Please speak English!!!!!

[BoyLovesBuzz]

DW was born about 11 feet from West Virginia, so combine her "mountain" with their spanish, and we are lucky we ever eat.

 

[boomhauer]

I ordered my iMac from Apple and used their tech support and I got California...

I was only joking. I don't really know where they're based out of. I just notice every time I call either of them, I get someone with a heavy Indian accent.

 

[Camicar]

and we feel that more and more the English speakers are being expected to adapt instead of the other way around.

ITA.

A few months ago I went into McD's while traveling to get an Egg McMuffin and an orange juice. i went IN as opposed to the drive thru because I was sick of getting my bag and it being completely wrong. It was no better inside. And you know, I'm not trying to have a philosophical discussion about the meaning of life here, just trying to order two items off of YOUR menu. I have no real discernable accent and so it wasn't as though my own English is hard to understand; in addition, I used to do and teach public speaking, so I AM a very clear speaker. And yet the guy behind the counter could not understand, "Egg McMuffin and large orange juice." If your English is that bad, clearly you should not be working here. I finally had to resort to my 7th grade Spanish to place an order in Madison, WI because their employee could not understand five words of English, of which four were items from their own menu.

 

[FSUGrad97]

I've never had that happen, and I've lived in various parts of Florida for 19 years.

 

[disneyfan67]

Don't ever call Delta or Apple. All of their switchboard operators are stationed in India.

It sounds mean, but there's a very heavy language barrier there.

I noticed that as well. I tried calling Delta to confirm my flight, due to the fact that it has changed 6 times since I booked in Feb, and I noticed the accent. You could tell I was switched and routed through a call center in India and asked if this was true. The woman on the phone admitted so, but was very hard to understand and work with. Her accent and speech was very thick and I was getting no where in dealing with her. I have no idea if my seat arrangements are what I originally picked and I guess I have to get to the gate extra early to get my family seats in the same section. I despise the outsourcing of these customer service jobs overseas. I can understand somethings, but not CS and dealing with the public.

 

[Lisa_M]

At Dunkin' Donuts, they won't hire you if you speak english.

lol, that isn't true of all DD, it depends on the area. My hometown DD, the best one ever, was great. The ones in southeastern PA...complete crap. Old tough bagels and coffee. It seems all of the owners and workers are Indian and it's so hard to understand them. One man didnt' understand "Medium coffee with cream and sugar." They won't accept coupons that come in the local paper or coupons that they placed in the Entertainment book. It's so frustrating and as a result, I no longer will give them my money for old food.

 

[daisax]

I ordered my iMac from Apple and used their tech support and I got California...

Well, the next frontier is prisons (NOT saying that Apple hires prison labor) - "domestic outsourcing at offshore prices."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4505278

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2004/02/62430

 

[poptartlette]

Language is one thing, but the forcing of the metric system and celsius upon our standards of weights and measures can be extremely irritating. Next I'll have to weigh myself in stone! I weigh 8.8 stone because I consume 2 L of water a day especially when it is over 32 C outside.

 

[disneyfan67]

I've never had that happen, and I've lived in various parts of Florida for 19 years.

You should try visiting Waukegan Illinois. Not only do the fast food places have hardly anyone who speaks English, some of the stores have the "items in the aisle" signs, hanging from the ceiling, printed in Spanish. The Auto zone parts store not to far from my house, has those signs printed in English on one side, Spanish on the other. Problem is, those signs that help you locate what item is in what aisle, are Spanish on the side when you first enter the store. You actually have to walk around to the back of the sign to see what is printed in English. Some of the fresh produce markets in my area do this as well. I kid you not and I don't step foot in that store anymore because of it. It's beyond ridiculous, IMO.

 

[Pustulio]

While I've never had any trouble with a fast-food restaurant employee not speaking English, I can see how that would be annoying. I can't imagine why anyone would immigrate to a country and not learn the basic (if not official) language.

I have had drive thru employees actually speak to me in Spanish when I get up to the window. You know, they say "Hola" or "gracias" or whatever. Luckily, I know those word from Sesame Street. I just respond in English.

Well, that's not really too bad. If they just say "Hello" and "Thank you" in Spanish, then I don't see the problem. Just about everyone knows what they mean. If they spoke every word in Spanish, I could see how that would be annoying, but just a simple greeting doesn't seem so terrible to me.

We are the great melting pot. We gladly take evryone's tired, poor and homeless, but please...tell them they will need to learn to speak our language. It will NOT be our responsibility to learn their language.

Yeah, and it only takes a few years and thousands of dollars in the process!

At Dunkin' Donuts, they won't hire you if you speak english.

I've never had any problems at Dunkin' Donuts. In fact, I've never even seen any employee there with an accent, period. Strange.

 

[Mickey Rules]

It took seriously 4 tries for the McDonald's employee to understand "small coffee with NO sugar." This is ridiculous. There is a joke that if you want your food fast the first time order..."blueberry muffin and coffee".

 

[taylor1293]

I agree that it can be frustrating when you encounter someone who doesn't speak your language well. However,

1) As many others have said, we don't have an official language.

2) How do you know that person you encountered who doesn't speak English to your standards isn't currently in a program to learn English?

3) A person shouldn't have to be unemployed until they speak a certain level of English. At least they being a responsible resident/citizen by seeking employment.

4) If businesses didn't hire those who are new to our country, who is going to fill all of their positions? There would be a lot less places of business or their prices would have to increase significantly to get English only speaking employee's.

 

[disneyfan67]

It took seriously 4 tries for the McDonald's employee to understand "small coffee with NO sugar." This is ridiculous. There is a joke that if you want your food fast the first time order..."blueberry muffin and coffee".

I know what you mean.

Maybe McDonald's and Burger King is doing us all a favor by hiring those people. I certainly need to lose weight and it's been quite awhile since I sworn off their food. I mean the food is crappy and isn't good for you anyway, plus the service is just as crappy as well, maybe it's time to move on. It's almost like they don't want us to eat there.

 

[Camicar]

How do you know that person you encountered who doesn't speak English to your standards isn't currently in a program to learn English?

To MY standards? Somehow my standards are ridiculous that employees at McDonald's should be able to understand two clearly-spoken word from their own simple menu? Give me a break.
I would think an employee at McDonald's being able to understand the words Egg McMuffin and Orange Juice would be to the company standards because the company standards should be geared toward selling their merchandise. If their standards are different from mine and apparently they are -- then they lose my business since their employees can't manage to sell me their own merchandise.

 

[ecuagoddess]

The lifeguard at our pool is from Columbia.

Unless you mean the university, she is from Colombia.

 

[WhatATreat]

Nobody wants people to be unemployed because they don't speak English perfectly, we just think they should at least learn the English words that pertain to their job. Honestly, if they cannot learn the English names for the McDonald's menu items pretty quick, they are just not even trying.

 

[taylor1293]

Then they lose your business! It's no big deal as there are plenty of other customers to take your place.

It's so funny how people get so riled up over such a trivial matter like a language barrier at a fast food restaurant!

To MY standards? Somehow my standards are ridiculous that employees at McDonald's should be able to understand two clearly-spoken word from their own simple menu? Give me a break.
I would think an employee at McDonald's being able to understand the words Egg McMuffin and Orange Juice would be to the company standards because the company standards should be geared toward selling their merchandise. If their standards are different from mine and apparently they are -- then they lose my business since their employees can't manage to sell me their own merchandise.

 

[taylor1293]

But how do you know that the person you encounter on a particular day isn't new and in the process of learning the names? Maybe they were tossed into a position they weren't ready for? Which would be the manager's fault. Perhaps they are embarrassed by their lack of English skills, and it's only compounded by the angry comments and looks of their customers, which in turn, makes them nervous and even more prone to errors?

I'd say 1/3 of my orders from our McDonalds's come out wrong, and I've never encountered a non-English speaking individual there (and I live in Florida!). I think it's more of a fast food problem than an English speaking problem.

Nobody wants people to be unemployed because they don't speak English perfectly, we just think they should at least learn the English words that pertain to their job. Honestly, if they cannot learn the English names for the McDonald's menu items pretty quick, they are just not even trying.

 

[Hound 109]

ITA.

A few months ago I went into McD's while traveling to get an Egg McMuffin and an orange juice. i went IN as opposed to the drive thru because I was sick of getting my bag and it being completely wrong. It was no better inside. And you know, I'm not trying to have a philosophical discussion about the meaning of life here, just trying to order two items off of YOUR menu. I have no real discernable accent and so it wasn't as though my own English is hard to understand; in addition, I used to do and teach public speaking, so I AM a very clear speaker. And yet the guy behind the counter could not understand, "Egg McMuffin and large orange juice." If your English is that bad, clearly you should not be working here. I finally had to resort to my 7th grade Spanish to place an order in Madison, WI because their employee could not understand five words of English, of which four were items from their own menu.

How is Madison in the springtime?

 

[MyGoofy26]

Some would argue that WV has a language of it's own.

Lifelong Mountaineer here and I have to say you might not be too far off! I'm from the northern panhandle so I have more of a Pittsburgh sound (my best friend is a Clevelander and she and her mom tell me I sound like I'm from Toledo . . . and swear they don't say ANYTHING funny) But head downstate a little and I really have to pay close attention to what people are saying so I can try and decipher it, LOL!

Way way back in Jr. High we went down to visit family way down state. I went with my cousin to her friends' house and they kept making fun of the way I said things. They kept making me repeat words like "mom" and then rolling with laughter. Their dad, the local minister, had a good laugh too then took the time to educate these poor kids, "She speaks PROPER English. . . that's how it's supposed to sound. We're the ones who say words funny."