It always amuses me and, admittedly, mildly annoys me, when people assume I don’t speak English. I’ve never really understood that since most of the people that I know (who are here) that speak another language, speak English just as well as I do. Anyhow, one of things that I notice a lot is that people talk louder when they think someone doesn’t understand them. Why do we do that?

Did you catch the part where I asked why do WE do that? I wasn’t excluding myself from the question. Recently, we hired an employee who does not speak English as a first language. He had some questions that the person helping him couldn’t answer and they came to get me. There was a definite communication issue, but we muddled through it and I think that everyone finally understood the question and the answer. During the conversation, I realized that I was getting louder and louder. As soon as I realized what I was doing, I stopped, but I was doing exactly what people do to me.

I’ve noticed on different non-language barrier occasions as well. When my son does something dangerous or very naughty, I tend to automatically raise my voice. Why? For some reason, a part of my brain seems to think that a loud voice will help my son comprehend the situation better. It’s funny, because what I’ve actually found is that I communicate my unhappiness better in a soft voice. When I yell at my son, he tends to yell back. When I talk in a soft voice, he often stops yelling to hear what I’m saying – it’s mostly curiosity, but once he stops yelling we tend to communicate a lot better.

I’m not 100% sure where I’m going with this, but I let my fingers flow this time. When I was younger, I experimented a little with the people who assumed that I didn't speak English. I wrote about it on my other blog. Link: I Don’t Speak English

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