Tips for effective bilingual meetings

By Heather P. Belbin

As a former federal public servant, I have attended many bilingual meetings.  As an English teacher in the federal public service, I have heard many of my students lament the lack of useful bilingualism in meetings.  From my own point of view, a huge amount of emphasis is put on making meetings bilingual, but here's the elephant in the room:  unless everyone at the meeting has advanced comprehension skills in their second language, it's doesn't work very well.   Many people will sit there lost, stressed and resentful. 
I've seen various tips around government buildings on how to make bilingual meetings work, and although they are well-intentioned, I feel that they fall short of what they are trying to achieve.

Here are a few things that might help.
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Image credit: Paul Shanks
If you are chairing / hosting / speaking at a bilingual meeting:

  1. Avoid the dreaded a few sentences in French, then a few in English, then a paragraph or two in French followed by a paragraph or two in English...  As someone whose comprehension skills in her second language are more intermediate than advanced, I find this to be incredibly frustrating.  Anyone else?  Those who are not fully bilingual will miss large chunks of content.          
  2. Summarize often.  If you give a detailed explanation of something in one language, please offer a brief summary (a sentence or two) in the other language. 
  3. Avoid idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms.  Example.  If you tell a group of participants in English not to "let the cat out of the bag", assume that someone is a) not going to get it and b) wonder why you were talking about cats in a meeting. Keep it simple! 
  4. Slow down.  As a native Newfoundlander, I sometimes struggle with this myself.  However, it is extremely important to speak at a moderate pace in this kind of situation. 



If you are attending a bilingual meeting:

  1. Don't suffer in silence!  If you don't understand something, raise your hand and ask for clarification.  If the speaker is going too fast, raise your hand and ask him or her to slow down.  If you are not 100% sure that you understood something, ask for a summary in your first language.  There is nothing wrong with doing this, and it is likely that other confused participants silently thank you. 
  2. Don't be intimidated into silence because you are too nervous to use your second language in a meeting.  Although I encourage people to practice their second language in the workplace, I don't suggest that anyone do it at the expense of their professional reputation.  If you have something to say, feel free to use the language of your choice.
  3. Be mature.  I've heard of unilingual participants storming out of bilingual meetings in anger, complaining under their breath and berating other participants for using a particular language. I cannot see any situation where this would be acceptable behavior, and a bilingual meeting is no exception.