Does it bother you when we speak our native tongue? (credit card, visa)
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Work is work. As long as all parties involved (workers, customers, etc) all understand each other in order to conduct business, I wouldn't be too concerned about random, side conversations.
I’ve worked in a lot of international environments, my rule was always speak whichever language you want, but be aware that I just might be able to understand what you’re talking about. Not all native English speakers are incapable of learning other languages...
When I was in HS almost an era ago, I took spanish and was pretty good at understanding it. My ability to speak was another story but I was able to graduate. We went to Mexico and were on the beach bargaining with the peddlers for pocketbooks and blankets and all kinds of things we could not live without, like a coconut birdhouse!! There were 4 of us and they spent a lot of time with each of us in our selections. Then the bargaining began and the girls left it to me. I got them to where I was happy with the price and one said to the other something like, "these ladies are stupid". I finally unleashed my best spanish on them and told them I knew what they said and went off on them. They were stunned. We got an apology and a better price on all we bought including the coconut birdhouses (plural). I have lived my entire life thinking that those guys are still laughing that they got us to buy those stupid birdhouses.
Of course you can speak Spanish in side conversations. There is no official language in the USA. And if you went to Germany, you might be surprised... people there speak both German and English. And often other languages, too.
If you live in Miami, you're going to be surrounded by people speaking Spanish. If you live in northern Maine, it's likely you'll hear a lot of French. In parts of San Francisco, you will hear lots of Chinese. The USA is home to people who speak many different languages. That's how it always has been and it's how it always will be. Knowing how to speak English is necessary in many (but not all) parts of the country, but that doesn't mean you can't speak your native tongue at times, too.
No one is entitled to know what everyone is saying at all times. If a conversation doesn't involve you, what difference does it make what language it is in? It's none of your business anyway.
I lean toward "its rude" but rude can be subjective and certainly ain't a crime.
I liken it to if a couple coworkers were always whispering to each other so only they can hear. At some point those left out might reasonably wonder why.
Was at my new job, had been walking 3 days and enjoying it. Today had to sit for the entire day. I was working with a female who was native of Mexico and every so often one of the other hispanic females would come by and they'd speak in their native tongue.
She did this for most of the day, then asked me "Does it bother you that we do this?" I replied "Nope, I don't mind, I know that you understand english and can speak it when the situation calls for it. So I'm not worried about what you are speaking about or that you are speaking in your native tongue"
She did say in some other companies she had worked at, had many people demand they speak english at all times and were told to not be found or overheard speaking their native tongue.
Only time I ever have heard of a "English only" was at the WSOP's tourneys (World Series Of Poker)
I worked one company which had 5-7 vietnamese who couldn't speak one word of english and they'd been here 5+ years.
Anyone ever have a company have that for a rule?
No, I worked in a very multicultural place, and I enjoyed hearing the different languages, sometimes eavesdropping on people speaking on the phone with their families. One coworker spoke a language that I couldn't quite identify when she called her mother. Turned out her parents were Ukrainian immigrants.
Another young woman spoke Spanish to her mother on the phone, but it sounded different from the various other Spanish speakers in the office (some of whom sounded different from one another--Puerto Rican Spanish sounds different from Costa Rican or Cuban or Colombian Spanish, which are more common in NYC). Turned out she was born in Uruguay and had come here as a child.
I found it more interesting than anything else. If they couldn't speak, read, and write English well enough, they wouldn't be working in our office.
Even now, I work for a business owned by a Pakistani family. Sometimes I overhear them speaking Urdu among themselves. It is interesting to listen to, so different from European languages.
At my former workplace there was quite a mix of cultures in our IT department, but generally everyone spoke English. But from time to time I could overhear colleagues speaking Urdo, Punjabi or Romanian. And by the same token I got to meet a colleague from my native South Africa, and we managed to have a conversation in Afrikaans in the office. I don't know if it bothered other people in the office, but there was nothing malicious about it. Just made a nice change to converse in a language other than English
It depends on the situation. I find it rude when there are three people in an area and two are speaking a language not understood by the third person. It's exclusionary. Sometimes you need to step in with a work related question, but are made to feel like you are the one interrupting.
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