have come to admire their tenacity of purpose and commitment to a cause. Those who hate communism could not

Those who hate communism could not be more passionate than my neighbors who now call Miami their home. They are committed to that belief with all their might.

Many lost their fortunes. Some family members have died under the strong-arm of the Castros. They will never be swayed.

I have had the privilege of speaking in most of the Central and South American countries and have noted that some things never change. For instance, Puerto Ricans remain almost evenly divided between statehood and autonomy.

Michael Aun, CSP®, CPAE® is a co-author “Chicken Soup for the Catholic Soul”