Bilingual at the work place... another try at this..

[hemi68charger]

As some may have seen, I tried to post earlier and all it did was post a portion of what I wanted. For some reason I was having problems with my computer at work.. So, here it is from home:

Hey gang..
I have a situation to pose.. My wife's the Director of a Church Day Care/ Pre-school... She has quite of few Spanish-speaking employees. As well, she has English speaking employees. The Latin teachers will be gathered, along with the English-only speaking teachers, and speak nothing but Spanish (all of which can speak perfectly good English). For the English-speaking staff, this really creates an uncomfortable situation and to a certain degree, is rude... In this environment, English should be the spoken language due to 1. Everyone speaks it (I'm referring to her staff), so it should be spoken in mixed company in the work place and 2. Since it is a pre-school, the English skills for the babies/toddlers need to be reenforced... There is a Spanish time/period/class that is given to the children, so there's no bias here..

Now, outside the working environment, there's no problem.....

How should she go about expressing this without firing up the ole' racist card? This thread isn't meant to be a firestorm, but a source of experience in this situation by others on this board.

My wife has a responsibility to ALL her staff to create and maintain a comfortable workplace and ensure that employee morale is high. Courts have agreed...

Cheers,
Troy

Here are some links to court cases and food for thought....
http://library.findlaw.com/1998/Dec/1/129118.html

http://www.npelra.org/legal/workplaceenglish.asp

[PocketThunder]

hello mmm

uhh what??   

[hemi68charger]

Hey gang..
I have a situation to pose. My wife's the Director of a Church Day Care/ Pre-school

[my73charger]

 

[hemi68charger]

I'm trying to post something and I'm getting NO WHERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PocketThunder]

 

[PocketThunder]

Awe c'mon man.... we'll wait while you type it out.....

[hemi68charger]

It's not that.. About 80% of the time when I try to post/enter something, I get the "Document has no data" warning message and I can't go any further..

Troy

[Charger_Fan]

Damned confusers. <insert smashing computer smiley here>

[ChargerRob]

 

PocketThunder, That bunny is too damn funny.

[hemi68charger]

I posted a thread link at the top...

Troy

[Ponch ®]

There aint much that can be done. People have the right to speak whatver language they want to...and while it may be rude, that's pretty much all you can tell them - that it's rude. The Yentas here at work usually gather around in a little group and start whispering the day's gossip - I find that very rude...but what am I going to tell them? "Hey, don't whisper"?

[bull]

[hemihead]

English is the language of this country so I wouldn't acknoweledge anything unless it was told to me in english.Every other group of people that came to this country had to learn english wh not the spainish speaking also?
Or try paying the employees in pesos? I bet they would love that! lol 

[nh_mopar_fan]

wow. That is incredibly rude. I mean unbelievable rude.

I don't see any easy way out though. This just looks like one of those situations where the spanish speaking group will start screaming racism immediately. It's the way things are these days.

But, here is the key: Your wife does have a responsibility to ALL her staff to create and maintain a comfortable workplace and ensure that employee morale is high. Courts have agreed...

It would seem to me that, if I were in her place, I would call everyone together and couch the discussion in what is polite and expected and that is, english, with the knowledge that she has some legal support on her side.

I think it's a no-win situation. The English-only speaking teachers are offended, for good reason. I am willing to bet that the Spanish-speaking teachers will complain just as loudly about some right of theirs, which doesn't exist in this case, being infringed upon.

Good luck.

[TK73]

I like what NH said...

I wish I had a possible soution for ya...

About 10% of the staff at my office speak Spanish (including at least 4 pasty-white gringos) and quite often there are conversations in Spanish.  Maybe I should become uncomfortable about this and file a discrimination suit... "lawsuit bingo" here I come!!

[Silver R/T]

if they talk between each other I dont see problem. This is America and everyone has right to speak their native language

[last426]

They're teachers for goodness sake.  They should turn it into a learning experience.  When I was about 20 I worked in a big linen supply plant with about 80% illegal Mexicans.  I immersed into their language and culture and in no time was dreaming in Spanish.  I am still functionally fluent in Spanish and what a great asset.  My girlfriend is Mexican and doesn't speak a word of Spanish, my family is Italian and mainly hates me cause I don't speak Italian but do speak Spanish.  So my suggestion is that rather than sitting back and thinking the "others" are rude, get together and learn their language.  They learned English afterall.  Kim

[bull]

Coming here from another country and being bilingual makes sense. Coming here from another country and not being bilingual makes no sense. If immigrants enjoy being and keeping themselves handicapped with a language barrier I'd say they've got some motivational problems.

[last426]

Coming here from another country and being bilingual makes sense. Coming here from another country and not being bilingual makes no sense. If immigrants enjoy being and keeping themselves handicapped with a language barrier I'd say they've got some motivational problems.

You are such a bigoted dufus that you did not even read what he said.  He said "The Latin teachers will be gathered, along with the English-only speaking teachers, and speak nothing but Spanish (all of which can speak perfectly good English)."    Nothing at all about coming from another country.  And, to top it all, he said that they speak perfect English.  You're bigotry is shameful.  Kim

[twilt]

I think that the situation is best left alone. Any attempt to address it will more than likely cause a problem that is worse than the one that now exists. Kind of like asking your wife to go on a diet and lose 20 lbs. 

[nh_mopar_fan]

I don't agree with that. While I think it's a difficult situation, employees should have a comfortable workplace. That's all employees, even the English speaking ones. I disagree that it should be the English speaking employees that should be made to adapt in this situation.

I'm trying to find the "right to speak your native language while at work" in the BOR. Nope, not there.

[bull]

Coming here from another country and being bilingual makes sense. Coming here from another country and not being bilingual makes no sense. If immigrants enjoy being and keeping themselves handicapped with a language barrier I'd say they've got some motivational problems.

You are such a bigoted dufus that you did not even read what he said.  He said "The Latin teachers will be gathered, along with the English-only speaking teachers, and speak nothing but Spanish (all of which can speak perfectly good English)."    Nothing at all about coming from another country.  And, to top it all, he said that they speak perfect English.  You're bigotry is shameful.  Kim

If your head wasn't made of concrete, and you weren't so hellbent on following me around this board with lame attempts at "setting me straight," your warped mind would have ascertained that I was making a separate point on a similar issue. Why don't you pull your bloated head out of your posterior and look beyond yourself for once? I think you're just pissed at the world because you have a girl's name. It's like "A Boy Named Sue" with your knee-jerk stupidity all the time. Stop trying to flatter yourself at my expense. It makes you look like more of an idiot than you really are, if that's possible.

[Orange_Crush]

Its a sticky situation.

On one hand, they feel more comfortable speaking Spanish among themselves, and that's fine.  I speak Spanish about as much as I speak English on a daily basis.

The fact that they are gathered in a group with teachers who are NOT bilingual and they still speak Spanish to each other, especially if they are bilingual is rude.

I don't think I'm being clear.

Lets say that there are two tables in a room.  Betty and sally are at one and susana and Maria (who are both bilingual) are at the other.

If Susana and Maria speak spanish to each other, that's fine by me.  They're having a private conversation.

If, however, Betty, Sally, Susana, and Maria are all at one table and Susana and Maria only speak Spanish to each other, that is just rude.  Is there anything that can be done about it?  Porbably not.  Just chalk it up to insufficient education in the social graces.

[hemihead]

I wonder how they would feel if eveyone started speaking Russian or German to them?