Improve Communication with Your Spanish Speaking Employees
If you have Spanish-speaking employees in your restaurant, show them how important they are to you and your operation by making an effort to communicate with them in their own language. You may not want or be able to become fluent, but it’s not hard to learn some words and phrases. Part of your employee training program should include learning some Spanish, and vice versa. Let’s practice a few “feelings” using estoy (I am). Keep in mind that masculine (m) nouns usually end in o, feminine (f) ones in a. The gender of adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify. This applies when speaking of both things and people. If the adjective doesn’t end in o or a, the ending doesn’t change whether the speaker is male or female.
¿Cómo se siente? [ko-mo say see-in-tay] How do you feel?
Estoy (I am)…
| You Say | Pronunciation | I Say |
| Aburrido | [ah-boo-rree-do] | bored (m) |
| Aburrida | [ah-boo-rree-da] | bored (f) |
| Nervioso | [nehr-bee-oh-so] | nervous (m) |
| Nerviosa | [nehr-bee-oh-sa] | nervous (f) |
| Triste | [tree-steh] | sad |
| Feliz | [feh-lees] | happy |
| Contento | [kon-ten-do] | happy (m) |
| Contenta | [kon-ten-ta] | happy (m) |
| Ocupado | [oh-koo-pah-do] | busy (m) |
| Ocupada | [oh-koo-pah-da] | busy (f) |
| Preocupado | [preh-oh-koo-pah-do] | worried (m) |
| Preocupada | [preh-oh-koo-pah-da] | worried (f) |
| Mejor | [Meh-hoar] | better |
| Peor | [pay-or] | worse |
Workplace English – Communicating Effectively with Your Spanish-speaking Employees
Spanish-speaking employees are often critical members of a restaurant team, and learning to bridge that communication gap is an important skill. Keep these tips in mind:
- Focus on communicating the main idea – keep phrases and sentences as simple as possible.
- Don’t use broken English.
- Think of at least one other way to rephrase what you want to say.
- Avoid asking “yes/no” questions or asking judo you understanding Remember to ask “wh_” questions or open-ended questions to check comprehension. For example, instead of asking, “Did you talk to your supervisor ask, “Who did you talk to?”
When listening to an employee whose first language isn’t English, be sure to give them time to communicate, and encourage them to “show” you what they need to tell you. Take the time to learn about your employees both culturally and personally. Whatever you do, never assume that a lack of English proficiency indicates that lack of intelligence.
