To quickly assess the fluency of someone's English skills, ask them to solve a simple math problem aloud. Do they need to translate the problem into their native tongue? If so, you can be sure that they're also mentally translating during your safety training. And the time they spend translating is time they're not actively listening and learning.

When training workers whose first language is not English, be mindful that they may be going through this necessary mental process and adapt your training sessions accordingly.

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