Foreign Languages in the Work Place

[ContractTester]

Hi,
Would be interested in other people's input on this one.

I am working in a test team, 6 testers and a test manager.

The team is pretty multi-cultural, A Brit, an Aussie, a Vietnamese, a Nigerian, two Indians and the Test Lead who is Indian,

The Test Lead has taken to talking to the two Indian team members in Hindi, and the rest of us in English.

If he is talking to the whole team he will use English, but when talking to the Indian team members he uses Hindi, totally cutting the rest of the team out of the equation.

This situation really irritates me, but maybe I am overreacting. I am toying with various options from just having a quite word with him, to going over his head to senior management. I dont really want to listen in on his conversations with my other team members, but it is a bit off-putting when he comes and stands in my work area, and leans over the screen to have a half hour conversation with the (female) indian tester while I am trying to work,

What do other forum members think? Should I just let the Indian team members have their own team within a team and be thankful that they talk to me in English when they want my assistance? I dont want to be accused of being a racist or BNP.

Cheers,
CT

[Doggy Styles]

Lay a few slices of beef on your desk where he leans. He'll soon get the message. If necessary, label them "Beef".

[dang65]

Well, it sounds like there are two issues here: One, that he speaks in Hindi and, two, that he chats for half an hour to the person next to you while you are trying to work.

I'd say that you should handle two first. One won't be an issue then, will it? Handle two by getting some headphones, like everyone else does.

[TimberWolf]

Learn Indian and be privie to whatever mindless carp it is they are talking about.

[Andy2]

Only half an hour ?
There is a project manager next to me who once starts to talk ,will stop after 2 or 3 hours.
Ipod was invented for this kind of situation.

[thunderlizard]

Make a great show of learning about 3 words of Hindi
("shukriya", thank you, is handy, as is "bahut khub", nice job!). That should shame them into using English more.

If not, Hindi has some of the most imaginative swear-words and phrases in any language, e.g.:

Teri maa ki chut mein chatri leke ghus jaunga aur khol dunga.

Mein teri maa ko teri bahen ki choot mein chodoonga aur tera baap laltern lekar aayega.

[Lumiere]

Learn Vietnamese and use it to communicate with your another colleague, do not forget to point at the manager and laugh loudly from time to time.

[Clippy]

Learn Vietnamese and use it to communicate with your another colleague, do not forget to point at the manager and laugh loudly from time to time.

or learn Nigerian instead - this video should help.

[d000hg]

If he's not talking to you why do you feel the need to eavesdrop?

[TheFaQQer]

If he were speaking a common language, then there might be the opportunity for you to chip in with helpful advice. I'd have a quiet word and explain it like that, so that it looks like you are offering a benefit rather than whinging about not speaking Hindi.