Hello everyone.
First of all, I want to say thank you to all of you who have been giving very informative inputs to the discussions posted in this sub forum " Engineering Major".
I have seen lots of helpful answers to the questions posted in this forum and today hopefully you can help me answer my question " Will being a non native English speaker make me a bad engineer ?". I will be very much appreciate if you can share your experiences working with a non native English speaker who is an engineer if you have ever done so. What were the challenges for you to work with him/her in a team? How did you overcome those challenges?
How would the language barrier affect the career progression of an engineer? What are the most effective way to improve the language skill for an engineer who is not known for their communication skill.
A little background about myself, I am from a Southeast Asian country. I have been living in the states for 6 years and I’ve just got the US citizenship last year. I attended a state university to study ChE while working 35 hours a week in the past 5 years. I anticipate to graduate with a B.S of ChE and GPA of 3.95 in December 2015 . I am currently co-oping with a paper company and my co-op will end in December. So I will graduate with a 3 months co-op experience under my belt. Even though I can ask my hiring manager to allow me to work another co-op assignment in Spring, my priority now is to find a full time entry level job.
In summary, I am a good engineering student with a great personalities. However, I have always been being shy around others and I rarely speak up in the meetings because I will be very embarrassing if others don’t understand me due to my accent and odd idioms.
I am looking forward to hear your experience and advice. I appreciate any inputs or comments from you. If you have any questions for me, please feel free to ask. Thank you in advance.
I, too, am a non-native speaker engineer. I understand what you’re going through. My advice is to speak as MUCH as you can in formal situations… Start with people with whom you feel comfortable. Then move to more “uncomfortable” situations.
To answer your question: YES! You can be a GREAT engineer… But speech is necessary to get your thoughts/ideas conveyed. You obviously have the brains; alas, without speech, you will be a marginal engineer. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
I agree, you can certainly be a good engineer. I know many such people. The main thing is to learn to communicate effectively. This is not a problem unique to non-native English speakers. I know a lot of U.S. born individuals who have to learn how to communicated effectively through hard work and practice. Finding the right place to work can also be a big help. You need to force yourself to contribute to discussions. It will be come easier with time and if you are well-prepared and accurate, that will be the thing your co-workers notice, not your accent.
Too many non natives English speakers who are successful in engineering so I don’t think that’s a problem. But maybe the shyness could be a problem. But my kid never understood a thing her boss said so she asked him/her to repeat sometimes and that’s how she got alone fine with her boss.
Throughout my engineering career, I think I’ve worked with more non-native English speakers than I’ve worked with native English speakers. It’s not really a problem, assuming that your English skills are reasonable. Sure, you might have to occasionally repeat yourself or ask others to repeat themselves, but no need to be embarrassed by that. Communicating through writing (email) is sometimes better for understanding.