When someone’s speaking their second language, remember they’re probably a lot sharper in their first one.

Fluency and intelligence get read as the same signal, so somebody hunting for a word can sound hesitant or simple while being neither. In their first language they might be the funniest person you know, or the one who argues circles around everybody. What you are hearing is the bandwidth left over after translating. An accent is evidence of extra work, not less capability.

Give people a beat longer to finish and resist supplying the word unless they look for help. Judge what they said rather than how smoothly it arrived. Notice whether you talk to them differently than you would at full speed.