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Ask YC: What about people who don't know English good enough?

7 pointsby ochekurishvilialmost 14 years ago
I do understand that English is mandatory for communications in startups, but what about founders who come from overseas and are a bit weak in English?<p>Should founder(s) know verbal and/or written English on an A level?<p>Just curious on YC's position...

5 comments

auganovalmost 14 years ago
Not sure what you mean by A level. Of course you don't need to sound native. But if you cannot communicate you just cannot communicate. I guess it's pretty obvious. Nobody is going to test your English, but if you will make a bad impression and somebody will be worried that it will be an obstacle, then, well they have every reason to act on that worry.<p>Just do your thing and don't care about making an error here or there. If you know it's a real issue then go fix it, you will have to anyways.
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tobylanealmost 14 years ago
Just read this in the Week <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e3e18a60-9c71-11e0-a0c8-00144feabdc0.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e3e18a60-9c71-11e0-a0c8-00144feabd...</a> I see the point, the language isn't just the words, the grammar, the combinations of the words, but the intricacies (hidden details) of odd mixes which comes under wit and so on.
imjonathanleealmost 14 years ago
I don't think their English would need to be on an A level, but at least enough to communicate their idea across to the panel. It really depends on how much of an issue it is- if they can't even begin to communicate without stuttering, then I don't think it'll work out very well.
chalstalmost 14 years ago
I should think it is good if you have someone who can deal with people like VCs in native-like English. I should think it is a serious disadvantage if you have nobody in your core team (i.e., someone who can act as the face of your company) who speaks better than globalese.
mikemaccanaalmost 14 years ago
Off topic, but you mean 'people who don't know English well enough'. Good luck in your endeavors.
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