Question

You are in a meeting in a subsidiary of a German company in the United States. The meeting has two German citizens who are living in the United States and three U.S. citizens all of whom are employees. You have been discussing the packag- ing of a new product, and suddenly the two Germans begin speaking in German rather than English. You wait for a couple of minutes, become irritated, and leave. Explain what is happening in this situation concerning the use of language.

Answer 1

Not all Germans speak English and even though a small percentage speak in English, they are not comfortable in the language.Although English may be spoken it is a good idea to hire an interpretor. Germans appreciate when people learn their language.The most preferred business language in a German company is German. Since it is a German company in US, it is necessary to learn German. So getting irritated and leaving the meeting is not a good decision . It is necessary to have patience in a meeting.