I immigrated to the US at the age of 8. I’m Asian. I think I mastered the language at like probably 12 or 13.
I recall often in my life, people always assumed I didn’t speak English for some reason. Like before I had a chance to open my mouth, that question gets asked…
Not sure if it was because I was perhaps being quiet and unaware I was being quiet, so they made an assumption based on that, or if it had to do with how I look.
I kinda always felt a bit uncomfortable.
“Perpetual Foreigner” kind of.
I’m gonna give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it was just maybe I was quiet. But still. A white kid could stay quiet and I doubt the first thing a person assumes is oh he must not speak english.
Um… sorry if this is a weird ask, but those of you who live in immigration countries, have you ever been asked “Do you speak [Language of the country]?” Have you ever made an assumption about someone?
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How did they even get hired if they get upset at that question? They should already know who they will be working with everyday.
Instead of asking “do you speak Spanish” try either “can you speak at least some basic Spanish” which would be an indication you need them to or “do you speak any other languages apart from English” which would be more like a skills assessment.
I also live in SoCal again. My dumbass took French in highschool. I can run a Spanish or Chinese speaking kitchen, but I wouldn’t say that I speak either language. Hell my French is basically useless because I haven’t had any practice in 20 years.
“Many of the people who work here are Spanish, can you communicate with them?”