I'm no expert on this, but here's an operating tip I picked up from
Nestle years ago. It has worked well for me.
The notion is that people have great difficulty expressing themselves in
a foreign language, more difficulty than they have in listening to a
foreign language.
Therefore, the principle is that everyone speaks in whatever language
they prefer. Others listen and ask for translation if necessary.
I've had good luck with this method working with foreign groups who "speak
English." I speak in English, they speak in their language and I get
translation help from the more fluent in the group. I find that their
statements and questions are much richer than when they are forced to
speak in English.
-- Rick
On Sat, 19 Oct 1996, Judith Weiss wrote:
> This is a request for assistance. I am involved in designing a technical
> meeting which will be attended by people from the United States, France,
> the Netherlands, Tiawan, and Korea. All attendees will have at least some
> English, but in some cases not a lot. The meeting will be conducted in
> English and there will be no translators.
--
Richard Karash ("Rick") | <http://world.std.com/~rkarash>
Speaker, Facilitator, Trainer | email: rkarash@karash.com
"Towards learning organizations" | Host for Learning-Org Mailing List
(617)227-0106, fax (617)523-3839 | <http://world.std.com/~lo>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations
For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>