Example: several of my former coworkers are from Mexico, Peru and Argentina, meaning they share Spanish as a common language.
I used to practice Spanish with them, but my last charge (like a ward’s manager) would yell at us to stop it, use English only. She would get very angry really fast if she heard anything in a language she didn’t understand.
I find it stupid, because some of them would use Spanish to better explain to the new nurses how to do certain procedures, but maybe I’m missing something?
I have recently moved to france and have been learning french for the last few years (long before moving). I still have difficulty with lunch conversation and after speaking to everyone outside of work in french I appreciate it so much that I work at an international place where everyone speaks english, even though that is also a second language for me. Imagine how tired your colleagues are at lunch after not speaking their own language anywhere but at home and appreciate that you are capable of helping them a little bit by speaking english.