My friend and business partner
My business partner is very good at computer programming, and pretty bad at speaking in English. When he writes, he is clear. But real-time natural English is a problem. How can we run a business together, avoid conflicts in our friendship, and persuade each other of things?
Let me give you an example to make this concrete. Yesterday he came to me and said "we're not working hard enough on this software." But he is interning over the summer to fulfill his student visa status; so really he is the one not working hard enough. He wants me to work at night, which is when he is off his internship. But I work best in the morning, and also generally alone. We're both learning to work together, so I don't fault him for this.
I was not offended when asked to "work harder," but I think he overstepped his request a bit in the sense that so far, I've written most of the software and fleshed out the business ideas
In general, he has a hard time assessing how he comes off in English (Hindi is his first language) and he has a lot of trouble being clear and concise. It doesn't help that he's a very good programmer, which has made him somewhat arrogant so he doesn't really listen either. I've always thought a good talker has to be a good listener to speak clearly and concisely
How can I help him with basic proficiency so our business doesn't fail? I know many startups have a hard time
Any other input from: A) ESL people or B) people with lots of ESL friends is appreciated.
Me:
My mother was born in China, so I am familiar with the situation, but often even with her after knowing her for over 20 years, it can be hard to understand why she does things, and it's hard for her to understand my American customs, although she's lived here longer than I have