Keywords: Latino, U.S. work force, Spanish-speaking, non-Spanish-speaking, prominent language, English
The answer to the question "Is speaking Spanish in the workplace acceptable?" may seem easy. But in today's work force, where Latino men and women account for 16 million workers, the question becomes more of where and how you use what may be your native tongue.
Rene Rodriguez, president and founder of Babbalu.com, a predominately Latino organization, believes it's common workplace courtesy to respect those who may be around you.
"It's rude to speak [Spanish] if you're in a room with five people and three are Latino or two are Latino and three are not," he says. "Whatever the case may be, it's rude for those two people to be speaking in a manner that the other people do not understand."
Even though Latinos are the fastest-growing traditionally underrepresented group in this country, the prominent language remains English.
"When I started out in the workplace, it was a time when [there were] not that many Spanish speakers," says Ana Mollinedo Mims, managing director of The Hunting Ridge Group and former vice president of global communications, community affairs and diversity for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, No. 19 on The 2008 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® list. "Actually, more were coming in and I used to hear all the time from non-Spanish speaking coworkers, 'Do you think that they're talking about us?' 'When you speak Spanish, are you talking about us?' because that's a natural paranoia that people have."
Mims says that to assume you are the topic of a non-English-speaking conversation is a little self-absorbed but a common mistake, one that the Spanish speaker needs to correct.
"My parents always taught me to not speak Spanish in an overt, loud way around non-Spanish speakers because you didn't want to offend," adds Mims. "I think that if you're in a meeting and you break off to the person sitting next to you and start speaking a different language, that's not appropriate. You're in a meeting with other people."
So when is it OK to speak Spanish in the workplace?
"When you're having a personal conversation with a colleague in a hallway or over lunch or at their desk, and you're speaking in Spanish--as long as you're doing it in a tone and in a way that's professional, I think that's fine," advises Mims. "[It will be less offensive] when it's done in the right time, in the right place and in the right way."
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