Language Barriers?

[jaimelee 12]

Hello everyone,

I would just like to hear everyones experiences when it comes to finding a job without being 100% fluent in speaking and understanding English.

My husband is feeling pretty down right now because we found him a stable job where he wouldn't have to speak English at all and it was at a local restaurant where he would play piano (a repertoire that the restaurant owner wanted and he worked on for months) and last night was his first performance, unfortunately the owner of the restaurant turned down his piano, disrespected my husband and insulted his musical abilities. My husband got frustrated and said he would no longer be playing for the restaurant. So now we are back at step 1…

I would say my husband is at maybe a 40 - 50% speaking and understanding English. I helped him out with his resume and want to send it out to a few places, however, he's really nervous about an interview and if employers will be willing to speak more slowly or reiterate with easier words. I understand each employer is different but does anyone have any experience in this? He really wants to do something where he is speaking English and we are working on his English, he's in classes which he attends 2x per week, plus we try to speak English as much as possible and my family always speaks English with him.

Thank you!

[mallafri76 1,012]

I guess it depends what kind of job he wants. He's from Chile so he speaks Spanish, right?! Perhaps it's a better idea to take a less qualified job where he doesn't speak English but then attend his classes and practice it at home with you and your parents? Once he's more fluent in English, he can look for another job.

In my previous profession, I often hired non-native speakers as maids and for washing up dishes in the kitchen as those are jobs that have limited guest/client contact and don't really require native language skills. Good luck! ?

[jaimelee 12]

I guess it depends what kind of job he wants. He's from Chile so he speaks Spanish, right?! Perhaps it's a better idea to take a less qualified job where he doesn't speak English but then attend his classes and practice it at home with you and your parents? Once he's more fluent in English, he can look for another job.

In my previous profession, I often hired non-native speakers as maids and for washing up dishes in the kitchen as those are jobs that have limited guest/client contact and don't really require native language skills. Good luck! ?

Thank you for your reply. Yeah he doesn't really want a job that would have to do with cleaning or anything a normal non-native speaker would do. Thats why I am kind of wondering if anyone who does speak only about half of the language has had any luck getting a job or how and interview has worked for that kind of person.

He would much rather promote himself and play occasionally in different venues and events, or his artistry than take said job. My mother believes his english is enough and has sent him a job teaching piano which he would love to do and his qualified to do, I'm just wondering like I said if anyones had any experience in getting a job speaking english even with limited English skills.

Thanks for the luck!

Edited January 26, 2015 by Jaime<3Marco

[MiniKoala 13]

If there is one thing I wish people had told me about before I started my job search in the US, it would have been to not look at my foreign language skills as a disadvantage. It pays off to actually make it your special skill!

I was extremely worried about finding a job despite not speaking perfect English when I moved to the US. I tried really hard to hide the fact that I'm a non-native speaker (I struggle when talking to people, and I make some obvious mistakes in emails, too). It didn't help me at all because I put myself under too much pressure and all my job applications sounded stiff and awkward.

But then I started searching for jobs on LinkedIn and Craigslist that had "German" (my first language) as keyword in them -- and I found lots of jobs where international companies were searching for people with certain foreign language skills! Many employers give bonus points for applicants that are fluent in another language. And there's a surprisingly big variety of jobs where such skills are extremely valuable - translation, customer support, language testing, quality control, retail, hospitality, transport, etc. For many of those jobs it's not a big deal if your English isn't perfect as long as you can communicate with other people in the team.

Once I put my foreign language skills in my title on LinkedIn, I kept getting messages from recruiters that needed people with foreign language skills. I've been offered jobs at Google, Apple, etc. just because of that! So, I don't think your husband has much to worry about. And once he finds a job, his English will probably rapidly improve, as well. Good luck to him with the job search!

Edited January 27, 2015 by MiniKoala

[jaimelee 12]

If there is one thing I wish people had told me about before I started my job search in the US, it would have been to not look at my foreign language skills as a disadvantage. It pays off to actually make it your special skill!

I was extremely worried about finding a job despite not speaking perfect English when I moved to the US. I tried really hard to hide the fact that I'm a non-native speaker (I struggle when talking to people, and I make some obvious mistakes in emails, too). It didn't help me at all because I put myself under too much pressure and all my job applications sounded stiff and awkward.

But then I started searching for jobs on LinkedIn and Craigslist that had "German" (my first language) as keyword in them -- and I found lots of jobs where international companies were searching for people with certain foreign language skills! Many employers give bonus points for applicants that are fluent in another language. And there's a surprisingly big variety of jobs where such skills are extremely valuable - translation, customer support, language testing, quality control, retail, hospitality, transport, etc. For many of those jobs it's not a big deal if your English isn't perfect as long as you can communicate with other people in the team.

Once I put my foreign language skills in my title on LinkedIn, I kept getting messages from recruiters that needed people with foreign language skills. I've been offered jobs at Google, Apple, etc. just because of that! So, I don't think your husband has much to worry about. And once he finds a job, his English will probably rapidly improve, as well. Good luck to him with the job search!

Thank you so much! This is very uplifting and I have read this to him and he wanted to say thank you to you as well. I will keep all of this in mind. Do you think if I help him to make his resume or cover letters grammatically correct in English that doing so is kind of misleading? Did you do this when you put your resume up on Linkedin?

[aaron2020 11,651]

The language barrier is a problem for many immigrants. Most immigrants who have professional degrees often have to take non-skilled jobs.

For immigrants who want a home and food, then any job will do. There are engineers and lawyers working in non-skilled jobs so they can feed their families. They are slowly building their lives in the US.

Your husband may have to swallow his pride and take a paying job.

It's rare for someone who does not speak English well to simply continue his career after moving to the US.

[MiniKoala 13]

Thank you so much! This is very uplifting and I have read this to him and he wanted to say thank you to you as well. I will keep all of this in mind. Do you think if I help him to make his resume or cover letters grammatically correct in English that doing so is kind of misleading? Did you do this when you put your resume up on Linkedin?

Hey, I'm so glad to read that you found my words encouraging!

I don't think it's misleading if you have someone proofread your resume. I'm pretty sure everyone does that, even native speakers I usually worked on my resume and cover letters quite a bit until I showed them to my husband. But I would not have wanted to put them online or send them out without him correcting my grammar first!

BTW, I basically started my career in the US. I had just graduated from University when I started the immigration process and didn't have any work experience. I don't have any exceptional qualifications other than my foreign language skills and my extreme ambition And yet I still managed to get a good job right away, and got an even better one 6 months later (I now work in Tech Support/Content Marketing/Translation ). Sure, it's not easy to find a decent job in the US, whether you're an immigrant or not, but it's definitely POSSIBLE. Having a good online portfolio, building a network (that was my least favorite part because I'm not very sociable,lol), and being clever about the whole job searching process all definitely help a lot!

[sogreeny 2]

Hello,

i live in Miami (Florida) and i can tell you a lot they don't speak english, only spanish and they work everywhere... I can tell you that speak spanish make him have more opportunity, here i see they work also in Walmart, target, .... restaurant, sometimes it is needed to speak spanish, so be confident, it is more easy when you speak spanish even if your english is not enough.

Also something else, he can improve his english and learn with " rosetta stone English " in the computer, there is different level and it is easy to learn, my husband put this in my computer.

Good evening.

[ebe 6]

Hi! This is probably not very helpful, but I just wanted to say, we had the opposite situation, when I was living in Chile with sub-par Spanish, it was very difficult to find a job. I started out just working independently as an English teacher. I learned to enjoy the process of developing Spanish little by little and focused my energy on that. About a year in, I finally got a full-time job, also as an English teacher, but at a school where I needed to know Spanish. Eventually my Spanish rose to the occasion. But there is so much frustration along the way. You kinda feel like you're going back to being a small child, just having to learn the most basic things. I would encourage your husband to see this as part of the process, and also to push himself, not be afraid to make mistakes, and think that many Americans are probably just threatened by the fact that he DOES speak two languages––most of us only speak one!

That's not very practical advice. But hopefully he knows MANY of us have been there. And a year from now, his English will be amazing.

PS––I'm sure there's some parents out there who would pay a fortune for bilingual piano lessons...

[aaron2020 11,651]

As an American, I can tell you this. First, even Americans do not speak perfect English, let alone write English perfectly. Keep in mind that fluency is really the ability to speak without thinking what words come next. That being said, it is expected that non-native English speakers will make mistakes. Thus, as an American, I can tell you that while in the U.S. I would come across people on a DAILY basis that have poor English and generally they can be understood. Pronunciation is always more important than grammar. Large vocabulary, understanding it, and using it in a sentence is the best thing to improve. Grammar is less important. In large cities it is hugely common to come across people that speak little to no English, as well as those with poor and better levels of English and they get jobs. I wouldn't worry too much about it. My wife is Chinese, majored in English, has a large number of English ability certificates, and her English is pretty good, but she thinks it is horrible and we never speak Chinese at home. We have known each other 8 years, married for 4 years, and she still makes the same mistakes, but it doesn't change my understanding. Living in China, I communicate with teachers, students, professionals, everyday and their English is what I would consider in the 25-50% range as you describe, and I have no problems understand them. I would not concern yourselves with this issue. HOWEVER, always intend to improve to speak and communicate more natively and naturally and fluently as time goes on.

TraumaDoc's point about English proficiency is dead on, some Americans don't even bother with paragraphs. LOL.

Edited March 2, 2015 by aaron2020

[1stLoveRedo 111]

TraumaDoc's point about English proficiency is dead on, some Americans don't even bother with paragraphs. LOL.

Well Happy Monday

Thank you for making me laugh .. this was spot on

But anyhow,

I have been living in US close to 20 years now. When I arrived to US my English was bad. I understood some, but my use of English was very, very limited, pronunciation was horrible and I wasn't able to venture into any deeper conversation then 'hi-bye, how are you doing - good and you?' ....

Over the past 20 years I can tell you that I only had two instances where I heard the 'go back to where you came from' but I would be lying if I didn't say that those comments had NOTHING to do with me. it was their own personal issue with whatever was going on in their day or life for that matter.

My mom frequently visits as well, and does not speak English. She is super cute when she continuously apologizes to store clerks or other by saying ' Sorry, no speak English" and the most common answer is something like "but thank you for trying ... you speak some English and we do not speak your language... or just simple 'that's ok (with a smile)...'

My point is, Americans are very forgiving if you genuinely show that you are trying. They have patience, they are willing to help and are just understanding.

Over the years I have finished college here, and went so far to owning my own business. Never did I ever felt less of a human or a level below just because my English skills were not up to par with a native speaker.

Smile on, fear off.. and all is good

[jbanya 19]

Hello everyone,

I would just like to hear everyones experiences when it comes to finding a job without being 100% fluent in speaking and understanding English.

My husband is feeling pretty down right now because we found him a stable job where he wouldn't have to speak English at all and it was at a local restaurant where he would play piano (a repertoire that the restaurant owner wanted and he worked on for months) and last night was his first performance, unfortunately the owner of the restaurant turned down his piano, disrespected my husband and insulted his musical abilities. My husband got frustrated and said he would no longer be playing for the restaurant. So now we are back at step 1…

I would say my husband is at maybe a 40 - 50% speaking and understanding English. I helped him out with his resume and want to send it out to a few places, however, he's really nervous about an interview and if employers will be willing to speak more slowly or reiterate with easier words. I understand each employer is different but does anyone have any experience in this? He really wants to do something where he is speaking English and we are working on his English, he's in classes which he attends 2x per week, plus we try to speak English as much as possible and my family always speaks English with him.

Thank you!

Everything will be fine, what he needs is "CONFIDENCE!!!"

I am here in US about 6 months, not everyone can understand what I'm talking because my English is not fluent with asian slang, but I understand what everyone is talking (might say "pardon" when they talk too fast lol...)

Some direct sales called me & try to promote their products and services over the phone, end up they dropped off the line because they can't understand my English

From now on let him write everything in English by himself, is ok to have mistake from writing!

Speak only English at home, practice is important. My hubby bring me to Church all Sundays, and fellowship once a week so I'm able to communicate with others people, I can't speak that well is because my hubby love me so much, he able to understand my English and didn't spot my mistake for the past 5 years, that actually lead me have no improvement at all... in fact, try to talk to stranger more often can really improve his English speaking skills!

I have no problem in my job interview although I know the recruiter or hiring manager feel disappointed as my English is not up to their expectation, but I able to secured a job today, in my first job interview...

Many office assistant, administrative job, data entry, or even Music and Spanish teacher jobs he can try to apply, many bilingual (English + Spanish) skills required too in the market, go search from Career builder, Indeed, Glassdoor (Monster is ok too but will have lot of insurance or MLM companies offers job that no base paid fully on commissions).

Good luck & keep up!!!

[rlogan 2,036]

I can't speak that well is because my hubby love me so much, he able to understand my English and didn't spot my mistake for the past 5 years, that actually lead me have no improvement at all... in fact, try to talk to stranger more often can really improve his English speaking skills!

Very common. I have an acquaintance whose wife has been here for over 20 years and still does not pronounce his name correctly. I tried to help her with pronunciation, but she refused to try.

[jbanya 19]

Very common. I have an acquaintance whose wife has been here for over 20 years and still does not pronounce his name correctly. I tried to help her with pronunciation, but she refused to try.

Most of the cases is because their partner love them, never give them stress and learn to be independent, just like what my hubby done for me, until I started my volunteering at Foodbank, I found that my hubby is the only one who can communicate with me in the US, so I force myself to learn from listen, speak and understand.

Immigrant who yet to get any offer, or have problem in English, can consider to be volunteering, many non-profit organizers here need volunteering, is a good time to build resume and learn "American Slang"..lol.

[j&ana 363]

The language barrier is a problem for many immigrants. Most immigrants who have professional degrees often have to take non-skilled jobs.

For immigrants who want a home and food, then any job will do. There are engineers and lawyers working in non-skilled jobs so they can feed their families. They are slowly building their lives in the US.

Your husband may have to swallow his pride and take a paying job.

It's rare for someone who does not speak English well to simply continue his career after moving to the US.

I have to disagree. a lot of company want someone that can speak different language. It is a beneficiary to them. With that said I am sure the company will want the individual to meet all of their other requirements