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Ask HN: How to deal with my team speaking a different language?

• devoutsalsa 4y ago
  Talk to your manager. Say you’re uncomfortable & feel excluded. Say you’d like to be moved to a different team if the situation persists.
• trifit 4y ago
  Clue in Mark Ztelburg. Or spin the die to change teams.
• wiseowise 4y ago
  > One of my team members has a hard time with English How did they get hired?
  • twaw 4y ago
    They are doing the job for the fraction of US salary. They know their native market very well. What problem you are seeing there?
    • wiseowise 4y ago
      They don’t fit international company.
  • RobertoG 4y ago
    If we assume this is happening in a Mandarin speaking country, why to hire someone that doesn't speak the local language? Does this person bring to the table something that the locals can't? Then, there you have your answer too for the guy that doesn't speak English.
    • wiseowise 4y ago
      Half the team doesn’t speak Mandarin, which makes it international team, which makes knowing common language vital.
  • clolege 4y ago
    I've brought up before that I've given "no hire" recommendations based on a candidate's inability to speak English, and my coworkers seemed shocked.
  • deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
• 1B05H1N 4y ago
  Did you ask them about it?
• varajelle 4y ago
  Easy: just learn Mandarin /s
  • CPLX 4y ago
    This is of course the flippant answer but it’s not a bad one. Like, why not? Speaking another widely used language is a really amazing experience and you have the hard parts out of the way which is an excuse to do it and people to practice with. If it seems daunting remember that it’s something even the dumbest two year olds are able to figure out how to do, so you could probably figure it out.
    • akmarinov 4y ago
      Widely used… in China. Best bang for buck second language is Spanish
      • RobertoG 4y ago
        Maybe, but not in this particular case.
    • xdfgh1112 4y ago
      Counterpoint - learning Chinese as an adult who natively speaks English is incredibly hard. If you don't have enough motivation, it is a tedious slog that takes at least a thousand hours of work. I don't think "talking to coworkers" is enough motivation.
      • glassconclusion 4y ago
        Totally agree. I would also like to add that, as a non-native, pretty fluent Mandarin speaker, it is pretty hard to chitchat with Chinese colleagues, especially when it is a big group and they come from different parts of China.
        • xdfgh1112 4y ago
          I speak Japanese but similar experience. One on one is fine but a group of native speakers together is hard mode!
• cudgy 4y ago
  Request to work remotely like your manager.
• mrazomor 4y ago
  I'd personally start from answering the question: "How does this directly affect me?". I'd ignore the feel of someone being wrong and try to understand the direct impact -- how much do you believe you miss out. Then act based on it. > I don't want to be the asshole to ask people to speak in English What's the office policy? > or make my manager be that guy either. It's their job. Yours is to communicate an issue to them, theirs is to see how to resolve it (if at all).
• geocar 4y ago
  > I don't want to be the asshole to ask people to speak in English, or make my manager be that guy either. Well what do you want? Mandarin lessons for yourself? English lessons offered to your colleague? To be moved to another team? Or do you just want a way to make everyone speak English without people thinking you are “an asshole”? You can talk to your manager about your feelings and what you want to happen, they will do something — maybe it’ll even be what you want, but they also might try to convince you this isn’t worth worrying about because you can’t be included in everything anyway. Having some ideas of what you want to happen as opposed to simply the final state of things can prepare you to think about your actions and reactions affect others.
  • dmichulke 4y ago
    This, state your problem (I dont understand Mandarin?) and your needs (I want to be part of the discussions but I dont want to be the person pushing everyone to speak English all the time?). By asking your team (and hearing them) they will understand and maybe come up with solutions (see e.g. parent) themselves. At least in Western culture teams I'd do this, not sure whether Eastern culture people would really say what they think though.
• csydas 4y ago
  Just talk to them. In English. I've worked in a multi-language business for many years where I did not speak all the languages, and there are two points I think you need to take to heart 1. No one can guess what you're feeling/thinking, you need to tell them 2. Don't take it personally if people are doing what comes naturally to them Your comment on benefit of the office is understood, but misguided; your colleagues don't have an obligation to speak a specific language to you and make you feel better, that's not their job. I am not trying to be harsh, but you need to understand that your personal desire and comfort is not their responsibility. If they aren't being hostile to you or any other workplace violation, they're not doing anything wrong. My guess is you feel left out because you _don't know_ whether you're left out or not. Even if they talk about your project in Mandarin, can you be 100% sure it's something relevant to you? Or even really about the project? Can you be certain that one of your colleagues wasn't just talking about how stressed they are about something and just wanted to vent? I'm not sure you can know this unless you ask them or learn the language, and in fact, both will help you feel a bit more included. Overall, just talk with the colleagues in a private way and just mention your feelings and how you really want to join the conversations with them on the project but cannot if they converse in Mandarin; after that it's up to them. For yourself, understand that you don't need to be part of every conversation and your colleagues don't have an obligation to you or the company to hold every conversation in English. The steps you can take are to just calmly tell that you want to join the conversations about the project (or others), and also learn some Mandarin. It's honestly not _that_ hard to pick up languages at least at a rudimentary level. Probably you will sound funny at first, but everyone does with a new language. Use it as an icebreaker to get in and just own it, and soon you will all find a middlepoinn that works for you.
  • dnh44 4y ago
    >your colleagues don't have an obligation to you or the company to hold every conversation in English. English isn’t my first language (I struggled to learn English as a kid) and I rather heavily disagree with this statement. There’s nothing about the situation that’s acceptable. Communicating well is arguably the most important thing in any knowledge workers job and this is already a difficult task for some people even when they all speak the same language. Obviously in this case it’s valuable for the team to be able to explain things for the non English speaking employee but that shouldn’t turn into a situation where Mandarin becomes the default. Additionally they are doing a massive disservice to the employee who isn’t yet comfortable with English. It should be possible for OP to express such a view from a position of strength without coming across as an asshole (https://youtu.be/HbvYeLxMKN8 https://youtu.be/HbvYeLxMKN8) and without feeling self conscious about it as many monoglots seem to be in these sorts of situations. I’ve worked closely with a multinational technology company based out of Germany that had a lot of Spanish, Italian, and French speakers and there was most definitely an obligation to speak English, even at the headquarters in Germany where the number of native English speakers could be counted in single digits.
• tkgally 4y ago
  How about explaining the situation to your manager and proposing a discussion among your manager and all the members of your team to agree on some guidelines for language use within the team? In my experience in multilingual situations, people tend to shift to their first language just because it’s easier and feels more natural; it can also feel awkward to begin a conversation in one language and continue it in another. People rarely use their first language to intentionally exclude others from the conversation, but they often forget that others might justifiably feel excluded. A nonconfrontational discussion might provide a sufficient reminder to the Mandarin speakers to use English when you are around. You might also find out whether the Mandarin speakers on your team have any issues with English use in your team that you might not be aware of, such as the native English speakers talking too quickly, using slang they don’t understand, etc.
• eukgoekoko 4y ago
  That's hilarious. I used to work as a senior backend developer in one of Berlin's startups. Another senior BE dev was a native Russian speaker, so despite our fluency in English we started chatting in Russian now and then. Our conversations were meaningful and respectful (unlike those held by our predominantly Italian sales team who would shout out words like "cazzo"). We didn't mean to exclude anyone either, we only used Russian talking about stuff we wouldn't immediately share with everone in the first place - just because junior devs do not have to participate in the discussions about architecture design. Still, a junior dev from the US felt intimidated hearing our mother tongue so she asked our manager to introduce "English only" policy in this German company. She could not pass the probation period (was too busy doing gymnastics directly in the middle of the office space) and left the company, but the policy remained. Sure I don't have an answer to your question, but may I ask you: what's wrong with you? How do you think, does your attitude have something to do with xenophobia?
  • iLoveOncall 4y ago
    > just because junior devs do not have to participate in the discussions about architecture design This is incredibly wrong. Even in the case where a junior wouldn't be able to contribute to the discussion meaningfully (and that would be wrong too), they can learn from it.
    • eukgoekoko 4y ago
      > Even in the case where a junior wouldn't be able to contribute to the discussion meaningfully ... they can learn from it. Do you mean to say junior devs should be a part every single meeting held by senior engineers? This is utter nonsense, sorry.
      • luckylion 4y ago
        Once we find a way to generate energy from the work people do moving goal posts, we'll be all set.
      • iLoveOncall 4y ago
• throwaway4233 4y ago
  Assuming that your team members switch Mandarin due to habit, start a practice of taking notes during the team meetings on the major points discussed in English. If you take up the role yourself all team members would have to present what is discussed in English to you. You might miss out on banter or smaller discussions during meetings, but anything directly related to the project would be clear to you. This might not work out smoothly at first, but as long as you have the role of a note taker, the team would be more aware of your existence.
• ghusto 4y ago
  > I don't want to be the asshole to ask people to speak in English As long as you think you're being an asshole by asking that, then you will be, because belief becomes reality. I'll leave the philosophy there, but that's obviously a heavy sentence. More practically speaking, ask yourself to think about it logically. Is it an unreasonable request? Personally I think asking people to stick to business lingua franca when in the office — which happens to be international English — isn't. If you ever come to that opinion too, you'll also be comfortable with it, and _then_ I'd say you should just ask them to speak English in the office. If it looks like you won't come to that opinion in the near future, then you have a few choices, as others have pointed out: * Learn Mandarin * Change team / jobs * Be okay with being uncomfortable at potentially being left out, and with all the potential disadvantages that brings I understand the logic is easier to come to than to action, but there it is. It's an interesting problem, because it mirrors the remote work dilemma organisations are facing. If they are not built for remote work from the ground up, then the people who are remote will suffer, and the organisation will suffer. If remote work is an option, there needs to be a decision made that _all_ processes are built around the notion of remote work, whether you're in the office or not.
• dazamarquez 4y ago
  The team member who has a hard time with English might just think that when everybody speaks English they feel awkward and left out. Why do you think you're special?
  • atonse 4y ago
    Somehow I doubt that in most business settings in a multinational company. English is the de-facto language of _global_ commerce. It is the most “inclusive” language to use.
• iLoveOncall 4y ago
  I'll get downvoted but whatever. You're in a huge company in a corporate environment, therefore there is no tactful way that is guaranteed to not backfire, there is only the corporate way: 1. Document all instances where it happens. Don't name names. 2. Go talk to your manager about it (even without the list of events, that's ok). 3. If nothing is being done, raise an HR complaint with your list of evidence, insisting on the fact that YOU feel discriminated against and that you are in a hostile work environment. If your coworkers already aren't speaking in English when you're around, they won't start just because you ask, at least not long term. Note the goal here is not to blame others, it's to get what you want.
• langsoul-com 4y ago
  What @eukgoekoko mentioned isn't a bad strategy. Ask them to introduce an English only policy. If the common language is English and there was no requirements to speak Mandarin, then get the managers to change that. Otherwise quit and don't work at a Chinese sweatshop. No point working there if you can't understand anyone. I reckon, if that keeps going on, some tasks and requirements you were needed to do would be lost in translation. Then you're on the hook for that. People WILL always use the language their most comfortable in.
• lormayna 4y ago
  My previous job was in a worldwide company: English was the language in the meeting, but sometimes people talk between them in their own just to clarify some details or because they feel more confident discussing some concepts in their mother tongue. My suggestion is not being upset and said:"Hey, I don't understand Mandarin, so please, if there is something that I should know or that is important to me, please switch to English".
• joshxyz 4y ago
  learn key phrases in mandarin - i dont understand. - in english please? - what's that about? - are you talking about (insert random mandarin word here that will make them laugh, eg cheeseburgers)?
  • clolege 4y ago
    Asking "Are you talking about cheeseburgers" is my favorite advice in this thread. Trying to learn it from Google Translate now, thanks!
  • tacostakohashi 4y ago
    I'd also second this. I don't speak mandarin as such, but it's not exactly an obscure language, and I've had coworkers speak to each other in mandarin sporadically throughout my career (and I don't expect that to change), so much so that's it's not hard to pick up a few key phrases like these purely through osmosis: * 我不知道 * 没办法 * 没有 I'd suggest making a token effort to learn a few phrases, and then adopt less of an "this is an English-speaking company, you must speak English when I am in earshot!" approach and more of a "i'm doing my best to understand/learn this mandarin, but I'm really bad and it's probably easier for you to use English..."
• mellosouls 4y ago
  It's not clear whether you are in an English-speaking country. If you are, then personally I think it is really bad form for the other team members to be speaking in a foreign language when the native English speaker is present. It's rude and disrespectful and I think it's bizarre that we are in this contemporary situation where we are afraid to say that. If I was working in a foreign country where the native language was - as you would imagine - that spoken in the office, I would damn well learn it and feel embarrassed at co-English speakers excluding somebody on the team who couldn't speak English. I can't offer a "tactful" answer beyond having an informal chat with somebody you trust with influence, and even that might be risky in the wrong environment.
  • rpastuszak 4y ago
    Why not just speak with them directly first?
    • mellosouls 4y ago
      Of course you should - in an ideal world. But in the current culture in some environments that can get you in trouble.
      • rpastuszak 4y ago
        Ouch sorry to hear that you're in a situation like this then. Not being able to have even this level of honesty doesn't bode well to any team/org. How can you get shit done if you have to spend your brain power on the pantomime, mental or political gymnastics.
  • dnqthao 4y ago
    > If you are, then personally I think it is really bad form for the other team members to be speaking in a foreign language when the native English speaker is present. It depends, if it is in a meeting, they should use a common language that everyone understands (English). However, if they are just talking to each other in the office WITHOUT talking to you, they can use whatever language that is comfortable to them. You are not part of the conversation. I think the problem here only is that why the person in a FAANG company cannot communicate in English when needed.
• bArray 4y ago
  > I work in a FAANG office where a lot of people can speak Mandarin, but I'm not one of them. About half of my immediate team can, though. What is the official language of the company? If it's English, there are grounds to enforce it. The company should _not_ be hiring people on teams who cannot communicate in the common language - that is their failing. > My manager is remote and has no idea any of this is happening. I don't want to be the asshole to ask people to speak in English, or make my manager be that guy either. There are several problems here: 1. You can't manage an IRL team remotely. You can manage a remote team remotely, but not an IRL team. Important conversations are happening all the time and managers at least need to be aware they are happening. This manager should either come into the office or be moved aside for somebody who can. 2. The manager needs to be aware of problems as they happen. They cannot manage what they are not aware of. 3. You are not being an asshole for wanting to communicate with your colleagues. It is _them_ who are deliberately excluding you. 4. (Speaking carefully) Chinese culture specifically can be quite nationalist and diversity of thought and people is not an ideology that is typically shared. If you lost your job and was replaced with another Chinese person, this would be ideal for them.
  • clolege 4y ago
    > What is the official language of the company? It's English. I know that this could be enforced by my manager or HR, but would prefer to handle it in a more direct/personal manner. > You can't manage an IRL team remotely. We are a "hybrid" team split between multiple US offices with a few fully remote members. So, kind of IRL but also kind of remote. Honestly though, there are a host of issues I've seen crop up across my org that I suspect are products of a weak engineering culture caused by our partially-distributed setup. I don't think we're ever going to switch to being completely co-located, but I do wonder if I would have a better experience working in either a completely IRL or completely remote team. > If you lost your job and was replaced with another Chinese person, this would be ideal for them. Hadn't thought of this. I think they like me? But I guess both can be true.
    • bArray 4y ago
      > It's English. I know that this could be enforced by my manager or HR, but would prefer to handle it in a more direct/personal manner. It probably should be. I assume you're not the only English-only person in the office, and likely not the only person feeling uncomfortable. It's really not okay that they are deliberately cutting you out of import conversations. > Honestly though, there are a host of issues I've seen crop up across my org that I suspect are products of a weak engineering culture caused by our partially-distributed setup. I don't think we're ever going to switch to being completely co-located, but I do wonder if I would have a better experience working in either a completely IRL or completely remote team. Some will suggest that remote work is as (or more) productive as IRL work, but you're seeing a massive push to get people back into the office after the pandemic for a good reason. For example, it's bad enough that you are being left out of engineering conversations, but if you were all remote, you wouldn't even know there was a Mandarin only group chat for these things. I won't re-hash the point about remote management, but this situation you find yourself in should have been picked up and dealt with by an IRL manager. > Hadn't thought of this. I think they like me? But I guess both can be true. I mean that they would no longer have the 'inconvenience' of having to facilitate you in English at all. They would also not have to follow any English (Western) cultural norms in the office either.
• pwim 4y ago
  I’ve been on the opposite side of this, being a native English speaker working in Japan. I’d talk to your manager about it, but focus on your feelings of exclusion rather than proposing any specific solutions. It’s certainly natural to feel what you’re feeling. But I’d also recognize that an “English only” policy is also going to have downsides for your team. At the very least the member who’s struggling in English will be put into a similar position to you, but it might also lead to the other Mandarin members just talking less altogether. There are also things you can do to help foster communication. Even if you’re a fluent speaker of a language, group discussions can be challenging - often by the time you’ve formulated your thoughts it’s already moved on. One on one communication is much easier, so you could go out of your way to make opportunities for it. Pair programming, for instance, can work even when your pair isn’t a fluent speaker.
• iudqnolq 4y ago
  I've never worked that kind of job, so I don't know much. I don't understand all the other commentators suggesting going directly to your manager or even HR without first talking to them, though. I think it'd be a bad idea to let this fester to that point without giving them the courtesy of a simple conversation. I wouldn't make it a big deal. One specific time you think they're probably talking about the project come over and say hi in English. If they don't switch language, ask them if they mind switching to English. Keep doing that and maybe eventually they'll realize the problem. If that fails, directly ask them to speak English when talking about work as a group because you need to be able to participate. If that fails only then do you escalate to your manager.
• neilv 4y ago
  Different organizations will have different conventions about this. Your org and office might have to figure out what conventions it wants. And, as an individual (especially if your office is in China?) you might want to consider how much Mandarin you're able to learn, even if only for goodwill but years from being able to follow engineering conversations. Related thoughts... A friend mentioned getting into an elevator in the US, where two people were speaking German, and they switched to English as soon as they noticed him, even though they were strangers and not talking with him. As someone who's worked at multinational companies (one Chinese, one Japanese) while based in the US, I've felt humbled by colleagues' impressive efforts with English. One place, there were times I was in a meeting of team leads and the director, and I was the only person who was a native English speaker, and everyone else shared a different native language, yet everyone was speaking English, though some not fluent. (Defaulting to English was by convention, not only because I was there.) Although admiring colleagues' language abilities (and the progress of some over time prompted the thought that one day that engineering lead might be running an international company), I sometimes felt a little bad that some of them had additional language burden atop technical engineering work. A consolation I imagined was that maybe some of them wanted to practice English. At one multinational, I encouraged specific uses of written English engineering and product management communication. Which, in addition to the usual benefits, helped by it being easier to read&write across language frictions, than to hear&speak. And some meetings were converted to be country-specific, in whatever language people communicated most efficiently and comfortably, so long as we could stay in sync (asynchronously) via effective documentation.
• bjourne 4y ago
  If you feel excluded by people speaking a language you don't understand then that is a problem. You don't have to be afraid of bringing that up.
• temporallobe 4y ago
  Unfortunately language has become a stand-in for race and culture, and it has somehow become an icky topic because, as you exemplify, some people are downright scared to even approach that subject for fear of being labeled a racist or an “asshole”. Let’s just completely separate the two and focus on the facts: your teammates are speaking in a language you don’t understand, in a more or less official capacity; it doesn’t matter what language it is, but what does matter is that it’s a problem and it leaves you and possibly other team members feeling uncomfortable. And believe it or not it’s ok to feel uncomfortable. I speak another language as well, and I would be ashamed to speak it with ANYONE in front of mixed company because it’s just rude. So your colleagues are being rude whether they realize or not. If I were the TL or PM I would politely mention in a team meeting that some people feel uncomfortable when others speak a language we don’t all understand and to please be considerate of others in those situations. No need for a reprimand or direct confrontation.
  • clolege 4y ago
    Our immediate team doesn't have a TL or PM in our office unfortunately. If either of them were to bring it up, it would be obvious that someone complained.
• Dr_ReD 4y ago
  I would talk to the manager, explain what's happening, leaving my personal feelings aside. Co-workers speaking non-shared languages in each other faces is not useful in any way and it leads to many problems, way beyond a non-welcoming and non-inclusive environment, way beyond just HR... Moreover, and to answer some strange theories in other comments here, If you're to be excluded from a conversation, the speakers better get a room, where they can speak freely and leave you alone. Just staying around and speaking a language you don't understand is plain rude, a nuisance, and will distract you anyway. (and probably become annoying, in the long term) Having said that, I would also learn some Mandarin. If not enough to enter the conversation, at least enough to say "Would you, please, be so kind as to speak English for me? I'm learning Mandarin, but I can't understand you well enough, yet." This worked wonders for me, in more than a few occasions.
  • dnqthao 4y ago
    If they speak another language in the office but not with you (you are not part of their conversation), why is it rude? It is like a different channel where you will be less distracted by eavesdropping people.
    • Dr_ReD 4y ago
      Because it's disrespectful (non-inclusive and non-welcoming) to willingly bar someone who can obviously hear you, from understanding the conversation. If you are "out of range", or in another room, then by all means, go nuts. Speak Elvish or even Klingon if that's your fancy. It won't bother anybody. But in the presence of others, respect demands to let everyone understand. Even if the conversation is completely irrelevant to them. And if you don't even apply basic respect, when others will start assuming the worst about your conversations, than that'll be your fault. You'd have brought it on yourself. Not "them", not HR—which sooner or later is going to be brought into the conversation...
      • dnqthao 4y ago
        Note: to make it clear as I have commented in the other thread, I believe that people should speak English in a discussion that involves people that don't speak the language(meeting, discussion that involved other people). However, they should be free to speak their own language if they want to communicate to each other in a private setting. You are talking from only 1 perspective. Have you ever try to understand from the other side why they speak their own language? I have been in both situation (people speaking a language I don't understand and I speak to other people in a language I don't understand) and almost 99.99% of the time it is not about YOU in the conversation. They speak their language mainly out of convenient. They can communicate/connect more easily with their peers speaking their mother tongue. Of course, there should be some courtesy apply here: don't speak too loud, make a lot of noise. But I guess it applies the same when you speak the common language. If they really need your input, they will switch to English and ask you to join the conversation. > If you are "out of range", or in another room, then by all means, go nuts. Speak Elvish or even Klingon if that's your fancy. So you are saying that speaking another language in public is forbidden? How inclusive is that of you? It is like British school in 19th and 20th centuries banning children from speaking their mother tongue in school. Does that sound good to you? > when others will start assuming the worst about your conversations, than that'll be your fault. And you don't want other people to speak their own languages to their peers just because of your insecurity? >not HR—which sooner or later is going to be brought into the conversation... Do you have any cases where HR involves in this? I really want to know how it goes.
• deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
• sokoloff 4y ago
  We have teams and companies in many places in the world and our common business language is English. When I'm traveling, we mostly speak in English, but there are moments where it's just the most practical thing to have the local team quickly speak in their native language and then we come back and try to summarize it in English. That seems like a good middle ground to me (as a native English speaker with modest German and long-faded French). I always imagine how taxing (and frankly, unfair) it would be for me to have to be constantly running a background thread to decode English and periodically another foreground thread to see if I could express my next thought in English well enough, etc. However capable I am, I would appear slightly less capable in some situations because of this mental tax. As a result, I'm firm that documentation, official communications, etc. do have to be in English, but live conversations among international teams are mostly, but not exclusively, in English.
• molemountain 4y ago
  > And recently, my other team members started using Mandarin between themselves If you want to force yourself in a conversation where you weren't part of then why dont you learn mandarin? Just like they learnt English. Either put in the efforts to learn a language or stop feeling the need to be part of every conversation. If they want you to be part of some conversation then they will speak English like you say they have been doing.
• o4tuna 4y ago
  Esperanto.
• ksec 4y ago
  Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google. I am assuming this is either Apple or Netflix in Seoul? Because Google, Amazon and Facebook dont have much of an office in SK.
  • googthrwy_ 4y ago
    Google has a sizable presence in Seoul
  • clolege 4y ago
    It's in the US
    • ksec 4y ago
      No wonder why Big Tech are so Pro China.
• nomadiccoder 4y ago
  I felt this way at some point when I worked at LANL. I specifically remember a training module that said it was not inclusive or respectful to require or insist that coworkers speak a specific language unless it impacted your job function. After all, they dont 'owe' you anything to make you feel comfortable in social settings. And even if they are talking about your project that doesnt mean they need your input.. On the other hand, when I worked at a small German startup our CEO would constantly remind our team to 'speak English for nc!' -- but usually only when he wanted to make sure I was aware, bolster their own skills to continue to expand internationally or when he thought I might be able to contribute. I appreciated that it did also make me feel awkward when I could tell that speaking English made it more challenging for them to convey ideas effectively. I recommend Pimsleur language classes to get started and meet them in the middle.
  • AlchemistCamp 4y ago
    How long ago was that?
• underdeserver 4y ago
  Speaking as a former manager, it is your manager's responsibility to enforce English only. Speaking as a non-native English speaker, working in a FAANG office where nearly everyone speaks a certain language that's not English, when visitors or others who don't speak the language are present, we use English exclusively. Anything else is (correctly) considered rude - there are few things less welcoming than someone speaking above your head in a language they know you don't understand. Just as an example, a colleague from a Ukrainian office is temporary working from ours, while his office and home are unavailable. In a 90-person all-hands meeting, he was the only person who doesn't speak the local language. The meeting was held in English.
  • toast0 4y ago
    > Speaking as a former manager, it is your manager's responsibility to enforce English only. English only rules may violate (US) Federal Equal Opportunity Employment Law, so management needs to be careful to form a policy within the law and apply it within the law. Obviously, business discussions need to be held in a language that all participants can understand, so there's room for a policy in that case. But (in the US), you can't usually have a policy on the language of business discussions in general, and almost certainly not for personal discussions.
    • pgwhalen 4y ago
      > But (in the US), you can’t usually have a policy on the language of business discussions in general I’m not super informed on the subject, but this runs directly contrary to my understanding. Highly regulated industries require English so regulatory authorities (both in internal and external) can track communication appropriately.
    • WirelessGigabit 4y ago
      You're wrong. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/oasam/centers-offices/civil-rights-center/internal/policies/english-only-rules#:~:text=EEOC%20Regulation%2029%20C.F.R.,presumed%20to%20violate%20Title%20VII https://www.dol.gov/agencies/oasam/centers-offices/civil-rig.... You cannot prevent 2 people having a personal conversation in a different language from English. But for the purposes of the business, it is fine to require English, otherwise how do you collaborate? Now let's imagine a watercooler chat. 2 colleagues talking in whatever language, and a 3rd one walks up, gets a drink and now is by default excluded. Legally it's all good, but in my opinion, that 3rd person will feel left out.
• erenyeager 4y ago
  I think you should reflect on your views of the situation and consider that your attitude towards this does not demonstrate cultural humility. It is not the obligation of your team members to speak a language you understand. If you wish to participate with then, just speak to them in English or communicate when you would like to be included. Nobody likes a tattletale or Karen-type person enforcing linguistic, cultural supremacy.
• agentsmirth 4y ago
  1. Let them know you can’t understand and ask them nicely if they could use English for working together (not for everything they can still gossip or talk about sports). 2. Encourage automatic translation app usage (its not perfect but it can help a lot) on both sides. Particular by the person who is weakest in either language. 3. Be kind and simplify your own English. Don’t use slang. Repeat things using two different wordings. Speak slower. Take shared written notes as you go to help reinforce vocab. 4. Be kind and encourage people who struggle with English. Usually their reading and writing is better for than their listening and speaking due to more opportunity to practice. Be patient and tell them they don’t have to apologize if they struggle. Encourage them if they improve. 5. Only correct them if it’s important or if it’s at the right level, and then do it gently. Mandarin speakers often confuse he and she because they are the same pronunciation in Mandarin. If you know who they are talking about correcting them isn’t necessary right alway. 6. Learn some basic Mandarin and show them you are willing to sound awful and embarrass yourself. Be aware it is mentally very taxing to listen and speak in an unfamiliar language — until you get used to it. Showing them how awful you are will allow them to compare the pain of that mental tax to listening to you butcher their language. 7. Be aware half the time they are not saying anything of interest. The worst side effect I found from learning Mandarin was understanding boring gossip and advertising. 8. Allow time outs for a mandarin discussion on difficult issues so they can then switch back to English. 9. Help them polish their English — eg draft documentation or comms. Occasionally being an ally rather than complaining will encourage them to keep trying to improve, and show respect. 10. Ask the people with good English who are Mandarin speakers how you can help the situation, and how they could help too. Don’t make this a performance issue but and a chance to be more inclusive and collaborate better. Source: It took me several years and significant effort to speak Mandarin at a business level, and run meetings in a mix of Mandarin and tech jargon.
• DwnVoteHoneyPot 4y ago
  I'm in Canada where English and French are official languages. A few people around me speak Spanish. Another handful speaks Filipino. Half the team and I only speak English. I’m a job level or two job levels above them. No big deal. I don’t assume they are speaking behind my back. I assume if I needed to know, they’d tell me in English. As long as everyone is respectful to each other I don’t see the problem. I would like them to have a personal connection with each other for a stronger team. I would like them to communicate as clearly as possible with each other, even if it’s emojis.
• onethought 4y ago
  “Hey guys, can we switch to English my Chinese sucks” sounds like the solution. The language part isn’t the problem, it’s the feeling excluded part (which can occur in English too) You can also keep it light hearted by being curious about Chinese language and helping their English. Don’t resent it, if you were in China with a bunch of English speakers you wouldn’t be struggling through Chinese to communicate with them.
• pipeline_peak 4y ago
  > My manager is remote and has no idea any of this is happening God, what a nightmare, that’s absolutely not your problem, tell your manager >I don't want to be the asshole to ask people to speak in English, or make my manager be that guy either. Uhh is this really what wokeism has done to us? Your teams performance is at stake, this isn’t you being racist or “uncool”.
• tga 4y ago
  It's _your team_, the people you most closely work with every day. You shouldn't need a manager to talk to each other. Just bring it up while grabbing lunch: "hey you guys, I hear a lot of Chinese and I feel left out, and others might too". If they're half decent people they will remember this next time and stick to English.
• ana_journee 4y ago
  Switching to another more familiar language can happen without intentionally looking to "talk secrets" or keep other people out. Letting them know that you are uncomfortable when they constantly speak a language you don't understand and/or sharing the concern of missing out on project related talks or simply learning opportunities that might be sprinkled on all that yadda yadda in the office - is a good way to approach this. Nobody can know what and how you really feel unless you tell them. In my experience one could actually very well do without hearing all that constant office chatter, actually many people would wear headphones cause they want to avoid hearing it and/or being distracted by it. Also, if you believe they might be speaking about you - that is most probably not true, it is how we are wired to believe but most people will have their own things to worry and talk about.