Very early in my relationship with all my affiliates, I try to find out what their native language is.
Often affiliates will put down English as their primary language but I often find their level of English cannot cope with the SFI business. A clue to this is the Launchpad lessons. They would often click as having done the lessons but then ask questions about what had just been covered in the lessons indicating that they did not understand it at all.
I strongly encourage you to be patient with them. You do not want to hurt their pride by pointing out that their English is inadequate. Be diplomatic about it. Find out their native tongue and simply communicate with them using their native language.
I write down what I want to say in English then translate it into their language and then translate it back to English. I do this to ensure that whatever is said in their language is as close as possible to what I want to say to them in English. Try to avoid slang and sayings that are particular to English – eg ‘down the gurgler’ is a saying which means wasted, or being flushed down the toilet. It would be meaningless to those who live in countries where there are no flushed toilets!
At the beginning I often send to the affiliates both my English message and the translated message. If they respond to me in their native language then I would know that is their preferred language and would use it from then on. Sure there’s extra work involved in what I do but I am satisfied that its well worth it.
As sponsors we are there to help our team members. Lets help them by giving them the best possible chance of succeeding in SFI.
Very early in my relationship with all my affiliates, I try to find out what their native language is.
Often affiliates will put down English as their primary language but I often find their level of English cannot cope with the SFI business. A clue to this is the Launchpad lessons. They would often click as having done the lessons but then ask questions about what had just been covered in the lessons indicating that they did not understand it at all.
