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Second Language in the Workplace
I live in San Antonio and many people here speak Spanish. I moved here less than two years ago, so it's something I'm still getting used to. I've noticed at work that people will throw out a Spanish term or phrase here or there and people will laugh. I do not know Spanish, so I have no idea what they are saying. Sometimes someone will fill me in, other times everyone will just carry on. One time two of my coworkers started conversing in Spanish so our boss could not understand them. She was in her office, so it's not like they did it directly in front of her. Today, one of these same coworkers, who sits in the cube behind me, breaks into a Spanish conversation with an employee from a different department. These people have never spoken Spanish to each other in front of me before. They were not making any effort to be quiet. The two coworkers were discussing the fact that one of the coworker's sons was let go from our company today. I don't know if they were speaking Spanish because she didn't want others to understand or what. But there are two other people in my department that speak Spanish, so they would hear.
Anyway, I guess what I'm wondering is if other people have to deal with situations similar to this. I feel that it's disrespectful because these coworkers know that I cannot understand them. One of the coworkers is someone I've had tension with lately and at times since I've been there. I do not put it past her to speak Spanish to make me feel uncomfortable. I understand that the culture is different here, but I feel like it's rude to use a different language when you know not everyone can understand. It's not that I want to know everything they're talking about, but it makes me uncomfortable. Am I being overly sensitive about this?
Re: Second Language in the Workplace
I think you are being overly sensitive about this.
I, too, work in Texas. I teach at a school with a large population of bilingual students so I have quite a few bilingual employees. Most of the teachers speak in English when conversing but if 2 people who are native Spanish speakers are just chatting, they will often speak in Spanish. It doesn't bother me. Odds are, they aren't talking about you, they are just more comfortable speaking their native language. Not a big deal, IMO.
Why does it make you uncomfortable? Why do you think it's rude? When co-workers whisper to one another or have private conversations behind closed doors, does it bother you?
Yes, I think you're being overly sensitive, but I was raised in a bilingual household and work in a multi-lingual office (and, thus, have a different perspective).
I live in New Mexico, where Spanish is actually the official state language, so I'm just pretty used to people starting a conversation in it. I don't think of it as rude at all. I am certainly not fluent in it by any means either.
You live a city with a large Spanish-speaking population. You'll start picking up the curse words and slang pretty soon, as long as you are willing to learn. Don't take offense. Take it as a reason to learn a few words in another language. It certainly can't hurt.
Yes, you are being overly sensitive. If you want to know what they're saying- learn the language!
Think of it this way: Let's say you, as a native English speaker, get a job in Spain, or Mexico, or Portugal, or Brazil. There are a few other people there who speak English as their first language. It's more than likely that you'll speak English to them, even though you're using Spanish or Portuguese with the rest of your co-workers. It's not that you're being rude to your other co-workers, you're just doing what comes naturally to you and what makes you most comfortable.
Don't take it personally.
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i work with a LOT of spanish speaking people as well. what i think is funny is that if they are having a conversation with eachother it goes back and forth between spanish and english constantly. even if one of them is on their cell with a friend they cant seem to stick to just one language.
but i DO agree that they do it sometimes, especially on their cell phones right by my desk so that i wont understand them. that part i can see how its rude. they all speak perfect english yet around the english speaking people they will completely turn the convo away from us so we dont understand them.
and that hiss. one of my biggest pet peeves when spanish dudes literally Hiss at females. it drives me insane for some reason. its like a "pisssssssst" just to get your attention then they go on their way. it irritates me.
I work for an American company in Amsterdam. The primary language of most of the people in my office is Dutch but the business language is English. I speak limited Dutch but most of my co-workers speak Dutch when they chat with each other. It's not big deal. It's their language. That is what they speak, that is what they are comfortable chatting in. When they have something to say to me or something I need to hear, they switch to English. Overwise, what they say is none of my business.
I've gotten really good at tuning out when people are speaking Dutch.
You're being over sensitive.
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Seems to me you are being too sensitive.
It's one thing if they are speaking/conversating too loud and another when they are speaking in their native language.
In my opinion, I don't think it's fair that you are asking that they should not use a language they know because those around them don't understand it.
Think about it this way. I'm a liberal arts professor. If today I go into the faculty lounge for lunch and sit down at a table next to the where the engineering professors are sitting and hear them speaking in engineering jargon to one another, and I say, "Excuse me---I need you to use words I can understand so I can properly eavesdrop on you," who would be the rude one in that conversation?
Alternatively, if it bothers you that much, you could, I don't know...learn a little Spanish yourself to broaden your own horizons and become a more educated person. Nearly every community college in America offers Spanish language classes, or you can learn online from free website like live mocha.
The thing is, you say you don't want to know what they're saying; so, it shouldn't matter. Do you really want to eavesdrop?
ETA: Presumably your boss is aware people in your workplace are speaking Spanish (regardless of why), no? If she doesn't have a problem with it, why should you? If she doesn't know, talk to her about it, tell her it makes you uncomfortable (find a good way to articulate why, because I'm not understanding it here), and see what she says.
Jumping on board with the "yes, you're being too sensitive" bandwagon. If English is their second language, and they are having an in-depth conversation about something, it is probably easier and more natural to speak in Spanish, or they might not have the vocab to say what they want in English (or as easily).
As far as the little phrases here and there, that is just part of the culture of being in areas that are multi-lingual.
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I didnt see this before my first reply, but why does it bother you so much? are you concerned they are talking about you? Do you get upset about two people having a quiet conversation that you are not involved in?
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Ugh *bangs head on desk* This subject irks the hell out of me only because I deal with it on a daily basis and have had 3 jobs in which it has caused problems.
My current job employs people from all over the world and we have locations in 5 countries. I hear the following languages every day
-English
-Spanish
-Chinese (Mandarin)
-Japanese
-Korean
-Vietnamese
-Cambodian
-Tagalog
-German
-Italian
-Hindi
-Farsi
-Arabic
-French
-Russian
-Ukrainian
-Thai
Unfortunately I work with a group of people that LOVE to use anything other than English to gossip at work. It is so bad that management has set a policy in which English must be spoken in the lab and if you want to speak in another language you must do so in the breakroom or outside. There were quite a few problems with people talking smack about others in another language and management overheard them and knew exactly what they were saying. We also had some trainees in the overseas labs that thought they could get away with making nasty comments about their trainers within hearing range---they weren't expecting the American trainers to be fluent in their languages (Hindi and Thai).
My feeling is that if you must switch to another language to discuss a sensitve or personal topic or trash talk someone you really need to step out of the office or you need to rethink what you are going to say. I'm a believer in that anything you say at work, no matter what language it is in, should be work appropriate and it should not come back to bite you in the arse!
I understand the not trash talking someone else in front of them, but what if they're saying something else personal? Something along the lines of, "My mom is really sick. I'm afraid we may have to put her in a nursing home. Have you had anything like that come up in your family?" In that case, is it any different than whispering?
I also think it matters when/where it happens. If you're in the middle of disciplining two employees and one turns to the other and says something in Farsi, that's one thing. If you happen to be making copies while two employees are speaking in Hindi at the watercooler, that's another. From your initial example, it seems like the latter.
I agree that you're being too sensitive. It can certainly be uncomfortable if you let it but the reality is that we are living in a world that is becoming more international by the minute. I work at a place where the official business language is English but my co-workers speak Chinese, Cantonese, and Taiwanese to one another because most of them are natives of these countries.
I work in the Netherlands so some of my co-workers also speak Dutch, both to one another and on the phone all day with clients, and lastly each one of us at different desks are in charge of different world regions so one co-worker is on the phone in German, another in Turkish, and so on and so forth.
People speak what is natural to them. Trust me, when I come across an American here I jump for joy at the chance to speak in a way that is native to me.
It definitely isn't to offend or be rude to anyone else.