Slashdot Mirror
Bridging The Language Gap In Multi-Lingual Workplaces?
raestarr asks: "I work in a predominantly French speaking company here in Silicon Valley and am having a difficult time conversing with my counterparts. I speak English, some German and some French, but for anyone that has ever tried to learn a language knows, it is difficult to understand a native speaker. The main problem I have is that we have had more than a couple of e-mails asking everyone to speak English in the office to no avail and I have begun to feel isolated in what should be an exciting company to be a part of, due to the lack of communication between the English speakers and the French speakers. So I guess my question to the Slashdot community is this, has anyone else ever been in this situation and how was it resolved (or was it)?"
...that the only truly universal language is Perl. You should send out another email, this time demanding that everyone speak and write in Perl.
Keeping
The law's are pretty basic - in companies where there are 50 or more employees French is the language. Only after lots of paperwork & pressure can one have a chance at an exemption and even then there has to be a program for francicization [sp?].
Everything has to be done or availiable in French (this includes software!) - all other languages are officially of secondary importance. Yes this is not popular amongst many folks , I'm not debating it, I'm just reporting it.
Socially things are much simpler. Generally conversations are held in whatever language the majority of the participants are comfortable in. Should someone in the conversation (and this means not only those talking but those expected to be included in the listening) not speak a language folks will try to avoid their non-language. Sometimes this is not possible/practicable so a pal will be helpful and try to keep the non-lingual up to speed on the parts of the conversation they're not getting. Occasionially even that's not possible (everyone is too involved, it too hard to translate & keep up, etc.) so one has to infer what is being said, ask the occasionial question, rely on the goodwill of others and assume they'll bring you back into the conversation when appropriate.
This is a fairly well established set of customs anywhere there are multiple languages in usuage, either in the community or in the workplace. It may be confusing & off-putting to most US'ers who expect a unilingual environment but it's pretty much to be expected in most of the world.
What can you do as an lingual-outsider in your office? First politely ask folks to remember that you don't speak their language & to please try and include you. Generally your making a strong effort to learn the predominant language will make this a friendly request and not an imperialist one.
Second understand that to your co-workers this is their mother-tongue and it can be tiring to work in a second language. While work-related stuff may need to be translated the quick comment-in-passing is often just not worth the effort to these folks, or it may not even make sense if translated (ever try to explain a bit of US word-play or pop-culture-trivia to a non-native? It works the same way for them to you.)
Unfortunately oftentimes being left out of this chat-'n-joke byplay can make one feel like an outsider, or distrustful of what was being said; but honestly it is unrealistic to demand everything be in one language when most folks are comfortable in another. As long as you can impress on folks they need to include you to some extant and must include you when it's relevant then you should be ok.
Third, consider your choice of work environments. You don't go to work in a Chinese resturaunt & assume they'll work in English, don't work for a francophone company & assume they'll switch to English for you. There seems to have been some honest effort made to use more English but if it's not gonna happen then start floating that resume...
Finally, make pals with the poor [insert 3rd language here] who works in one foreign tongue & lives in another...
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
You do not become an expert speaker of French in a moment. They do not become na expert speaker of English in a moment. You will have to face the fact that there will always be difficulties.
That said, you should work on your french. Make it a point to talk to everyone in French, (if the other guy knows it) whenever possibal. If nessicary switch to english. It will take a few years (Thats right, years not internet seconds like many people want today) to elarn, but eventially you can learn.
Knowning a foreign language is a good thing. Most people I know (I live in the US) have no oppertunaty to use one. Nearly everyone I know took a foreign language in high school or college, it is a requirement (despite jokes about someone who speaks only one language being an american, most americans have a second language) to learn one. However with no reason or oppertunity to use it they soon become unable to use it. Come to think of it you might soon be able to turn the old joke around: "What do you call someone who only speaks one language? A Frenchmen."