Speaking polish to polish customers

prowla

Well, a consideration for the business is whether a constant chatter of Polish makes the English customers feel unwelcome.

annandale

If the polish customers can’t speak English it is a totally unreasonable request.

I’d suggest it’s also bullying. And honestly. If I were in a salon and people were speaking polish I would not care less.

Also. I would assume that not all of the other customers would be English or speak English as a first language. Just because a salon is in England it won’t make that necessarily so.

polgara

annandale wrote: »

If the polish customers can’t speak English it is a totally unreasonable request.

I’d suggest it’s also bullying. And honestly. If I were in a salon and people were speaking polish I would not care less.

Also. I would assume that not all of the other customers would be English or speak English as a first language. Just because a salon is in England it won’t make that necessarily so.

She has been given a direct management instruction - that is not bullying. Whether it’s a good business decision is a discussion point.

Undervalued

polgara wrote: »

She has been given a direct management instruction - that is not bullying. Whether it’s a good business decision is a discussion point.

Exactly!

I worked in situation with staff from various parts of Europe and we had a rule that all conversations were to be in English if anybody else (staff or client) was within earshot. I think that is perfectly reasonable and avoids any suggestion that the third person was either being excluded or discussed.

If the parties to the conversation were the only people present then they could use whatever language they found easiest.

In any case, if you opt to live in a foreign country the more you are forced to use the native language the better. If nothing else you are gaining a valuable life skill, for free, in the most effective way possible.

Mojisola

Amara wrote: »

I used to work in a care home, where polish couple started with no english at all. I talked to them in polish and I've been told off for it on staff meeting, in front of everyone. I've been told, if it'll happen every again, I'll face consequences. It's not easy situation to be in. Using language other the english is grey area in employment law.

When my Dad went into a care home, the manager moved one the carers to work in his area because she spoke his first language - he loved having chats with her.

Red-Squirrel_2

polgara wrote: »

She has been given a direct management instruction - that is not bullying. Whether it’s a good business decision is a discussion point.

Its a bit bullying, certainly inconsiderate, towards the Polish speaking customers, especially the ones who can only speak a very little English.

The message they are sending is 'we have a member of staff here who is perfectly capable of communicating with you fluently, but we won't allow that so if you want to be a customer here we will unnecessarily force you to try and manage in a second language you aren't very comfortable with, or you aren't welcome'.

If the staff members speaking to the English customers aren't capable of helping them to feel comfortable despite the absolute scandal of another language being spoken in the room, maybe they need a bit of communication and customer relations training?

Also, what's the deal with Brits assuming that anybody speaking a foreign language in their vicinity must be talking about them or ridiculing them? Sorry but you probably aren't that interesting, and even if they were who cares? People who are nasty like that aren't worth worrying about wherever they're from!

motorguy

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

I presume that when you are a customer of businesses abroad that you make sure you only speak the local language then?

No, however i would expect that if i went in to a shop where the staff spoke only english and i spoke english then that may put the locals off using it, which would be a significant part of the businesses income lost.

One thing i would say is, if i went to live in another country i'd make sure i learnt the local language PDQ rather than finding businesses which facilitated my lack of understanding of the local language.

That is to say, happy to have immigrants coming here to live, but do us the courtesy of learning our language as i would (have to) do in your country if i was living there.

Undervalued

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

Its a bit bullying, certainly inconsiderate, towards the Polish speaking customers, especially the ones who can only speak a very little English.

No it is not.

Whilst there may well be perfectly valid arguments, as you suggest, that it is not the best policy to choose that does not make it bullying.

It is a decision the store owner if perfectly entitled to make.

motorguy

annandale wrote: »

If the polish customers can’t speak English it is a totally unreasonable request.

I’d suggest it’s also bullying. And honestly. If I were in a salon and people were speaking polish I would not care less.

Also. I would assume that not all of the other customers would be English or speak English as a first language. Just because a salon is in England it won’t make that necessarily so.

Well clearly the business owner feels differently and they are there after to all to make money. If they want to specialise and be a Polish beauty salon then great, however they clearly dont want their business to be that.

I ran a computer shop some years ago and we had quote a significant eastern european customer base. I never thought to myself though lets converse with them in their native tongues and pitch ourselves as an Eastern European computer shop.

Red-Squirrel_2

motorguy wrote: »

No, however i would expect that if i went in to a shop where the staff spoke only english and i spoke english then that may put the locals off using it, which would be a significant part of the businesses income lost.

One thing i would say is, if i went to live in another country i'd make sure i learnt the local language PDQ rather than finding businesses which facilitated my lack of understanding of the local language.

That is to say, happy to have immigrants coming here to live, but do us the courtesy of learning our language as i would (have to) do in your country if i was living there.

It takes a really long time to get completely fluent in a second language that you only start learning as an adult, no matter how hard you try, and you will probably always feel more comfortable using your first language and would jump at the chance when you got it.