How do you deal with a foreigner who speaks poor english in your workplace or uni?

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seth

I remember when I went to uni, I didn't know anyone and the first friend I made was a student who had an Asian accent. I remember when he gave presentations, people couldn't help but laugh when he spoke but it was in good nature and he laughed with them aswell. I guess it wasn't a nice thing for them to do but he didn't get offended at all, he was a very easy-going guy.

Me and him remained friends until he transferred to a different university, but we keep in contact online however.

Well yea all I gotta say is that you gotta listen a lot more carefully, don't be afraid to ask them to repeat what they said as this is part of their learning of a new language. As someone else already said, just don't say "oh yea" and pretend you knew what they said. Also, don't be afraid to repeat what they said for clarification.

Be patient and speak slower and clearer for them to understand, their English will only get better as they communicate with us people who have English as a first language.

Whilst their accent may never go away, their understanding of English will improve.

I also noticed that some people avoided foreigners who spoke poor English at uni, and gave me some weird looks when I conversed with them. Well to tell you the truth, I imagine these people to be my parents who were in the same boat (they arrived in Australia in the 80's not knowing a single word of English). So I was, and am, always willing to give a helping hand to such people. Who cares what people think.

Edg1

I used to try to help them with English. I would ignore most mistakes as English is really hard to learn for foreigners. Break the ice at breaks and lunch with trying to learn some of their words. Turn the language barrier into fun.

PLANET ROGUE-POP: 1

Ignore them as much as possible....im not being mean, but when i get told that chinese should be Australia's second language I lose all patience and respect.

yes imagine my amazement when i got told by a foreigner at my workplace that she cant understand why ppl dont speak chinese since there are so many chinese ppl in Melbourne....omg, retard

Box Monkey

Take the time to listen to what they say. It takes a lot of patience but they really appreciate it. For goodness sake don't just nod, smile and say yeah a lot, they know when you don't understand what they are saying.

DarwinMale

Simple, I dont try.

They should not have been given the opportunity to live, or to study in Australia, without taking the time to learn the language, and also the way of life in Australia that makes it what it is.

Plenty thumbs down for me.

rowdy rick

GOOD LUCK

molly

I try and help them out they get enough crap from our customers and don't need it from their co-workers.

tamsin and mona

Some of them are quite nice, actually. They're willing to converse and improve their english! So yeah casual chat really helps them.

I've also met a lot of foreigners with really bad english who couldn't care less. They're so arrogant. Bleh!

Marko S

Doesn't everybody speak poor English?

jennifer h

I tutor english as a second language. The people are very embarrassed their English is not as good as they would like. Speak slowely and clearly the more opportunity they have with speaking English the quicker they will improve. Humour is good with them but don't laugh at them only with them. Use sign language if needed. Perservere with them and tell them they can ask questions if they don't understand or ask them if they understand if they look a little vague when you have said something. English is one of the hardest languages to learn we have such a lot of slang and don't always realise it.

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