Can I use Canadian spellings in an American workplace?

Question

I'm a Canadian about to start work in the US. Is it appropriate to continue to use Canadian spelling in my new workplace? Obviously, if I were to author anything client-facing, I would use whatever spelling is most familiar to the client (or whatever my company's policy dictates). But can I keep my Canadian spellings in emails, internal documents, and other internal communications?

To be clear, I don't mind being "outed" by my non-American spellings. I just don't want to come across as uneducated or unprofessional.

I would be okay if a colleague saw my writing and thought, "Oh, Ord is using British-looking spellings. He's probably from a Commonwealth country."

I would not be okay if a colleague saw my writing and thought, "Oh, Ord is making spelling mistakes everywhere. How unprofessional."

This is a professional workplace. Fairly standard office environment. I'm a programmer, if that's useful context.

Answer 1

This is going to vary entirely based on your workplace. But I'm 99% sure you are way more worried about this than you need to be (unless maybe you're in some sort of communications role?).

Some people will have fun and joke about it. We have a bot that converts American English phrases to British English phrases (and vice versa). So "favorite" gets corrected to "favourite" and vice versa.

That might drive people nuts on some teams. Other folks would have a good time with it.

My recommendation if you are worried would be one of these:

• Ask your boss about this
• Ask coworkers of yours who are also from a non-US English speaking country

You can also wait a few weeks to get a better feel about this. You will learn more about this piece of company culture.

I would not be okay if a colleague saw my writing and thought, "Oh, Ord is making spelling mistakes everywhere. How unprofessional."

If this is your ultimate goal, I'd just try to use US English. I highly doubt many people would care at all but there will likely be one or two people who are just... difficult.

Obviously, if I were to author anything client-facing, I would use whatever spelling is most familiar to the client (or whatever my company's policy dictates).

If you do end up doing client-facing work, I'd recommend trying to write more in one style (probably US English). Trying to mix and match will drive you nuts. You can also just set spellcheckers to whichever locale you want, too.

Answer 2

Overall, I think your approach is well-thought out when dealing with clients by sticking to company policy or using whatever spelling style that are most comfortable using.

I understand how you don't want to give your co-workers a wrong impression with your use of spelling, but I would hope that the individuals at your job would be understanding enough to realize that we are the most comfortable with the language we grew up speaking. Of course if you are that concerned about it, it doesn't hurt at all to ask your boss about it.

If you were say in a job that was very writing intensive, then I would say your concern would be more legitimate. However, since you mention that you are in a programming position, I don't see this being a huge issue and I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I wish you the best of luck in your new position! :)

Answer 3

From a European perspective, unless the US is a lot more "strict" regarding language in the workplace, I doubt most will pay attention to British/Canadian vs. American spelling. As long as peers understand you, there are no repercussions to even poor grammar. And at worst, the colleagues here will just ask for clarification by tapping on the shoulder or via instant message.