I feel tension talk to my customer. Why?

[rationalobserver]

Hi guys. (Lots of love to Ukraine people)

English language is different culture. You know native language. It's different. I have know English but i'm talking together my customer to i feel like tension. Because I'm afraid it will make the wrong word or meaning. I am very sensitive to my customers, I respect them and respond to their requests. My only concern is feeling inadequate. Maybe it doesn't matter to you. How do you get over it if you feel like me? I really need this. Thank you for reading.

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

re: "Because I'm afraid it will make the wrong word or meaning"

Don't worry about that!

You have ALREADY used the wrong words and made mistakes with meanings!

You do it all the time when you talk to customers.

Guess what?

They don't care.

They aren't hiring you because you speak English fluently.

If you hired me to design a database for you, and you met with me via Zoom, would you resent the fact that I have a receding hairline? Would you be muttering to yourself what a terrible freelancer I am because a suffer from male pattern baldness?

Is the answer "no"?

Then realize that this is how clients feel about your English language skills.

They are hiring you because they want your professional services as video editor. They're not hiring you because you have great hair or speak English fluently.

[rationalobserver]

Thank you for your sincerity. i feel some strong.

Are you know you're right.

Because freelancer was sit tight and all thought anything for customers.

Thoughnes, Maybes, and Worries!

i need not all that. i just need only work.

Thank you brother respect you.

[lucioric]

It depends on the kind of the work. There have been rarely clients where the importance is to communicate in English thoroughly verbally, for example managing groups in meetings or doing interviews. There can be important the Enlish. But in other jobs, it is not so important, as long as you can communicate adaquately. My actual boss knows that I don't speak natively English, but also knows that I am good at Python and at software architecture, and that is why he hired me.

Best regards.

[prestonhunter]

re: "It depends on the kind of the work."

I agree.

The original poster is a video editor.

And his English language abilities are apparent in everything he writes.

So by the time anybody actually hires him, they already know who he is and they already know he isn't a native English speaker.

[lucioric]

No, and in other projects you are simply "not hired" if your english is not adequate, athough it is a programming job, because of the need to communicate with the agency clients.

[r33c3]

Keep in mind, when you're bidding on projects that one of the requirements may be that you speak English fluently, if thats not visible then you're absolutely fine, just a prewarning to clients that your English isn't the best usually does the trick.

In a lot of cases, clients know they're not getting someone who speaks English natively and if they are, they're most likely paying a huge premium because of it

[lucioric]

Use Duolingo. It looks great to practicing all the corners of English Today I was not hired for a job, and promised me to take English intensively for a month before coming back to that client.

[elisa_b]

You could also use a browser extension such as Grammarly, it is very useful for detecting typos or little grammar mistakes - and ironing out some inaccuracies when you write in a foreign language.