November 19, 2007
BrainTrust Query: Should associates speak to Hispanics in Spanish?
By David Morse, President & CEO, New American Dimensions, LLC
Comedian Bill Santiago calls it a language with “double the vocabulary, half the grammar.” Nobel Prize winning Mexican author Octavio Paz called it “neither good nor bad, but abominable.” I’m talking about Spanglish.
Whatever you call it, Spanglish is the language used by a majority of the approximately 18 million people in the U.S. who are proficient in both Spanish and English. And though being bilingual certainly has its advantages, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times called Biding Their Tongues, it also has its pitfalls – specifically, deciding which language to use, when and with whom.
What should you do, for instance, if you start a conversation in English and you see the other person struggling? Switching to Spanish might be rude, suggesting that the other person is inept in English. Yet completely avoiding Spanish may give the impression that you are standoffish, if you happen to look Hispanic. Not to mention the fact that communications may get garbled.
It’s tricky, says Ana Celia Zentella, a professor at the University of California, San Diego and author of the book Growing Up Bilingual. Her research shows that older Latinos sometimes “think they’re being lied to” when they encounter younger Latinos who speak English and say they don’t know Spanish.
What about English-speakers who may only know a few words of Spanish? Is it better to inject a gracias or hola or just keep it in English?
“There are people who are very touched when there is a genuine approach to them by people who are trying to speak Spanish to communicate and to connect with them,” said Ms. Zentella. But you can also offend, she pointed out, by speaking “mock Spanish,” which she considers racist – things like no problemo and comprendee?
Discussion Questions: Should Hispanic employees be instructed to speak English or Spanish to customers who appear to be Hispanic? What language should non-Hispanic employees having a smattering of high school Spanish use?
[Author’s comment] Studies show that between 80 and 85 percent of third generation
Hispanics do not speak Spanish well. Other studies indicate that even second
generation Hispanics, though bilingual, prefer speaking English.
Maria Carreira,
a Cuban-born teacher at California State University at Long Beach, and an expert
in the use of Spanish in the U.S., says that bilingual Hispanics often make
decisions “in a split second, based on cues such as age, clothing and apparent social status – along with skin, eye and hair color.” They will also consider the venue, she said: for instance, is the venue East Los Angeles or Beverly Hills?
Still, the decisions that Hispanics make are often not the right ones. In the article, Ms. Carreira herself laments an incident in which she encountered a blue-eyed person working at a taco stand. Though the man appeared to prefer speaking Spanish, she chose to speak to him in English, simply because of his appearance. She could see he was offended.
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I am fluent in Spanish. A few weeks ago I was at an Expo and there were various booths. Several of the booths were for our local Spanish language newspapers. At each booth, I got the same reaction as I reached for the free newspaper. La Raza newspaper told me, “You don’t want that because it’s written in Spanish.” My response was “Why?” Then with amazement, they asked me in English if I spoke Spanish. I responded in Spanish and then read out loud the first couple of sentences from an article. I even translated it to English.
A similar incident happened with the Hoy newspaper. I have brown eyes and brown skin. But since my ancestry is African-American, the Hispanics assumed I didn’t speak Spanish.
Since Hispanic is not a race, I agree that English should be mandatory unless the customer starts the conversation in Spanish. Otherwise the Celia Cruz(s), Mongo Santamaria(s) and Roberto Clemente(s) who were all from Spanish language countries would automatically be considered people to speak English to first.
When shopping in south Florida and also in Montreal, it’s very common for a conversation to start in one language but switch within a few words to another. Many folks working in a store will simply take the customer’s lead. If the wrong guess is made, it’s easy to switch immediately. Shoppers are often so happy to get any help at all that a few words in the “wrong” language is no issue. And it isn’t hard for retailers to find bilingual workers in south Florida or French-speaking Canada.
Employees should be instructed to approach customers (no matter what they look like) in English, since English is the official language in the US.
Then, according to how customers decide to follow on the conversation, employees would have to use their good judgment regarding what language (provided they are fluent in both English and Spanish) to use in order to better serve each particular customer.
Last year I took my Hispanic wife to a cemetery in San Antonio to buy a monument. The salesman at the cemetery politely asked if we would prefer Spanish or English. When I go into a store in south Texas employees can usually sense what language to use without being instructed. I was in a McDonald’s in Brownsville. The employees spoke Spanish to everyone but me. They didn’t need to be instructed. They just used good judgment.
It annoys me when associates are not proficient in English. I was at a fast food restaurant the other day and wanted two cartons of milk, and the person behind the counter spoke Spanish and limited English. When I asked again, I told her “leche dos,” she got it. I think we emphasize Spanish too much. I learned real Spanish, not the jumble most Spanish speaking workers speak when I hear them. My friend (who considers herself Latina) took a Spanish course recently and earned a D. My point: If you are going to speak Spanish, then speak it. Otherwise stick with English.
The starting point is identifying who the target market is. Stores targeting Hispanics should most likely start a conversation in Spanish, otherwise start in English. Retailers should also be alert to Portuguese customers. While they mostly can understand Spanish, they are more likely to be offended.
The checkout is where education and training is required. Too often in a non-Hispanic store the checkers are talking among themselves in Spanish. This makes the customers uneasy. The old training of checkers to know the customers seems to have been lost. “Hello, Mrs. Greenberg” is rare to hear today. Checkers should know what language the customer prefers. Put it on the frequent shopper card so it comes up on the terminal.
Several years ago in Paris, we sat next to two young women working for the same company, one was visiting from Spain. They began their conversation in French but the Spanish visitor was having difficulty with her French. After struggling for some time the woman from France very graciously asked if the Spanish woman would feel more comfortable speaking in English. She did and they spoke English the rest of the evening.
In the United States, English should be the first choice. If you find the visitor is struggling it would only be polite to suggest both could switch to Spanish.
English should be the first choice in most cases. But if the salesperson is bilingual, they should switch to whatever language the customer is most comfortable in.
The official policy and training should probably be to speak English first but then to quickly switch to Spanish if that is more efficient. This should apply to any language that employees speak in addition to English.
This is not just a Spanish issue. There are places in the US that have high concentrations of any number of different language groups including; Chinese, Italian, and even Hmong.
For a national brand, an English first then alternative language policy seems to be the only practical choice.
I agree with the first comment here; the correct thing to do is to ask, judgment does have probability of error, so why guess when it’s just as easy to ask. My wife’s Indian but gets often mistaken to be Hispanic.
Riding a cab in Stockholm, I asked in my very best Berlitz Swedish, “What time is it?” and the driver leaned back and said “What?” I wasn’t offended, although my pride was hurt a trifle. People should lighten up. Wish I could wave a magic wand and make that happen. English is good for starters, with a switch to Spanish if it’s clear that would be better. Just be your sincere and respectful self, and you can’t go too wrong. The worst thing is trying to be what you aren’t. I recall once being in Harlem with an idiot white guy who tried to talk in black lingo to the people we met. After a couple bad glares, I told him to shut the xxx up (white lingo for “be quiet now.”).
Workers chatting with each other and ignoring the customer is offensive even in English. If they are chatting in Spanish and ignoring me, I am quite likely to address them in Russian. Just to make a point.
“Discussion Questions: Should Hispanic employees be instructed to speak English or Spanish to customers who appear to be Hispanic?”
This question makes no sense, as a “Hispanic” employee (whatever in the world that is today) may not even speak Spanish, while a “non-Hispanic” employee might.
Interestingly, Lowe’s has signs in Spanish advising that they are closed on Thanksgiving Day but translating Thanksgiving Day into something, even with my limited Spanish, I have never heard of. Does that imply we English-speakers should no longer celebrate “Cinco de Mayo” in favor of “May the Fifth?”
What nonsense, and only serves to build walls between us unnecessarily. I think nothing has done as much to create an atmosphere of cultural invasion needlessly as the national retailers blanketing their facilities coast-to-coast with Spanish signage, call routers, etc. Good business when it serves a local or regional market; lazy and cheap otherwise.
It’s a simple function of customer service: “The customer is always right.”
If a business has the ability to cater in the customer’s language of comfort, then it should definitively do so. The customer is savvy–in any language, and will seek out the business that addresses him in comfort. This is not a political issue; it’s a business issue and should be addressed in that macro perspective.
All employees in the service industry need to be instructed to address consumers with courtesy.
If a customer does not speak the predominant language used in a retail environment, is it helpful to find someone on staff who speaks their preferred language? Duh! As so many have commented previously, there is no hard-and-fast rule governing this decision. If you want to sell something, figure out a way to work with the customer.
I’m in the “English as the official language” camp, then accommodate as needed on an individual basis.
Creating policy around this issue is more likely to muddy the water than clear it.
English.
I agree that English is the predominant language to use. But retailers can ask associates to wear “I speak Spanish” or “I speak Vietnamese” or I speak Russian” etc. translated appropriately on their name badges in as a way to make communication easier with customers. Even adding the country flags on name badges can make a difference and encourage customers to feel at ease in a store.
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I am fluent in Spanish. A few weeks ago I was at an Expo and there were various booths. Several of the booths were for our local Spanish language newspapers. At each booth, I got the same reaction as I reached for the free newspaper. La Raza newspaper told me, “You don’t want that because it’s written in Spanish.” My response was “Why?” Then with amazement, they asked me in English if I spoke Spanish. I responded in Spanish and then read out loud the first couple of sentences from an article. I even translated it to English.
A similar incident happened with the Hoy newspaper. I have brown eyes and brown skin. But since my ancestry is African-American, the Hispanics assumed I didn’t speak Spanish.
Since Hispanic is not a race, I agree that English should be mandatory unless the customer starts the conversation in Spanish. Otherwise the Celia Cruz(s), Mongo Santamaria(s) and Roberto Clemente(s) who were all from Spanish language countries would automatically be considered people to speak English to first.
When shopping in south Florida and also in Montreal, it’s very common for a conversation to start in one language but switch within a few words to another. Many folks working in a store will simply take the customer’s lead. If the wrong guess is made, it’s easy to switch immediately. Shoppers are often so happy to get any help at all that a few words in the “wrong” language is no issue. And it isn’t hard for retailers to find bilingual workers in south Florida or French-speaking Canada.
Employees should be instructed to approach customers (no matter what they look like) in English, since English is the official language in the US.
Then, according to how customers decide to follow on the conversation, employees would have to use their good judgment regarding what language (provided they are fluent in both English and Spanish) to use in order to better serve each particular customer.
Last year I took my Hispanic wife to a cemetery in San Antonio to buy a monument. The salesman at the cemetery politely asked if we would prefer Spanish or English. When I go into a store in south Texas employees can usually sense what language to use without being instructed. I was in a McDonald’s in Brownsville. The employees spoke Spanish to everyone but me. They didn’t need to be instructed. They just used good judgment.
It annoys me when associates are not proficient in English. I was at a fast food restaurant the other day and wanted two cartons of milk, and the person behind the counter spoke Spanish and limited English. When I asked again, I told her “leche dos,” she got it. I think we emphasize Spanish too much. I learned real Spanish, not the jumble most Spanish speaking workers speak when I hear them. My friend (who considers herself Latina) took a Spanish course recently and earned a D. My point: If you are going to speak Spanish, then speak it. Otherwise stick with English.
The starting point is identifying who the target market is. Stores targeting Hispanics should most likely start a conversation in Spanish, otherwise start in English. Retailers should also be alert to Portuguese customers. While they mostly can understand Spanish, they are more likely to be offended.
The checkout is where education and training is required. Too often in a non-Hispanic store the checkers are talking among themselves in Spanish. This makes the customers uneasy. The old training of checkers to know the customers seems to have been lost. “Hello, Mrs. Greenberg” is rare to hear today. Checkers should know what language the customer prefers. Put it on the frequent shopper card so it comes up on the terminal.
Several years ago in Paris, we sat next to two young women working for the same company, one was visiting from Spain. They began their conversation in French but the Spanish visitor was having difficulty with her French. After struggling for some time the woman from France very graciously asked if the Spanish woman would feel more comfortable speaking in English. She did and they spoke English the rest of the evening.
In the United States, English should be the first choice. If you find the visitor is struggling it would only be polite to suggest both could switch to Spanish.
English should be the first choice in most cases. But if the salesperson is bilingual, they should switch to whatever language the customer is most comfortable in.
The official policy and training should probably be to speak English first but then to quickly switch to Spanish if that is more efficient. This should apply to any language that employees speak in addition to English.
This is not just a Spanish issue. There are places in the US that have high concentrations of any number of different language groups including; Chinese, Italian, and even Hmong.
For a national brand, an English first then alternative language policy seems to be the only practical choice.
I agree with the first comment here; the correct thing to do is to ask, judgment does have probability of error, so why guess when it’s just as easy to ask. My wife’s Indian but gets often mistaken to be Hispanic.
Riding a cab in Stockholm, I asked in my very best Berlitz Swedish, “What time is it?” and the driver leaned back and said “What?” I wasn’t offended, although my pride was hurt a trifle. People should lighten up. Wish I could wave a magic wand and make that happen. English is good for starters, with a switch to Spanish if it’s clear that would be better. Just be your sincere and respectful self, and you can’t go too wrong. The worst thing is trying to be what you aren’t. I recall once being in Harlem with an idiot white guy who tried to talk in black lingo to the people we met. After a couple bad glares, I told him to shut the xxx up (white lingo for “be quiet now.”).
Workers chatting with each other and ignoring the customer is offensive even in English. If they are chatting in Spanish and ignoring me, I am quite likely to address them in Russian. Just to make a point.
“Discussion Questions: Should Hispanic employees be instructed to speak English or Spanish to customers who appear to be Hispanic?”
This question makes no sense, as a “Hispanic” employee (whatever in the world that is today) may not even speak Spanish, while a “non-Hispanic” employee might.
Interestingly, Lowe’s has signs in Spanish advising that they are closed on Thanksgiving Day but translating Thanksgiving Day into something, even with my limited Spanish, I have never heard of. Does that imply we English-speakers should no longer celebrate “Cinco de Mayo” in favor of “May the Fifth?”
What nonsense, and only serves to build walls between us unnecessarily. I think nothing has done as much to create an atmosphere of cultural invasion needlessly as the national retailers blanketing their facilities coast-to-coast with Spanish signage, call routers, etc. Good business when it serves a local or regional market; lazy and cheap otherwise.
It’s a simple function of customer service: “The customer is always right.”
If a business has the ability to cater in the customer’s language of comfort, then it should definitively do so. The customer is savvy–in any language, and will seek out the business that addresses him in comfort. This is not a political issue; it’s a business issue and should be addressed in that macro perspective.
All employees in the service industry need to be instructed to address consumers with courtesy.
If a customer does not speak the predominant language used in a retail environment, is it helpful to find someone on staff who speaks their preferred language? Duh! As so many have commented previously, there is no hard-and-fast rule governing this decision. If you want to sell something, figure out a way to work with the customer.
I’m in the “English as the official language” camp, then accommodate as needed on an individual basis.
Creating policy around this issue is more likely to muddy the water than clear it.
English.
I agree that English is the predominant language to use. But retailers can ask associates to wear “I speak Spanish” or “I speak Vietnamese” or I speak Russian” etc. translated appropriately on their name badges in as a way to make communication easier with customers. Even adding the country flags on name badges can make a difference and encourage customers to feel at ease in a store.