By William R. Dodson
A reader once wrote about his mixed feelings vis a vis
“...foreign nationals communicating in their own language to one
another when speaking in front of Americans."
“This happened quite a lot...[at my company]...and the Americans
always felt the Indians were extremely rude for this action or, especially
when they would just explode in laughter and the Americans were the only
ones not laughing since they did not know what was being said. At times,
I spoke to the Indians about this and their response was always that they
would never talk about someone who is standing in front of them but rather
they communicated in their native language because it was easier for them
to explain a problem to one another. I always gave them the benefit of
the doubt since they were my friends, but I also feel that they did talk
about some people in front of them without that person knowing.”
In every developed economy around the world, the condition the reader
described above is becoming the normal condition of things. Many natives
find it unsettling to be around others who don’t speak the same
language the native does. I suppose I am different in this way, since
I always feel most comfortable not understanding a single word of what
is being said around me; but then, one of the biggest reasons for that
is that I spent a fair amount of my childhood in multicultural Hawaii,
raised by Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese and Hawaiians, who all spoke their
native languages in the homes in which they looked after me. At other
times, in the large common area that formed the collective backyard of
the housing units, they spoke a Pidgin English, which likely didn’t
make sense to outsiders either.
Later, through University and beyond, I always found myself most comfortable
watching and reacting to the sixty-percent of communication that usually
goes unnoticed by the conscious mind: body language, gestures, vocal inflections.
It’s one of the reasons I love café sitting: café’s
are one of the best places in the world to people-watch, to absorb the
unfettered nuances of culture and language, and to try to sync motive
communications with the language joining speakers in relationship.
I’m of the mind that people should be able to speak their home language
on the job so long as the language does not interfere with productivity
or relationships. Personally, I think it is the listener’s problem
if they do not understand a conversation that was not meant for them in
the first place. Typically, native speakers on their home turf give little
regard to people who speak English as a Second Language: native speakers
speak quickly, their vocabulary filled with jargon and colloquialisms.
Americans in particular like to use sports metaphors and military expressions
(“I’ll touch base with you after I initiate the tactical game
plan.”) Really, this sort of speech is like another language even
to the British, who use the English language in a way that escapes most
Americans.
So what is the reader of the original query to do? I think he should learn
some Hindi words. I also think he should become more mindful of the way
he uses the English language in front of foreign nationals. Has he sanitized
his English enough that any foreign national doesn’t have to grope
for the meaning or the connotation or the humor in what the American has
said? Or is the reader going to blithely remain comfortable in his domain
and take “home advantage,” ignoring anyone else if they can’t
understand what’s being said?
The world is changing rapidly. One of the greatest ways it is changing
is in the complexion and voice of the individuals and groups that are
working in bastions of monolingualism. Language snobs need to reach deep
into their memories for the time when they were curious about the world
and about others and dust off that curiosity, engage those coworkers who
speak their home language in a place they now call home. Not only you,
but your workplace will become richer for the understanding.
Author Bio: William R.
Dodson is Managing Director of Silk Road Communications, L.L.C., a management
consultancy that builds and improves working relationships across cultures.
He is a contributing editor of American Management Association’s (AMA)
MWorld Journal of Management. He can be reached at wdodson@silkrc.com
or +1 (847)722-7817.
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