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Well I don't like it. Does that make me racist? I speak 3 languages and I do not like to speak any of them when I am around people who can't speak them. It is a choice and like I've said, it makes me uncomfortable...Especially when the people I am talking to happens to speak English as well.
You have the right to like it or dislike it seriously, using the race card? Please come up with something better.
That's nice but that's your hang up. I don't think you're racist for it but I do think it's your hang up, which other people have absolutely no obligation to obey whatsoever. I have some hang ups myself, as I'm sure anyone does, but part of having a hang up is realizing it's yours.
If you don't like speaking Portuguese in front of other people, that's fine. But if they want to speak Portuguese or whatever other language, why not let them? For example a friend of mine wants me to teach him Portuguese so I tell him how to say things when we're out and about. We shouldn't have to keep it private just because some people don't like using languages other than English in public. We're not from some other country and it's not like we don't know English (obviously) but we just...feel like speaking Portuguese. What's so wrong with that?
That's nice but that's your hang up. I don't think you're racist for it but I do think it's your hang up, which other people have absolutely no obligation to obey whatsoever. I have some hang ups myself, as I'm sure anyone does, but part of having a hang up is realizing it's yours.
If you don't like speaking Portuguese in front of other people, that's fine. But if they want to speak Portuguese or whatever other language, why not let them? For example a friend of mine wants me to teach him Portuguese so I tell him how to say things when we're out and about. We shouldn't have to keep it private just because some people don't like using languages other than English in public. We're not from some other country and it's not like we don't know English (obviously) but we just...feel like speaking Portuguese. What's so wrong with that?
I don't quite think you understand. It's not just about speaking in another language and people being 'offended' because they don't understand them. It's about the workplace (and school). You know you can't say certain things at work due to possibly being fired, or whatever. So, why is it possibly OK for someone to say them in a language we don't understand? Like I said before, it seems like it's only offensive if it's english.
If we were totally 100% allowed to say whatever we felt like.. then sure, this wouldn't be a problem. But since when we are at places like school and work, we do have our speech altered to abide by rules.
That's nice but that's your hang up. I don't think you're racist for it but I do think it's your hang up, which other people have absolutely no obligation to obey whatsoever. I have some hang ups myself, as I'm sure anyone does, but part of having a hang up is realizing it's yours.
If you don't like speaking Portuguese in front of other people, that's fine. But if they want to speak Portuguese or whatever other language, why not let them? For example a friend of mine wants me to teach him Portuguese so I tell him how to say things when we're out and about. We shouldn't have to keep it private just because some people don't like using languages other than English in public. We're not from some other country and it's not like we don't know English (obviously) but we just...feel like speaking Portuguese. What's so wrong with that?
No, my problem is not with speaking other languages in the workplace or whatever. Let them. My problem is that when people try to turn it into a race issue.
I worked with 5 Puerto Ricans / Dominicans / Mexicans who would only talk in Spanish at the store. I understand some but I was left out more often than not. The other Mexican guy refused to speak Spanish because he felt uncomfortable... Especially around customers who did not speak that language.
PS: My boss had a very dirty mouth and he would also say very offensive things at work. I could understand him because those words were the same ones we used in Portuguese... He thought he could get away with it because it was not in English. Someone else reported him and he was fired. It was like "his get away" card. "If I say it in Spanish, I can get away with it because so and so won't understand me! Little did he knew I could understand what he was saying... It was just disgusting.
I don't want to be called racist for saying things when I clearly NEVER mentioned race.
It's not workplace appropriate to use foreign languages especially in front of customers but also to shun the other employees. It's not appropriate to whisper and purposely exclude others from workplace converstations.
A good workplace rule is to say that English must be spoken in the work areas, in front of customers, but breakroom and cafeteria conversations could be in pig latin.
The assumption here is that speaking another language means you're purposefully trying to exclude someone.
There are people in my office who only speak a language that's not English. So of course I'm not going to talk in English to them. It's appropriate because it's the only way we can get work done.
And before you give me crap about how they should be learning English--they are. It just takes time. They are refugees from another country. They need a bit more than a week to learn English.
Am I going to speak to them in their native language? Sure. Plus they have plenty of time to pick up English outside the office. In a situation where they were forced out of their country against their will for political reasons, it can be reassuring to have a taste of home away from home.
No. English is the easiest language on the planet. If you can't even pick up enough to have a basic conversation, like many people I've met, then you're plain dumb.
???????
To your last statement. This has nothing to do with being "xenophobe". I always tell them to talk to me in English or back the hell off. I never talk in my native language around people. NEVER. That's just a common courtesy. It's also common sense. Doing it is very rude, imo. I hate it. Ok, this might not be fully addressing your point. But since he agrees with the OP, I assume you called him "xenophobe' because of that,too.
It's not rude to speak in a different language. It is rude to talk about people behind their back, regardless of the language. There is a distinction.
I called him a xenophobe from his previous posts coupled with this post.
No, my problem is not with speaking other languages in the workplace or whatever. Let them. My problem is that when people try to turn it into a race issue.
I worked with 5 Puerto Ricans / Dominicans / Mexicans who would only talk in Spanish at the store. I understand some but I was left out more often than not. The other Mexican guy refused to speak Spanish because he felt uncomfortable... Especially around customers who did not speak that language.
PS: My boss had a very dirty mouth and he would also say very offensive things at work. I could understand him because those words were the same ones we used in Portuguese... He thought he could get away with it because it was not in English. Someone else reported him and he was fired. It was like "his get away" card. "If I say it in Spanish, I can get away with it because so and so won't understand me! Little did he knew I could understand what he was saying... It was just disgusting.
I don't want to be called racist for saying things when I clearly NEVER mentioned race.
I agree it's not a race issue all the time. I do think for some people it is about race. Especially the kind of people I know who have no problem with Russian or French or German but have a huge problem with Spanish, Swahili, Arabic, etc. That to me seems like it's racism disguised in the excuse of "we speak English here."
Plus as you just illustrated, you can't speak another language without the possibility of being understood. Obviously your boss didn't get away with it cause he did get reported and fired. Enough people speak Spanish that you can't really get away with saying anything. There is a high likelihood that someone working in your office or one of your customers speaks Spanish.
I think your argument would have more credibility with a language like Taiwanese Sign Language. But of course, with languages like Spanish and even Russian (which I hear all the time), there is a pretty good chance someone will understand you so you can't get away with saying just anything for very long. I even hear languages like Arabic and Mandarin Chinese all the time. Seems like you have to be speaking a pretty rare language in order to not risk being overheard or understood.
They live here but rarely work in those fields. My point is not knowing English doesn't automatically make you stupid, which is the implication the post I was replying to had. Usually they were big shots at home and came here for political freedom or some sort of other freedom and so took jobs as cab drivers and house maids. I know several Spanish-speaking people who fit in this category, as well as some who speak other languages like Urdu.
Though I do know people with Ph.D.'s who don't speak English, or even speak at all, who are using their Ph.D.'s or other degrees and are very intelligent, widely published, and active in their fields right here in America. They are completely dependent on interpreters for lectures and meetings in most situations. They are the numerous Deaf American Professionals who use American Sign Language.
(BTW before you say Deaf people can't learn English, a lot of them can and do. They are generally called "oral", which means despite being deaf, they use spoken English and lipreading. So using ASL only is not just a matter of accommodation, it's also a matter of choice and cultural identity.)
I'm sure you're all for butting into their conversations if it comes to them making a few ethnic or sexual jokes. So get off your high horse.
The workplace can have rules and certainly speech is not completely free in the workplace and good manners are enforced on the Americans, the immigrants can learn some manners also.
Like I said, a good rule is to have it English in the work areas and in front of customers and let the employees have their personal conversations where they belong - in the break room.
No, I'm not. If people are talking about me behind my back--let them. I'd rather not know.
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