Re:English has been my pain for 15 years
by moocowduckquack on Tuesday September 03, 2013 @08:43AM
(#6320551)
but also slang, technical lingo and even local humour
One of my favourite bits of (UK) english that I regularly find myself having to explain to people is the difference between "bollocks", meaning that something awful has occurred and "the bollocks", meaning that something is amazing.
As european (and italian), I can confirm most of what Antirez said.
Moreover, founding a startup (or running a business, or working as an account, or working as a diplomat) is undoubtly much more difficult when you have to work with people speaking a foreing language.
The truth is that not just "accents", but also slang, technical lingo and even local humour come into play when you have to decode whether the person you are speaking with is really angry, sarcastic or she is just joking.
Things get even worse when you can't see those you are speaking with.
I don't think PG claims that strong accents are a barrier to creating successful startups in Silicon Valley, they just add up yet another hurdle that founders (and employees alike) must overcome to make that startup successful.
Therefore, such hurdles, must be accounted for.