Language Barrier

[that_one_girl]

OK... so working at a theme park one learns to deal with people who do not speak the same language as you. I have also learned surprisingly that sign language is really useful and most people can understand it.


I know English and some ASL. That is all.

So a girl comes up to me (the young ones that travel in the Brazilian tour groups) and starts just going off in her language.

First off.....I am whiter than anything. Yes I MAY live in Florida but that doesn't mean I know all the languages that encompass the world.

Second..... how can you assume that I know what you are saying.... especially when I have a puzzled look on my face and I say

"I only speak English." (And I will never say sorry because why would I be sorry)



So.. the best part. The girl starts AGAIN to speak in her language... only SLOWER and LOUDER.................


Because doing this will let me fully understand what you are saying and I will be able to answer your questions at your beck and call.



After repeating about five times that I still could not understand her she flicked her hair and walked off.



The evil hair flickins......oooo


So.... anyone ever have a worse experience with a language barrier or either people that you just couldn't understand?

[felinefan]

I remember once when I was working at Knott's, on the Calico Railroad train, there was an elderly Dutch couple who got on, and my fellow conductors thought at first they spoke halfways decent English. Those of you who are familiar with the train know that at a certain part of the ride, a couple of Train Bandits come through, clicking their guns, yelling, and generally doing their shtick. Apparently the Dutch gentleman thought it was real, grabbed one of the Bandits and struck him in the back of the neck. When they got to their car, the bandits called security and when the passengers got off, that Dutch couple found themselves having to deal with Knott's security, and I think Buena Park police as well, and nobody can understand Dutch. I bet that made for an interesting anecdote when they got back home. I last saw them being led away by security. I suggested that somebody should contact one of these interpreter places.

When you hire on at Knott's, they want to know if you speak any other language fluently. They say if you encounter a language you don't know, call the office and they can check the database to see if they can find an interpreter. Yeah, right.

[DisneyMom]

We have a language line at work because now, even if someone does speak the language, they have to be certified as an official interpreter and they get paid additionally for that skill. It does require two phone handsets and to call a certain number (for a fee, I imagine).
Sure hope the line isn't down during an emergency!

[hobie16]

...she flicked her hair and walked off.

Told you! :p:

[Shorty82]

At WDW if we need translation assistance and there is no CM around that speaks the language needed we can call the operator who will connect us to a translator. Very handy sometimes.

[Teddykeiko86]

I noticed during disneyland's 50th that many employees had the language tag underneath their name tag. Now, I don't see it as often. I know at least 40% of the employees there speak spanish well enough to translate. What happen to those? I once saw a guy with four. Italian, Spanish, French, ASL and of course English.

[glendalais]

There are a bunch of reasons for that. A lot of it has to do with the sheer number of SGs it generates.

I have a French Language Pin, and I've had a fair number of Franco-European/African/Polynesian guests yell at me because I don't speak French "their" way (I speak with a strong French-Canadian accent, not to mention diction and vocabulary).

I've also had a few guests try to tell me I should bend the rules based on our "shared language and culture"

After a while, I just went back to wearing my normal nametag and speaking French when the situation has required it.

And the process to get one has always been a bit complicated. For me, it required a long-distance call to Epcot (WDW handles the Language Pin process for DLR as well) at 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time for the Language Test and constant remindals to management to move the issue along.

It's been streamlined a little, but it's still a fairly drawn out process.

[turkeyham]

One day one of my friends was working a slurpee cart in Toontown. She said there was this big family that kept on changing their minds when ordering and was speaking spanish. They kept on changing their order and was being very rude. What was funny, she spoke spanish and understood everything they family was saying. After the purchase, the cast member said, "Have a magical day." That was also in spanish.

I have encountered SG at DCA and they think I work there. Sorry! I am in street clothes with my sister and a friend. The try to speak a foreign language and I shrug my shoulders. If I can't understand what you are saying. I don't know what you want. :mad:

[Ho-say]

And the process to get one has always been a bit complicated. For me, it required a long-distance call to Epcot (WDW handles the Language Pin process for DLR as well) at 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time for the Language Test and constant remindals to management to move the issue along.

It's been streamlined a little, but it's still a fairly drawn out process.

Good Lord, DLR CMs have to call the Int'l Programs office @ Epcot too? Now that's a pain, and I think they only offer the language tests on Mondays (unless it's changed). I always have to call them and have nametags remade, because each time we get a new nametag for a new promotion/celebration, somehow I never seem to get my nametag with my language flags.

I do agree, sometimes it's just easier to wear your 'regular' nametag and use your foreign language skills as the need arises. Though when I worked front desk, my colleagues knew I spoke Spanish, understood basic Brazilian Portuguese and enough Italian to fudge my way through a check-in....to the point that I sometimes would be be pulled in 5 different directions to go out and translate or leave a message for a guest in their room for my Ops team. It did make my day a little more varied though!

Now when I pick up shifts (I'm seasonal), I'm often in a fairly backstage role..though if my Cast knows I'm there, anything goes - which can be fun.

The only thing that burned me was once a CM really needed someone to interpret Spanish and I was taken off my lunch to go help. Now this was perfectly fine, but what got me was that the Guest Service Mgr who had requested I go out on stage actually spoke Spanish fluently as it was her native language (it's my 2nd language) - AND was standing right there on stage with this CM and guest! Guess I shouldn't have been all that surprised, since she was the laziest GSM that I had ever met and is thankfully no longer with the Company...

[glendalais]

Good Lord, DLR CMs have to call the Int'l Programs office @ Epcot too? Now that's a pain, and I think they only offer the language tests on Mondays (unless it's changed). I always have to call them and have nametags remade, because each time we get a new nametag for a new promotion/celebration, somehow I never seem to get my nametag with my language flags.

Yep, and it's the same time as WDW CMs too, Mondays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, which works out to 6:00 a.m to 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

And it's all made more complicated by the fact that they only give out the Tie Line and never the external number, which confuses us since we don't have a directory of WDW Tie Lines on hand, and generally don't want to go in to work at 5:00 a.m. in the morning just to use a Company Phone.



We do have Testers for most languages out here in California, but they're spread out throughout the Resort (as opposed to a single department), and they never seem to respond when you contact them, from my experience.