I know I am ranting again but....English please!!
By Erilyn
@Erilyn (3020)
United States
June 23, 2008 3:08pm CST
It is so fusterating when I have to call anywhere and the automated system asks if I want english or spanish, and when I get to who I want to talk to they don't speak english. We live in a primarly english speaking country. English is not the "National" language because it has never been set up that way. I am not saying that people can't come here and make a life, but come on know the language of the country you are in please!!! I would not go over to say Japan and expect them to cater to me because I speak english. I would not travel to another country without knowing the basics at least of their language. And please, please don't get me started on the people that "know" the language when it is convient for them. Companies spend thousands of dollars to pay someone who does the same job a little more becasue they speak spanish, but they also pay for tanslation lines for those employees that do not sepak another language.
But take for example when I worked at a mail order pharmacy as customer service, I would have a few people that worked for very well known companies who would say they didn't speak english but lived here in the US. I would have to call the language line for a translator and some of the time these people would revert and speak english to me and there was no need for the translator. the other times was like beating your head against a brick wall.
Now don't get me wrong, I fully believe in immigration, after all if there were no immigration then I wouldn't be here. My papou (grandfather) is greek, he came from Greece. on comming to this country he had to learn english. He owned his own business, and taught me basic greek so that I could understand him when we would call Greece and talk to realtives and to have me ready to visit Greece. Now I have as of yet not been able to take that trip but you can believe when I say that before I do I will be brushing up on my greek.
2 people like this
10 responses
@fwidman (11514)
• United States
23 Jun 08
What gets me is what if you want Spanish and the person at the other end doesn't speak Spanish or English? LOL
If you call a tech support person for just about any company these days you get someone in India. So, maybe we should all learn Indian or whatever language they speak over there :)
2 people like this
@Erilyn (3020)
• United States
23 Jun 08
Don't get me started on that one. I lost a REALLY REALLY great job that I loved because the company decided to outsource to India. Which is really funny considering the name of the company. They do not have a single call center left here in the states. And the name of that company? America Online. more commonly refferred to as AOL. They actually changed the name of the company from America Online to AOL shortly before they closed all of there American call centers. Crazy isn't it?
1 person likes this
@fwidman (11514)
• United States
23 Jun 08
It is crazy! But then AOL never seemed to be dealing with a full deck anyways LOL
Hope you weren't one of those people that tried so hard to dissuade customers from leaving that you gave them more months of service for free. I mean, if you are tired of a company and its service, why would you want to stay, even for free? LOL
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
24 Jun 08
If you calling somewhere for customer service and get someone that doesn't speak/understand English very well, you are very likely talking to someone from another country.
A lot of our customer service is outsourced to other countries, primarily India and that part of the world.
I think it stinks too and something needs to be done, but as long as they will work cheaper than it would cost to pay someone here, it will continue.
2 people like this
@Erilyn (3020)
• United States
1 Jul 08
Oh I know, but it is getting to the point here in this country that you can often get someone that doesn't speak english as well. I worked for AOL and they outsourced, but people that live here and work here should be able to speak the language also. there were a few people that I talked to who lived here in the states and worked for high raking companies that couldn't speak english.
@rmuxagirl (7548)
• United States
23 Jun 08
It does bother me when I call somewhere and I don't get someone who speaks English or even speaks it badly. Its hard to understand people when they have a thick accent. I don't mind people who speak another language and have an accent.
2 people like this
@Erilyn (3020)
• United States
23 Jun 08
I don't mind that either, it is just annoying that its getting to where a lot of these people have a very small grasp on the english language in general you know? An accent I don't have a problem with but when you are trying to explain someting to some one and they can't get it becasuse they just don't understand the language is really just ERGGGGGGGGGG!
1 person likes this
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
24 Jun 08
Sweetie we have the same problem here and it is very annoying as also then things get misunderstood and then next thing you know there is a lot of trouble going on because you could not understand what the Person said so you give up and just put the Phone down I know I do because I get so frustrated of not knowing what they are saying and instead of being rude I just put the Phone down as I do not want to insult the Person on the other end
@cobrateacher (8432)
• United States
23 Jun 08
Living in Miami has changed so much, many people just call it North Havana. I've often thought I'm the only person left in South Florida who doesn't speak Spanish. In many stores, and not just the little mom-and-pop shops, there's nobody on staff who can speak English. I've run into that problem at Office Depot! They do have some English speakers, but not on the shift when I went in. I feel like an alien, and I've lived here for many, many decades. In fact, in the 1950s, Miami was a small southern town!
@Erilyn (3020)
• United States
23 Jun 08
It makes it hard to remember sometimes where you are doesn't it? Almost makes you feel as though you got dropped in another country and don't know the language. It's really sad considering that you have been there for so long to feel like a stranger in your own country. I think thats one of the reasons my grandfather would work so hard in integrate himself as much as possible. When he came here he felt that the US was his new home country and didn't want to feel like a stranger. We still kept to customs at home such as greek easter etc. He wanted me to know the culture I came from but didn't let it overcome the fact that I am American.
1 person likes this
@Rosekitty (19368)
• San Marcos, Texas
24 Jun 08
Wow..we might be relatives..have the same Grandfather come from Greece..Ellis Island..they changed his name americanized him..let him work owning his own business and he learned to talk or lose out...and now i have to listen to a phone ask me do i want enchiladas with my phone order? What????
2 people like this
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
24 Jun 08
oh but it is worse here in canada because unlike the US, here in canada, we have 2 official languages, so if you call anywhere official (ie a government office) you will get the same spiel in both french and english - oy vey! you end up being on the phone much longer than normal!
1 person likes this
@Erilyn (3020)
• United States
1 Jul 08
At least you have official languages, you would think that we would have an "official" language here, sadly we don't. I remember a while back that they were deciding whether to make english the official language here. But I do understand your point, and we often do have to hear the same thing in english and spanish. I had at one time thought about going to Canada, I have always though French was a beutiful language!
@twallace (2675)
• United States
24 Jun 08
Don't be upset about that. Just think about all of the languages in the country and how many numbers on the phone that you would have to push if they had all the languages translated. Spanish is just one. Now if you got the wrong rep the that could have been the person that did the transfer could have gotten crossed or something. There are so many languages spoken in the US that it's not funny. I know you were pissed but don't take it to heart. I wish that I could speak other languages the only one that I know is english. Have a good one.
1 person likes this
@Erilyn (3020)
• United States
1 Jul 08
I don't have that great of a grasp on the english language to even worry about another one lol. Its just fusterating sometimes when you are either calling and get someone who obviously does not know the language, or when you are working in a call center and someone who has lived in the country for 20 years can't speak english.
@startstop123 (435)
• India
24 Jun 08
Yes you're right at this point. English is a must in some cases. A friend of mine is working for a Multi National Company in Out-bounding department which we usually call as Call center. He have to call to some list of numbers randomly to sell a product of his company. Most of his calls are received by the people who don't know English but my friend is unable to communicate with them because he doesn't know the language they speak. So he just hang up the phone and go for the next call. It must be every person's duty to learn English as it is the Most speaken language all over the World.
@ShellyB (5241)
• United States
24 Jun 08
I agree, people should learn the language of where they live if anything else so they can defend themselves, know their rights and even on medical emergencies, they would know what their doctors are telling them.
It is sad when they don't.
You speak greek, that is great news :)
1 person likes this
