Example: several of my former coworkers are from Mexico, Peru and Argentina, meaning they share Spanish as a common language.
I used to practice Spanish with them, but my last charge (like a ward’s manager) would yell at us to stop it, use English only. She would get very angry really fast if she heard anything in a language she didn’t understand.
I find it stupid, because some of them would use Spanish to better explain to the new nurses how to do certain procedures, but maybe I’m missing something?
I kind of get it if she’s around and cannot tell if your chat is work-related or not. You could be telling your colleagues to go cut the red wire but she knows it ought to be the blue wire. She could’ve jumped in at that point to correct you, had she understood. But the bomb went off already and everybody died. I’m exaggerating the stakes here obvs.
I would try to keep shit in English when she’s within earshot. And if she sneaked up on you while you’re practicing your Spanish, apologize, acknowledge her wishes, and tell her you were just talking about the weather or the game or whatever. She might just be nervous about you talking about her behind her back - while she’s in the room. So put her mind at ease. Don’t piss off the higher-ups unless you’re willing to lose the job.
In the US I get so tired of hearing this from other white people. I do not look like a typical Spanish speaker but I’m fluent in the language and not once have I heard anyone talking shit in Spanish around me or other white people (living in Los Angeles with Spanish all around me).
At this point I just assume people who have this fear are just completely self-centered.
When 2 people that know a language want to talk shit about someone else that doesn’t know the language, the first thing they’ll do is speak that language.
It’s not an unreasonable fear at all.
“Ive never experienced this so it cant possibly exist”
How arrogant can you be.
Why are you afraid of punctuation?