Speaking a different lanuage at work (employees, employers, job, company)

[ixi10]

I just started a new job where 99% of my coworkers speak their native lanuage. And not speaking their language makes it rather difficult for me to connect with them and make friends.

I find work to be really tedious because of this. I want to be able to talk wih them and be on friendly terms but I'm having such a hard time with this. If I happen to walk into the break room the same time they're there, they'll stop talking and leave it's so hard to even make small talk
I know I sound a bit ridiculous but I'm not looking to make a new best friend, just some sort of connection

For anyone who has been in this situation or a similar one, how do you deal?

[MarysPoppins]

What are they speaking? Spanish?

I worked at one place where there were a lot of Greek people. They liked to talk their own language at lunch and were very nice to me. One lady (sort of the leader) welcomed me to their group and I ate lunch with them a lot. It was a bit odd at first but I picked up a bit and eventually the lady admired me and began to talk to in English more.

What happens when you speak to them in English?

[ixi10]

Chinese

I ate with them the first few days but it was just so awkward for me. I felt a bit like I was intruding on them. So I stopped eating lunch with them. But if it's ever a one to one situation, I'll speak english and they will answer as quickly as possible and leave.

[Hopes]

I don't see this changing anytime soon for you. If you can't force yourself to not care, is it possible to start looking for another job?

It annoyed me when my local convenience store employees talk in another language with each other while waiting on me. I told them straight up to talk English when I'm in their presence. Granted, I've been friendly with them for years. It's not like I'm saying this to strangers. I think many people have no idea how rude it is to exclude others from conversation like that.

I'm just sharing that so you're not alone in feeling awkward in this type of situation.

[PacificFlights]

We talk several languages at work. If I want to talk bad about the captain i speak in Spanish cause he doesn;t speak a spanish but if he wants to talk bad about me he speaks in arabic cause i have a hard time understanding that. And when we want to talk about the SE's wife, we all talk in japanesse cause he can't understand one lick of a word.

BUT, when we are speaking to a person regarding their business we speak in a language they understand, however, we are not required nor should anyone expect that our conversations between ourslefs will be in a language that thrid person understands if the converstation isn;t aimed at them. After all these yeras, I learned that if I want to know what others are saying in another language its my duty to learn that language. So long as the conversatuion is not business, job related, or requires my participation, I could care less what language they are speaking.

[jbskr2012]

Making new connections at work or in ones personal life takes time. Just continue to be friendly to everyone by speaking and showing kind gestures and eventually theyll come around. good luck.

[BigDGeek]

We don't have many Chinese speakers at my company and when they do get together, they speak English. Most of the housekeeping staff is Hispanic and they speak to each other in Spanish only. Some of them don't speak English, others do.

The rudest ones are by far the Indians. They speak various Indian languages in the breakroom at lunch, which isn't rude since they're on break, but it'd be nice if they would keep the volume down. No, I'm talking about impromptu scrums that they have at their desks all day long where they are discussing work-related matters in various Indian languages. I'm not cool with that. Business needs to be conducted in English and if you're not capable of doing so in English, you shouldn't be working there.

[annerk]

You are there to work, not to make friends.

Give it some time and see if they warm up to you. If not, either accept it or find a different job.

[nightcrawler]

try listening to russian---------------------kill yourself

[kevinm]

Employers need to crack down on this. People in the workplace should be speaking ENGLISH only. It is rude for employees to speak their native tongue on the clock.