How much English do you realistically need to work as a Manufacturing or Process Engineer in the U.S. as a non-native speaker?
I’m Mexican, Spanish is my first language, and I currently work in the U.S. under TN status. My English is around a B2 level, and I’m actively working on improving it.
I’m interested in moving into a Manufacturing Engineer or Process Engineer position in the U.S., and I would really like to hear from other non-native English speakers, especially other Mexicans or Latin Americans who have worked in these roles.
I know that saying “you need good English” is very general, so I’m trying to understand how much English you actually need on a daily basis to be effective as an engineer.
For example, how important is your English for:
Participating in engineering and production meetings
Explaining a manufacturing problem clearly
Giving instructions to operators, technicians, or maintenance
Explaining a process, machine issue, defect, or root cause
Discussing corrective actions and improvement plans
Communicating with managers and other engineers
Talking with suppliers or customers
Presenting data, KPIs, downtime, scrap, quality issues, etc.
Training people or explaining a new process
Defending your opinion or disagreeing professionally in a meeting
Handling unexpected questions during meetings
Making phone calls or talking over the radio in a noisy manufacturing environment
Writing emails, reports, work instructions, or technical documentation
Understanding different American accents and people who speak very fast
For those of you who started working as engineers in the U.S. without English being your first language: what was the hardest part?
Was B2 enough when you started?
Did you feel that you needed C1 English, or is that unnecessary for most manufacturing engineering jobs?
What mattered more: grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, listening, speaking fluency, or simply being able to explain technical ideas clearly?
I’m especially interested in speaking. Sometimes I know exactly what I want to say technically, but expressing a complex idea quickly and naturally in English can be harder than explaining it in Spanish. I wonder how much this actually affects you professionally.
For example, if someone has strong manufacturing knowledge and experience but occasionally pauses, searches for a word, makes grammatical mistakes, or has a noticeable Mexican accent, how much does that realistically hurt them when applying for or working in an engineering position?
And if you were around B2 and wanted to become fully comfortable working as an engineer in English, what specific areas would you focus on improving first?
I’d really appreciate detailed answers from people who have actually gone through this. I’m less interested in passing an English test and more interested in knowing what level of communication is realistically required to succeed in a U.S. manufacturing environment.