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He looked into opening a GmbH, not the other way around. He wants to do business in Germany. You can absolutely go through this process without speaking German

He looked into opening a GmbH, not the other way around. He wants to do business in Germany. You can absolutely go through this process without speaking German but it will cost you money in lawyers. > I think his point is, English is the lingua-franca of the internet and international business. Maybe the Internet, yes. But international business? I don’t think so. Maybe from a perspective of native English-speaking person it appears to him like that. But it’s not the case in many non-English speaking countries.

tormeh 4y ago
> Maybe the Internet, yes. But international business? I don’t think so. Maybe from a perspective of native English-speaking person it appears to him like that. But it’s not the case in any non-English speaking country. When a Swedish company does business with a Portuguese company, they speak English. Other languages are used for domestic business. International business is done in English. There are exceptions to the rule like the Francophonie, but let's not be pedantic. You may learn some phrases of the other party's language as a gesture of goodwill and politeness (and honestly it's kinda fun use of company time), but the actual important talks take place in English.
- raverbashing 4y ago
  > When a Swedish company does business with a Portuguese company, they speak English. Correct, and they both feel less entitled about the other part not speaking their language as English native speakers do
  - germandiago 4y ago
    > and they both feel less entitled about the other part not speaking their language as English native speakers do Have a couple of stories about this. Yes, some people think that you should know their language when they just speak theirs. I do not find it too polite, honestly. Especially a couple of times I saw things that even once made me jump in and say: "how many languages do you speak?" He was abroad, you know, in Asia. And I had to reply: "what makes you think everyone should speak english? You are not even in an english speaking country". It is not nice to see people behave like that. I think it made the locals feel insulted, not bc he cannot speak the local language. It was because of the attitude of demanding the others to talk to him in english. English is the most used second language. But noone said each of us must learn it. Just my two cents.
- pjmlp 4y ago
  We might speak English but you will be signing everything in Portuguese. And depending on the education we also speak Spanish, French, German and Italian, as the main learning paths in high school available to chose from. But again, legal documents, Portuguese.
  - Kiro 4y ago
    Why would a contract for an international deal not be in English?
    - rozenmd 4y ago
      Because legally, the contract has to be in the jurisdiction's official language
      - Xylakant 4y ago
        That’s not true - you can have a contract in any language in Germany. But the first thing that a court adjucating any dispute would do is have a certified translator translate it into German - at your cost. And that translation will be out of your control. So it makes sense to have a German contract, so at least you know what the contract says going to court.
        Major_Grooves 4y ago
        correct - all our actual investment documents are in English.
        rad_gruchalski 4y ago
        Plus, if during the certification of the translation it comes up that the document does not comply with the legal requirements, it may lead to a contract invalidation. It can be really expensive depending on the matter of the dispute.
      - thomascarney 4y ago
        You can choose both the law and forum in many types of commercial agreements. Typically international contracts will choose English law as the governing law.
- belorn 4y ago
  Sweden went through a massive cultural swing towards English/US culture in the later 90s and then at full speed through the later decades. English was initial an alternative language that Swedes could optionally pick at the age of 15-18 (a choice between German, french and English). Then it became a graduation requirement for all students at that age group (with German and french being delegated to a third optional choice), and then English moved down the age groups and now Swedish children learn it beginning as early as age 8-9. English has become a second required language in Sweden throughout the education system.
dj_mc_merlin 4y ago
> But international business? I don’t think so. Pray tell what the language of international business is in the EU.
- rad_gruchalski 4y ago
  Between which countries?
  - dj_mc_merlin 4y ago
    Poland and Estonia.
    - rad_gruchalski 4y ago
      Okay, and what about Poland and Germany? Or Germany and France? Or Belgium and The Netherlands? Or Germany and Italy? Can you with 100% confidence tell that all companies in all cases between those countries do business in English? What about a Belgian company from Wallonia and a French partner? Or Luxemburg and Wallonia?
      - barry-cotter 4y ago
        > Can you with 100% confidence tell that all companies in all cases between those countries do business in English? No, but in every one of those cases English is the way to bet. > What about a Belgian company from Wallonia and a French partner? Or Luxemburg and Wallonia? Almost certainly French because it’s the working language of both companies. If people share a native language they’ll use that. Otherwise the default is English. It’s not certain that they’ll use English but Siemens doesn’t expect its international partners to have German speaking partners for dealing with it; it does expect its executives to speak English. Just as science has a lingua franca so does business. It is English.
        smugma 4y ago
        This is all true but as an American (I grew up speaking a different not European language), Europeans' ability to switch languages is interesting/fun. Once I had a business meeting in Switzerland. It was all in English (for me, the American), but at one point they were speaking German to each other. And later in the hallway, they switched to speaking French with the lawyer who was there with me. And at lunch in the restaurant attached to the office, the Swiss German host ordered his food in Italian.

tormeh 4y ago

> Maybe the Internet, yes. But international business? I don’t think so. Maybe from a perspective of native English-speaking person it appears to him like that. But it’s not the case in any non-English speaking country. When a Swedish company does business with a Portuguese company, they speak English. Other languages are used for domestic business. International business is done in English. There are exceptions to the rule like the Francophonie, but let's not be pedantic. You may learn some phrases of the other party's language as a gesture of goodwill and politeness (and honestly it's kinda fun use of company time), but the actual important talks take place in English.

raverbashing 4y ago
> When a Swedish company does business with a Portuguese company, they speak English. Correct, and they both feel less entitled about the other part not speaking their language as English native speakers do
- germandiago 4y ago
  > and they both feel less entitled about the other part not speaking their language as English native speakers do Have a couple of stories about this. Yes, some people think that you should know their language when they just speak theirs. I do not find it too polite, honestly. Especially a couple of times I saw things that even once made me jump in and say: "how many languages do you speak?" He was abroad, you know, in Asia. And I had to reply: "what makes you think everyone should speak english? You are not even in an english speaking country". It is not nice to see people behave like that. I think it made the locals feel insulted, not bc he cannot speak the local language. It was because of the attitude of demanding the others to talk to him in english. English is the most used second language. But noone said each of us must learn it. Just my two cents.
pjmlp 4y ago
We might speak English but you will be signing everything in Portuguese. And depending on the education we also speak Spanish, French, German and Italian, as the main learning paths in high school available to chose from. But again, legal documents, Portuguese.
- Kiro 4y ago
  Why would a contract for an international deal not be in English?
  - rozenmd 4y ago
    Because legally, the contract has to be in the jurisdiction's official language
    - Xylakant 4y ago
      That’s not true - you can have a contract in any language in Germany. But the first thing that a court adjucating any dispute would do is have a certified translator translate it into German - at your cost. And that translation will be out of your control. So it makes sense to have a German contract, so at least you know what the contract says going to court.
      - Major_Grooves 4y ago
        correct - all our actual investment documents are in English.
      - rad_gruchalski 4y ago
        Plus, if during the certification of the translation it comes up that the document does not comply with the legal requirements, it may lead to a contract invalidation. It can be really expensive depending on the matter of the dispute.
    - thomascarney 4y ago
      You can choose both the law and forum in many types of commercial agreements. Typically international contracts will choose English law as the governing law.
belorn 4y ago
Sweden went through a massive cultural swing towards English/US culture in the later 90s and then at full speed through the later decades. English was initial an alternative language that Swedes could optionally pick at the age of 15-18 (a choice between German, french and English). Then it became a graduation requirement for all students at that age group (with German and french being delegated to a third optional choice), and then English moved down the age groups and now Swedish children learn it beginning as early as age 8-9. English has become a second required language in Sweden throughout the education system.

dj_mc_merlin 4y ago

> But international business? I don’t think so. Pray tell what the language of international business is in the EU.

rad_gruchalski 4y ago
Between which countries?
- dj_mc_merlin 4y ago
  Poland and Estonia.
  - rad_gruchalski 4y ago
    Okay, and what about Poland and Germany? Or Germany and France? Or Belgium and The Netherlands? Or Germany and Italy? Can you with 100% confidence tell that all companies in all cases between those countries do business in English? What about a Belgian company from Wallonia and a French partner? Or Luxemburg and Wallonia?
    - barry-cotter 4y ago
      > Can you with 100% confidence tell that all companies in all cases between those countries do business in English? No, but in every one of those cases English is the way to bet. > What about a Belgian company from Wallonia and a French partner? Or Luxemburg and Wallonia? Almost certainly French because it’s the working language of both companies. If people share a native language they’ll use that. Otherwise the default is English. It’s not certain that they’ll use English but Siemens doesn’t expect its international partners to have German speaking partners for dealing with it; it does expect its executives to speak English. Just as science has a lingua franca so does business. It is English.
      - smugma 4y ago
        This is all true but as an American (I grew up speaking a different not European language), Europeans' ability to switch languages is interesting/fun. Once I had a business meeting in Switzerland. It was all in English (for me, the American), but at one point they were speaking German to each other. And later in the hallway, they switched to speaking French with the lawyer who was there with me. And at lunch in the restaurant attached to the office, the Swiss German host ordered his food in Italian.