Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google. I am assuming this is either Apple or Netflix in Seoul? Because Google, Amazon and Facebook dont have much of an office in SK.
Google has a sizable presence in Seoul
Ask HN: How to deal with my team speaking a different language?
71–80 of 111 posts
Re: Ask HN: How to deal with my team speaking a different language?
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
>your colleagues don't have an obligation to you or the company to hold every conversation in English. English isn’t my first language (I struggled to learn English as a kid) and I rather heavily disagree with this statement. There’s nothing about the situation that’s acceptable. Communicating well is arguably the most important thing in any knowledge workers job and this is already a difficult task for some people e…
Additionally, the speaker who has a hard time with English, I assume they understand it but might not know the "perfect" words to say, isn't going to get better without practice. While one could argue the OP should learn Mandarin, I'll hard disagree.
In all of my former companies that I've worked at save for one (Japanese Bank), staff were forced to speak English even if one team member did not know their language. Internal communication about company stuff within teams had to be completely in English, even if the team was completely composed of people in one language. Even in the bank I interned at, they had to revert to English (or use a translator) if they needed to tell me something (even though I was making a conscious effort to learn the language).
I can't really fathom a FAANG tolerating such flouting of social norms tbh. It's rude and unacceptable in so many ways.
Re: Ask HN: How to deal with my team speaking a different language?
#73Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google. I am assuming this is either Apple or Netflix in Seoul? Because Google, Amazon and Facebook dont have much of an office in SK.
It's in the US
Re: Ask HN: How to deal with my team speaking a different language?
#74Unfortunately language has become a stand-in for race and culture, and it has somehow become an icky topic because, as you exemplify, some people are downright scared to even approach that subject for fear of being labeled a racist or an “asshole”. Let’s just completely separate the two and focus on the facts: your teammates are speaking in a language you don’t understand, in a more or less official capacity; it does…
Our immediate team doesn't have a TL or PM in our office unfortunately. If either of them were to bring it up, it would be obvious that someone complained.
Re: Ask HN: How to deal with my team speaking a different language?
#75I felt this way at some point when I worked at LANL. I specifically remember a training module that said it was not inclusive or respectful to require or insist that coworkers speak a specific language unless it impacted your job function. After all, they dont 'owe' you anything to make you feel comfortable in social settings. And even if they are talking about your project that doesnt mean they need your input..
On the other hand, when I worked at a small German startup our CEO would constantly remind our team to 'speak English for nc!' -- but usually only when he wanted to make sure I was aware, bolster their own skills to continue to expand internationally or when he thought I might be able to contribute. I appreciated that it did also make me feel awkward when I could tell that speaking English made it more challenging for them to convey ideas effectively.
I recommend Pimsleur language classes to get started and meet them in the middle.
Re: Ask HN: How to deal with my team speaking a different language?
#76> I work in a FAANG office where a lot of people can speak Mandarin, but I'm not one of them. About half of my immediate team can, though. What is the official language of the company? If it's English, there are grounds to enforce it. The company should _not_ be hiring people on teams who cannot communicate in the common language - that is their failing. > My manager is remote and has no idea any of this is happening…
> What is the official language of the company?
It's English. I know that this could be enforced by my manager or HR, but would prefer to handle it in a more direct/personal manner.
> You can't manage an IRL team remotely.
We are a "hybrid" team split between multiple US offices with a few fully remote members. So, kind of IRL but also kind of remote.
Honestly though, there are a host of issues I've seen crop up across my org that I suspect are products of a weak engineering culture caused by our partially-distributed setup. I don't think we're ever going to switch to being completely co-located, but I do wonder if I would have a better experience working in either a completely IRL or completely remote team.
> If you lost your job and was replaced with another Chinese person, this would be ideal for them.
Hadn't thought of this. I think they like me? But I guess both can be true.
Re: Ask HN: How to deal with my team speaking a different language?
#77> One of my team members has a hard time with English How did they get hired?
I've brought up before that I've given "no hire" recommendations based on a candidate's inability to speak English, and my coworkers seemed shocked.
Re: Ask HN: How to deal with my team speaking a different language?
#78Re: Ask HN: How to deal with my team speaking a different language?
#79learn key phrases in mandarin - i dont understand. - in english please? - what's that about? - are you talking about (insert random mandarin word here that will make them laugh, eg cheeseburgers)?
Asking "Are you talking about cheeseburgers" is my favorite advice in this thread. Trying to learn it from Google Translate now, thanks!
Re: Ask HN: How to deal with my team speaking a different language?
#80Speaking as a former manager, it is your manager's responsibility to enforce English only.
Speaking as a non-native English speaker, working in a FAANG office where nearly everyone speaks a certain language that's not English, when visitors or others who don't speak the language are present, we use English exclusively. Anything else is (correctly) considered rude - there are few things less welcoming than someone speaking above your head in a language they know you don't understand.
Just as an example, a colleague from a Ukrainian office is temporary working from ours, while his office and home are unavailable. In a 90-person all-hands meeting, he was the only person who doesn't speak the local language. The meeting was held in English.