About different languages being spoken at work?

[purplesnake]

To be honest, I'm scared to post this at the risk of sounding a bit racist, but I don't intend it to be taken like that at all.

I work, in London, for a company which has an incredibly diverse employee base - being British definitely makes you a minority. I'm not going to debate whether that's a good or bad thing.

Anyway, a lot of my coworkers are from mainland Europe and frequently talk amongst themselves at the desks in their native languages. I speak semi-decent French and Spanish but nowhere near good enough to understand them (I am trying to improve though!) and I find it a bit intimidating to be sat at my desk, knowing they're talking but having no idea what they're saying. I also feel like if they are talking about work, they should speak in English so that the rest of us, even if we just overhear things, can have an idea of what's going on.

Of course, if they are talking to a French speaking client on the phone, for example, then I have no issue with them speaking French. Or if they wanted to grab a coffee and chat about personal things in their own language, good for them.

AIBU to expect that in a business environment in an English speaking country, people should be speaking English?

I live abroad, in a very small town in South America. I work with a Mexican woman as she is the Spanish teacher in the school where I work. She grew up in the USA and I am British, we naturally fall into English when we are together. We don't get the chance to speak our language face to face with other adults, we both speak English with our children and only on Skype with friends and family in the UK/USA. It's lovely to relax and speak your own language. You have no idea what it feels like. Don't judge too harshly.

Though their faces when I said "Failte" to others, or "Marsin let" (think I have missed spelt that but going from memory) as I left were always interesting!! Did I understand them?? They never knew but either way,being inclusive to an incomer or whoever doesnt speak as fluently as we may like is always a kind thing

You speak the primary language of the country you are in while in the work place, anything else is cliquey and excluding

This ^^ Private conversations are of course different, but it's hardly unreasonable to expect work-related matters to be discussed in the main language of the area, be that English or anything else

One of the nicest examples of courtesy I ever heard was when a local nursery was visited by a group of Russian students. I was quite looking forward to hearing some Russian spoken, but no - they all spoke English all day. When this was mentioned in a friendly manner, they all insisted they did it "so nobody would feel uncomfortable"

Though their faces when I said "Failte" to others, or "Marsin let" (think I have missed spelt that but going from memory) as I left were always interesting!!

Well yeah, since Failte means Welcome you would get a funny look saying it when you left somewhere!

I did ThisIsTheFirstStep, thanks. But if I am going into a situation where people are speaking English I am hardly going to start off in Gaelic am I? Then when they try to distance themselves speaking in their native language...I get the message loud and clear. I accept I found it hard to learn and only got the basics but I did try

I would add though, I do not feel comfortable speaking English when I am with other people. For example yesterday after a school event, I had two children of a friend, my son and a colleague in my car. I wanted to ask my son a question and I spoke in the common language, it would be very rude to have spoken to him in English. It makes me and other people feel uncomfortable. I don't understand people who do this when there is one or two other people in a small space with them, such as others examples of staff rooms where there is only person who doesn't understand and therefore has no one to strike up a conversation with. That's just rude.

That is why I put the comma RepealMay25th, I said Faite to others, and Marsin Let as I left. My point still stands, I would rather be inclusive not divisive

If this were in the public sector then during the working time English should be spoken, different during breaks and lunch. Not sure about private companies.

YANBU - I used to work in an office in London where more than half of the employees spoke English as a second language. I hardly ever heard other languages being spoken (despite the fact we had a number of French, Swedish, German, Indian and Sri Lankan staff who could have chosen to speak with each other in their mother tongue if they had wanted).

All of these people had a high level of English and had been employed on that basis. It would have been rude of them to talk amongst themselves in their own language. So they didn't.

Obviously it was a different matter outside work/lunchtimes etc. But not in the office whilst they were working.

You shouldn't be listening in to anyone else's private conversations, whatever the language.

YABU.

It would be different of course in e.g. a meeting that was being conducted in English but a subset of attendees started speaking in a different language. And the staff room example about the Portuguese-speaking colleagues is rude IMO as it was a social kind of situation and someone was being excluded from the conversation.

But if people are speaking among themselves, it doesn't matter if you can't understand them. Why on earth do you think you need to 'overhear things' and 'have an idea of what's going on'?

And if you find your own colleagues intimidating then you have problems.

Is it partly about the relationship you have with colleagues, as well?
I'm quick to learn the rudiments of a language so I can pick up on a fair bit quite quickly. My colleagues know that, and wouldn't be daft enough to say anything unkind I might pick up on (apart from, interestingly, colleagues with English as a first language who speak the other language better than I do). I think because folk know I am trying to learn their language, they don't mind explaining when they're having a chat, so I ask them for the gist and they tell me. I'd rather that than them having to have a stilted conversation in a language not their own. They're not doing it to exclude me. They're doing it to communicate effectively, in a relaxed way.
My improved knowledge of that language means I can put our clients at ease, and support people in a basic way if needed. So it's improved our productivity.
I quite like being in an environment where different languages are being spoken. If the dynamic were different though and I wasn't being given the gist of what was said, I might find that a bit unsettling but that's not a language issue - it's a workplace dynamics issue.

Yanbu if there is a policy already in your company but yabu if there isn’t. I work for a large investment bank based in London. Official language of business for non-client work is English and that is so important that it’s in the HR policies. You simply can’t get a job for the bank unless you can speak English fluently.

"Yes they would. They would only hire someone who could communicate in their language so they would expect them to do so. It’s not a matter of people not being capable, it’s people choosing to do it.

In fact if you started speaking English at work in France they’d string you up."

I think this is bollocks. Is it based on your experience?
There are plenty of English speakers working abroad who don't even speak the local language. They're often hired in international companies where English is one of the official languages.

"Is it also cliquey and excluding not to speak in a loud, carrying voice for everyone to hear when having a conversation not relevant to anyone else in the room."

To be honest, I find people whispering around me MUCH more impolite than speaking another language. When they whisper it's on purpose so that I can't understand.
Open plan offices aren't always well thought out.

It is sometimes mind bendingly brain achey to continuously speak another language in the technical world of the workplace all day.

It's almost meditation sometimes to come out of a meeting about warehouse planning statistics in German and then just talk bollocks about your favourite sandwiches from M&S to a fellow Brit while you wait for your tea to brew.

We have global meetings sometimes which are supposed to be in English, and I'm the only native English speaker in a meeting of around 20 other native German speakers. Why would I expect them to speak English really?

"You speak the primary language of the country you are in while in the work place, anything else is cliquey and excluding"

And if the native language is not the primary language?
I've actually had managers tell me I wasn't allowed to speak or write Welsh emails at work even though I was recruited as a Welsh speaker, but if I'd complained publicly about it they would have been in big trouble.

I would rather be inclusive not divisive

You would rather they would be inclusive by speaking your language you mean, you cannot be inclusive to them by speaking theirs. All rather one sided, our style of inclusiveness, isn't it?

Years and years ago, while studying, I had a part time job in a hotel in Norway. Most of the staff came from all countries except the one we were in, so the official languages were first English and then Norwegian. Everyone spoke a bit of these two, some people's English was better than their Norwegian or the other way around. Even the managers talked to us in either of these two, or a mix of both languages, all the housekeeping staff spoke either in their own language between each other, or Norwegian or English to the others (depending how difficult they found the conversation). With the clients, we spoke either in Norwegian or in English - unless the clients came from a totally different country and then the multi-lingual staff proved actually very useful. The Swedish and Danish staff always spoke their language to the Norwegian colleagues, or English to the non-Norwegian colleagues, they never learnt any Norwegian as they didn't really need to. It was a very interesting crowd: Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Croatians, French, Germans, Romanians, Brazilians, Chileans, Hungarians, Kosovars, Egyptians... a very international and friendly bunch.

Please understand language is so much more than just saying words.

Last person I worked with, who shared my native tongue, was very flamboyant and quick witted. He had numerous one liners and funny comments. He made me laugh (when he didn't make me roll my eyes at him, that is). A colleague close to us would often ask what was so funny but things just didn't translate the same.
For example, I got a colourful rendition of his battle with the coffee maker on a different site, when asked what we had said about the site he could only say that he had a problem making a coffee when he went to [site].
We, of course spoke English as well (over a day in the office there was a lot more English than our native tongue spoken by both of us) but while his English was very good he couldn't express himself the same and was a very different person when speaking English than talking in the language coming natural to him.

While I appreciate he was probably a prime example of what would drive OP and other people insane, it would have been miserable for him if the rule had been "English only, unless on breaks" (esp since we sat next to each other all day and didn't necessarily take breaks together).

Yanbu, I have worked in multilingual places and even though you naturally start to speak your language with fellow countrymen it's rude if others can't take part. I had to consciously make an effort to remember to speak English with everyone but it really made the team work better together. If I work with people who constantly revert to another language at work even when they could use English, I assume they do it on purpose to exclude others from the conversation. It's not a nice feeling and doesn't do anything to build a supportive atmosphere at work.

I speak several languages, but if in a room with people who don’t speak anything but English, I’ll only use English. I know many companies, including major supermarkets in the U.K. have a rule re English only on the shop floor and I agree. It’s overly cliquey and excludes/prevents integration if a common language isn’t used.

if you happen to live in a country and you are complaining that local people speak the local language, why is it rude to say 'learn the language then'? That's what English-speakers are all saying here about those foreigners not speaking English to each other.

I work on the Continent. Company language is English but most of the workforce does not have English as their first language. And while they need to know enough English to do their job, basic level is often sufficient. Which is far from being able to express you freely and being fluent. People think it's reasonable to demand a French cleaner should talk to their French colleague in their very shaky English just so the American CEO can understand everything?

YABU - I live abroad, speak the language, but would never speak to a native English speaker in anything other than English - it would be too weird.

Exactly. I'm in the same situation and it feels so contrived to speak a different language to someone when we have the same native language. You are always going to be able to communicate best in your native language, so imo you'd be silly to not take advantage of that. If I encounter a native English speaker at work I'm speaking English unless we are having a group conversation with other people. To be honest, as an immigrant it is a joy to speak my native language with another native speaker as English will always be a huge part of my identity and culture. Imagine yourself as an immigrant and most people could probably empathise with that. You maybe can't understand how important it is to get that when you have the luxury of speaking your native language all day every day to everyone you meet. Speaking another language is great, but if you learnt it as an adult it's always more effort than your own native language, which comes as natural as breathing.

Yes in some situations it might not be appropriate, but people who think it is ALWAYS rude to speak another language around people who don't understand are incredibly unreasonable. Lots of immigrants are passing on heritage languages to their children which is incredibly important for their identity and ability to communicate with other family members. I myself speak English to my children despite the fact that I (and my oldest) CAN speak the community language because it's bloody important.

Now English is kind of a special example because most people understand English but the same would be true if I had any other native language. Fear of people thinking they are 'rude' is a big factor in why heritage languages are lost and that is always a crying shame.

howdydoody but maybe you don’t understand how ‘incomers’ have torn small island/highland communities apart and made it impossible for locals to afford things. And on top of that, then get pissy about people using Gaelic. Not saying it’s very friendly of them but it’s easy to see where their resentment comes from.