Starting A Business When English Isn’t Your Heart Language – Riki Deale

So Crisp Podcast

Imagine having a medical degree. Imagine being a medical doctor, a lawyer, a professional, a teacher, an entrepreneur. Imagine having the smarts and determination to make it in the field of your choice. And then imagine people speaking to you as if you’re frustrating to communicate with. As if they don’t really trust you’ll understand what they’re saying. With a slight eye roll, a bit of a patronising tone.

It doesn’t really match up, right?

According to stories from women who immigrate to Australia and the US and many English first language speaking countries, those kinds of microaggressions and barriers are delivered – either subconsciously or inconsiderately – during many conversations – simply because English is their second language.

South Africa has 11 official languages, and English is the ‘home’ language of only 1 out of 10 people living there. And while it’s taught in many schools, it’s no surprise that a language not commonly spoken amongst a large percentage of the population would be tricky to immerse yourself in the moment you stepped ashore on this big red land. 

In this episode, I have the irrepressible, intelligent, driven force that is Riki Deale, who has bravely put her hand up to discuss one of the biggest barriers she’s faced in becoming an entrepreneur and starting a business in Australia – speaking English as a second language. 

The Crisp Takeaways

* Yum *

“Australia is so used to immigrants and expats that it is OK. Most people don’t care, just as long as they can understand the gist of what you are trying to say.”

(My biggest takeaway was) “Learning from Jay that ‘people scan or scroll online, so write at Year 7 level’ was music to my ears.”

“There will always be grammar police, they have nothing better to do. Smile and wave and move on.”

“Embrace it, embrace your accent, your grammar mistakes. I now point it out at the beginning of my workshops, ‘apologise’ in advance and then move on. Then, when I make a mistake, I just laugh.”