General Etiquette > All In A Day's Work

Spin-off of "Multilingual Rudeness"

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StaciNadia:
In my work, almost all of the employees and managers speak Spanish.  I speak very limited Spanish, and can understand a bit more.  The managers and a few other people speak English.  When they make announcements, they're usually in Spanish, and then they translate it for me, which I appreciate.

My problem is with the Spanish-only speakers.  I say something to them in English, because I can't think of the words in Spanish.  They say they don't understand.  Then I hear them say things in Spanish like, "What did she say?"  "I dunno, I can't understand her."  And then they laugh.  They laugh a lot at not understanding me.  It just really bothers me sometimes.  Sometimes I can't understand what they say afterwards, and I don't know if they're insulting me or not...

Is this a really lame thing to go talk to a manager about?

Clara Bow:
They may be laughing out of discomfort. Like one of those awkward situation laughs. I think I'd brush up my Spanish a tad and perhaps get one of the more bilingual employees to act as a translator wherever possible. If they make nasty comments about you or something, then managment needs to be involved. But if it's just a language barrier thing, then I'd deal with it on their level and leave management out of it. When I was in the pharmacy we had a little Mexican lady who would come in and we had an awful time understanding each other (I can order a beer in Spanish, but that's it) and we often (her and I) broke down in the helpless giggles as we tried to "sign" to each other what we were trying to say. She was very patient and very polite, but there was nothing we could do but laugh sometimes to break the tension.

StaciNadia:
Sometimes it is discomfort, or because it's a humorous situation when the other person and I are signing or something.  That's okay.  But I dunno, sometimes I get the feeling they're laughing at my expense.  Like they gather and talk and laugh about how we don't understand each other.  Sometimes they say "pobrecita" (poor thing), but it's not like a pity laugh.  It's definitely not an inclusive feeling.  And they aren't interested in learning English.

The only truly bilingual people there are the managers, and maybe one cashier, not people who I run into or deal with often.  There was one woman who we tried so hard to understand each other.  She was very kind.  But she hasn't been in since before Christmas.

Clara Bow:
Hmmmm, then I guess you'd have to involve management to have a translator, huh? I still don't think that they're being intentionally rude, we've all laughed a little at someone else's expense. But I'd definitely try to avoid anyone I thought was just outright hateful.

girlmusic:

--- Quote from: StaciNadia on January 12, 2007, 01:04:12 PM ---Sometimes it is discomfort, or because it's a humorous situation when the other person and I are signing or something.  That's okay.  But I dunno, sometimes I get the feeling they're laughing at my expense.  Like they gather and talk and laugh about how we don't understand each other.  Sometimes they say "pobrecita" (poor thing), but it's not like a pity laugh.  It's definitely not an inclusive feeling.  And they aren't interested in learning English.

--- End quote ---

As far as I know, from many many years of Spanish classes and speaking with many native speakers, "Pobre cita" is used the same way Southerners use "Bless her heart". Not always kind.

I would brush up on my Spanish. I would not necesarily speak to management, but I would definitely throw in a few "ayudame, por favor"s ("help me please"s) and try to make it clear that you are serious about being understood.

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