Speaking Tagalog in English speaking company

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Specializes in Chronic Neurology, Palliation, End of li.

Magandaga umaga,

Please could I ask your opinion, Some of my English speaking colleagues are saying that it is very rude for Nurses from the Philippines to speak Tagalog around their non Tagalog speaking colleagues, I can understand why it is unacceptable to exclude patients but not why it is rude to speak ones own language in front of other staff,

What does everyone else think ?

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

If the company or work place has a policy on speaking only one language then it should be adhered to. I also think it is impolite if there are a few of you and you all speak different languages then there should be a common language you all speak. If you can't understand the language and a couple are talking away in their language the person could feel left out or even insecure and think you are talking about them in a not so nice way.

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I'm sorry, is this a serious question? I'm just amazed. We profess to be professionals and yet we do NOT know the basic rules in etiquette. I am from the Philippines and living here in the United States. Aside from English, I speak Pilipino and a little of Spanish. When I am in the workplace, I am very careful NOT to speak Pilipino (or Spanish) because i do not want to isolate other people and make them feel UNCOMFORTABLE. To put it bluntly, it is very RUDE to speak in our language when other people are around. I know that sometimes we get excited when we see a "kababayan" and we prefer to speak in the vernacular, but this must stop. :confused:

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I agree with everything galvtexas said; it wouldn't be unpatriotic to be professional when it comes to the workplace, or any place for that matter when in the company of english-speaking friends.

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i understand that it's not proper to speak in the native language during work. but you are in the break, it's ok as you are not "working". it's rude because they don't understand it and get intimidated thinking you're talking bad about them.

some people may see it as rude but those people too doesn't understand the reason behind it. in a filipino culture, people tend to put a high standard in using the english language. if you're going to speak it, it should be perfect in pronounciation, grammar, accent, and right terminologies or else you are just humiliating yourself and thought to be a trying hard wannabe. some races have are not that good in english too and some even don't care if you aren't fluent in language. but the filipino culture is like that so we tend to just use the native tongue in speaking with fellow filipinos to avoid humiliation and understand each other better...

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
i understand that it's not proper to speak in the native language during work. but you are in the break, it's ok as you are not "working". it's rude because they don't understand it and get intimidated thinking you're talking bad about them.

some people may see it as rude but those people too doesn't understand the reason behind it. in a filipino culture, people tend to put a high standard in using the english language. if you're going to speak it, it should be perfect in pronounciation, grammar, accent, and right terminologies or else you are just humiliating yourself and thought to be a trying hard wannabe. some races have are not that good in english too and some even don't care if you aren't fluent in language. but the filipino culture is like that so we tend to just use the native tongue in speaking with fellow filipinos to avoid humiliation and understand each other better...

But talking in the language that is required by the company/country is good practice especially if language exams are expected if not already passed them

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hello silverdragon! i always see your post whenever i post ^__^ LOL:D

it's kinda hard to explain especially if things oppose one another as one cannot relate to the other...:p

we get to practice by talking to non tagalog speaking people. i think the situation of us filipinos kinda like how majority of native latin americans preferred to speak spanish too to their fellow latin americans even at work because they're more comfortable and feels easier to express things...:)

if it is a policy, i guess it should be followed. but because it is rude? i guess it depends on the person. me and my coworkers use our native language (filipino, spanish, african) and we don't get offended if we use it in front of each other...we use taglish mostly so the others can get the gist :lol2:

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
hello silverdragon! i always see your post whenever i post ^__^ LOL:D

it's kinda hard to explain especially if things oppose one another as one cannot relate to the other...:p

we get to practice by talking to non tagalog speaking people. i think the situation of us filipinos kinda like how majority of native latin americans preferred to speak spanish too to their fellow latin americans even at work because they're more comfortable and feels easier to express things...:)

if it is a policy, i guess it should be followed. but because it is rude? i guess it depends on the person. me and my coworkers use our native language (filipino, spanish, african) and we don't get offended if we use it in front of each other...we use taglish mostly so the others can get the gist :lol2:

But I have seen where it has been policy of the hospital and people disregard it and that is rude. I don't mind if it is on a break but when there are other nationals around and you know that they can not understand then it is rude to ignore them. They may want to participate in getting to know you, learn about your culture etc and not being able to understand is putting a barrier up that can be taken the wrong way.

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Specializes in ED.

There's a policy of that in my facility of only speaking English. Though i see filipinos time to time, i speak to them in Tagalog only in private and away from patient rooms. Yes, for me its quite unprofessional and rude to speak Tagalog around my English speaking colleagues. Same goes to other foreign languages

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Professionalism dictates that when you are in a working environment then you must comply with the language which is supported by that environment.

Reserve Tagalog (or Visayan, Cebuano, Chavacano, Maranao, etc) for break-times when you are with others speaking the same language.

The exception to this would be if you are engaging multiple persons in a conversation, it is completely against the rules of etiquette to break a conversation with mixed company and have side-comments with a few individuals in another language. That is rudeness on the highest order.

My office has an English Only policy, yet I let it slide because we are in the Philippines. Bearing that in mind, I get upset with my staff when they are in the middle of explaining a situation to me and then chatter to each other in Tagalog (of which I only understand 30%).

Consider how it would feel if someone was standing in front of you and talking to someone else in a language you did not understand.

Put yourself in their shoes.

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Specializes in Chronic Neurology, Palliation, End of li.
But I have seen where it has been policy of the hospital and people disregard it and that is rude. I don't mind if it is on a break but when there are other nationals around and you know that they can not understand then it is rude to ignore them. They may want to participate in getting to know you, learn about your culture etc and not being able to understand is putting a barrier up that can be taken the wrong way.

I personally do not think it is rude I think it is just a stick that rascists use, or paranoia, I also think it may be illeagal for facilities to outlaw a cultures language at work just because they don't like it, I have learned some tagalog and the phillipino staff respect that

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

- Nelson Mandela "

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
I personally do not think it is rude I think it is just a stick that rascists use, or paranoia, I also think it may be illeagal for facilities to outlaw a cultures language at work just because they don't like it, I have learned some tagalog and the phillipino staff respect that

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

- Nelson Mandela "

Sorry but I do not agree that it is a 'stick that racists use or paranoia'. In the facilities I worked in in the UK the language to be used was English as that is the national language of England and isn't because they didn't like it but wanted everyone to speak the same language. It also made things easier when explaining things to patient because to the most everyone understood what was being said. Not everyone is willing to learn language especially if the spoken language is the recognised main language of the country. If I lived in Germany I would learn German if I lived in France I would learn French. I now live in Canada where there are 2 official languages and if French is required for my job then I would learn it.

At the end of the day you should respect everyone involved and if the policy of the facility is to be one language then it should be adhered to when in company of others that do not understand. Less likely to have misunderstandings and will probably make for a more pleasant work environment

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