To say something about language spoken at work

[Babbleoff]

Im in an english speaking country. I have started working in an office where the majority of other employees are from another country. They speak their own language all of the time. I mean, ALL of the time!! Whether its office banter or actual work issues, all in their language.

I am very experienced, have been employed for my specialist skills and am relatively senior, altho its a small company with a fairly flat structure.

I am feeling very excluded and struggling to fit in due to the fact that i dont speak the other language. I find it rude that in a small and close working environment no consideration is given to english speakers. The other couple of english speakers are much more junior than me and i don't think they'd say anything.

I make an effort to talk to people. On occasions a conversation i have started gets picked up by someone else and they take over and continue in their language. At lunch they speak their language even if im sitting with them.

AIBU to raise this with my boss? I feel like a dick suggesting people dont speak their own language, but ive been upset almost to the point of tears about this. I can go all day without being included in any conversations unless i start them myself. I feel so stupid even about that because ive been working for yrs and have very thick skin (bit of a cutthroat industry).

i should also point out that speaking their language is not necessary for the job and was not a requirement or mentioned during hiring process.

That does awful and gives a good impression of how the OP must be feeling. I’d have been the same as you and not lasted more than the (very long) week. Feeling isolated at work (for whatever reason) is horrible.

I’m in the UK and our work force is HUGELY diverse. It’s policy that English has to be spoken in the workplace. It’s very detrimental to team dynamics and morale otherwise.

It's completely unacceptable and they need to be told to stop. It's incredibly unfair on you and anyone else not speaking their language.

I've worked in places where they've had notices up about speaking only English at work. It's very alienating for anyone else.

I've been in a situation like this and it was absolutely awful. I think a lot of people on this thread are underestimating how upsetting and isolating this can be.

You should absolutely say something OP.

This is happening in healthcare in hospitals and care homes too. I’d hate for a family member of mine to be on the receiving end of this sort of experience.

Why are people banging on about Welsh. The OP hasn't suggested it in any way, and has already explained that.

Is the management at all aware of this issue?

@Catchasingmewithspiders
"In the UK or in England?

I feel like this is a Welsh bashing thread if I'm honest."

It is really funny the assumptions that are made. I assumed it was a UK office- Maybe an IT office - with a largely Indian workforce (as sometimes happens).

Banging on? 🤣 🥁 It’s called a conversation. A couple of people mentioned it, I replied and. Irving I said was against the OP, although it is my right to have my own opinions. .That’s how conversations work. Are you new to internet forums?

It is disgusting behaviour. It would make you feel like an alien , an outsider, unimportant, disrespected . This would certainly not be good for anyone’s mental health or morale . Anyway that says you should try and learn their language are talking hot air . It’s not that fucking simple, it’s a ridiculous thing to say . Hope it gets resolved for you .

It's not ok and you should speak to your boss about it.

Sympathies OP, that does sound really hard.

That's not really all that likely - very few workplaces are dominated by Welsh speakers (unless the nature of the job is to do with the Welsh language - I assume OP is not, for instance, teaching in a Welsh medium school!)

This happened in my work place , its allowed on breaks private conversation out of earshot. Absolutely not allowed in general communal areas on paid time.

I had this last year OP with a French company and I speak French (badly). It wasn't a requirement of my job to speak French but all documents were in French ditto elements of an UK website. I was frequently talked over, few people were kind enough to translate. I was made to feel very uncomfortable. Sadly they closed the UK office within a few months. I think it was more about the culture than language skills but my overriding impression was that they were very rude. Tell your boss it is very isolating and you feel excluded.

It's really unprofessional and inappropriate. I would cheerily say, can we use English as its our common language that we are all fluent in. Repeat English please. It does not make sense for them to hvaw conversations and you get edited questions. No nip it in the bud

It does but it gets banned very quickly as its very confusing especially for someone with dementia. One asked am i in england or on holiday?

I'm foreign and would never WANT to do that personally, I'm happy to speak English with people from my country, even on 1-1 conversation. However I've been in situations in England where I have felt both pressured to speak in my native language by the group, and felt terrible to exclude non-speakers. It's a very difficult situation to be in, because whatever decision you make someone will feel excluded.

This is to say that I completely understand your point, it's extremely rude and unprofessional, I would never work in a place like this, but even if you raise it with management I think you will struggle to get things changed because of peer pressure.

Have you raised it with anyone so far? If you've not said anything, they might think you're not bothered, as it's been a few months.it is probably partly habit. My Dutch colleagues sometimes slipped into Dutch, and didn't always realise. I learnt Ik kann geen nederlands spreken (I can't speak Dutch) for such occasions, and apologised and switched back to English.

As it's excluding you from work conversations you need to be involved in, you need to raise it and get it clarified that English is the working language.

I wouldn’t put up with this OP. I’d either complain or leave. Can you speak to the other 2 English people about it? I know you said they’re junior and probably wouldn’t do anything, but if the 3 of you complained together it might have more of an impact.
This is basically bullying. Imagine if they were all English too, but had deliberately developed a secret code that they always spoke in your presence so you didn’t understand them. This is essentially the same thing.

YANBU they are being very rude and intentionally leaving you out
Bullies

What a wonderful opportunity to learn the language they are all speaking!

ps. You did need to clarify England, because like pp, I wondered if you were offended by a native language like Scots or Gaelic or Welsh being spoken. It happens. How do you think we all ended up speaking English.

You don't have to learn the whole thing. Just a few phrases like "hey I'm here too, I'd like to join in" or "make us a brew Dave".
From their point of view though, it is easier to talk with someone of the same nationality in your native tongue and I can understand why they do it I can't see that other than in your first week you've raised it with them - why is that?

Perhaps read the thread.
She really doesn't have the time or the inclination.
Why should she?

You say that you are in England which has a population of 56 million. But you claim that giving any further details would be outing.

Intriguing.