cross-posted from: https://linux.community/post/3497784
Example: several of my former coworkers are from Mexico, Peru and Argentina, meaning they share Spanish as a common language.
I used to practice Spanish with them, but my last charge (like a ward’s manager) would yell at us to stop it, use English only. She would get very angry really fast if she heard anything in a language she didn’t understand.
I find it stupid, because some of them would use Spanish to better explain to the new nurses how to do certain procedures, but maybe I’m missing something?
Racist, and a way for management to know if workers are discussing unionization.
Not always, it’s also a politeness thing, it depends on context
I don’t agree. Forcing people to use a language they are less comfortable with just so others can eavesdrop has nothing to do with “politeness.”
It’s not eavesdropping lol. I worked a company that was primarily Chinese people at the head office and they made a rule of speaking in English for inclusivity.
The post references any usage of spanish as bannable. There’s a difference between workers speaking spanish with each other while someone who only speaks English is present, and workers speaking spanish with each other when nobody else is involved with the conversation. I also worked at a company with a huge portion of speakers that were uncomfortable with speaking English despite myself only speaking English, any attempt to ban their language would hurt the company.
Right? Hence context
I am directly replying to the context listed out by the user, which in this case seems to be racist and anti-worker.
And I am directly replying to you saying there is context and I specifically said not always
Preserving “politeness” is the same tactic they use to keep workers from discussing their pay with each other, which is also deeply anti-labor.
Sure, I won’t disagree that it’s anti labour, but being polite to and around your co workers is important
If you’re scared of another language it just means you’re a puta gordo
I could see this becoming necessary. In Amsterdam and other European tech hubs it’s common to have English-speaking offices, so it’d be bad for team cohesion to have the native speakers form a clique in the lunch room.
It seems like a combination of racism (I bet they wouldn’t get worked up over two Norwegians communicating in their native language) and petty managerial tyranny.
I think it makes sense to have a common language among all of the staff that is spoken whenever business is being discussed, in meetings and things like that.
I think that policing private conversations is kind of weird. I don’t know why they would do that.
I was always told it’s a bit rude to use a language that not everyone present understands, since you’re basically excluding people from the conversation. Your example seems a bit silly though.
Offense: “a bit rude”
Punishment: no job, bad references, no health insurance
What’s funny is no charge nurse is capable of getting you to the point of getting fired over this shit. They’re just capable of making you want to quit. Management does not like spending money orienting new nurses.
I mean, foreign languages can and sometimes are used to talk shit about people without them knowing. Speaking English in a non-English place is rude for that reason as well, to make it less bait-y.
If even brief, well-explained excursions into Spanish are punished, that’s ideology or personal paranoia, though.
I don’t understand why English speaker’s imaginary fears of being “shit talked” outweigh the comfort of a Spanish speaker using their mother tongue? I don’t understand how English speakers having anxiety translates into Spanish speakers being rude? It sounds like a personal psychological problem certain English speakers project onto people who speak other language; if it’s not prejudice I’m having trouble seeing the difference
If you ever use another language to say something you don’t want another person to understand, then your employer would be right in wanting you to stop.
So texting a coworker on an unmonitored phone is also out of the question?
