Excited
Last month, I went by my local cable office to drop off my cable box after canceling my cable service. I was almost at the window when an elderly Asian man asked me in English, “Do you speak Korean?” I replied that I did. He proceeded to ask me for help in Korean. He was there because his cable box wasn’t working but I guess the employee at the window was unable to understand him and vice versa. From what I could tell, and what the elderly man told me, the employee patronized and looked down on the man because there was a communication barrier.
Language barriers are common place when you live in areas populated by immigrants, and prevents people from getting proper health care or speaking out against deplorable living situations. I have often had to help my parents deal with certain issues similar to this, even though they speak English because they don’t like the experience of being looked down because of their inability to speak fluid, accent-free English.
After I helped the elderly man get the service he needed from the cable company, I drove away sad for those who came to America for the hope of a better life, yet are faced with challenges daily. Many may assert that those who immigrate here need to learn English since they are living in America. And while that is a truthful expectation, it may not be realistic or as easily gained for those who moved here in their adult life. Even my parents, who speak fluent English, are patronized and ridiculed because they don’t speak accent-free.
I don’t think it would have hurt the employee to be a bit more patient and kind to the elderly man who was struggling to get the help he needed; the man spoke English. He just couldn’t do it without an accent, which caused the employee to dismiss him and be rude. My heart still goes out to the elderly man — mainly because his sad face of desperation still flashes before my eyes — who speaks and understands English, but has a hard time being understood because of heavy accent. He’ll have to face that daily in his life, and I hope that the other people he comes in contact with are a lot more gracious than the employee at my former cable company.
(Flickr photo credit: davitydave)
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ThinhNham
THANK YOU VERY MUCH i have been in the same situation
JimYag, if you read the post in full, you would see that I wasn't asking the worker to learn the foreigner's native tongue. I was merely asking for courteous customer service (especially since he is a customer service rep.). The man I helped spoke fluent English. His only fault was that he spoke with an accent, which is common for those who learned English later in their life.
JimYag, if you read the post in full, you would see that I wasn't asking the worker to learn the foreigner's native tongue. I was merely asking for courteous customer service (especially since he is a customer service rep.). The man I helped spoke fluent English. His only fault was that he spoke with an accent, which is common for those who learned English later in their life.
Yea I guess the person whos job probably depends on the number of people they see a day they should just give up their next raise and/or lose their job so to help those that never took the time to learn the lang. of the country they live in. ____Yea that seems fair.
Having worked at a public health center, we've been trained to avoid this very situation as much as possible. We've been fortunate enough to be provided with special phone lines that provide access to interpreters in the event that our on-site interpreter is unavailable, but it always surprises me just how callous people can be to others facing a language barrier.
"After I helped the elderly man get the service he needed from the cable company, I drove away sad for those who came to America for the hope of a better life, yet are faced with challenges daily."
Really nicely put. There should be more ppl like you out there Jee.
Yea how dare the person not know 100 different languages?
His job is probable graded on how many people they see a day so who cares if he would not get his next raise, or loses his job due to bad performance, etcu00e2u0080u00a6 he should let someone that has lived in a country for years that never learned the language make him lose his job.
If you move to another country, at least learn the language. The real rudeness is people that feel they do not need to learn anything and others should take their time due to their laziness.
@jennifer: I find when I'm in China, some pretend to not understand my English, until I speak some Chinese, no matter how much of an accent I have with my Chinese. I think in China, everyone is expected to speak Mandarin with an accent, because of all the different dialects in the country. What's interesting of course, is that when I'm with a Caucasian, there's no expectation at all for them to speak Chinese.
@jennifer: I find when I'm in China, some pretend to not understand my English, until I speak some Chinese, no matter how much of an accent I have with my Chinese. I think in China, everyone is expected to speak Mandarin with an accent, because of all the different dialects in the country. What's interesting of course, is that when I'm with a Caucasian, there's no expectation at all for them to speak Chinese.
I had the opposite experience in Korea...for someone who speaks Korean with an accent, I was advised to go to the U.S. embassy and pretend I don't speak any Korean at all, then people there would treat me nicer. I just spoke in English and everyone was so polite.
I had the opposite experience in Korea...for someone who speaks Korean with an accent, I was advised to go to the U.S. embassy and pretend I don't speak any Korean at all, then people there would treat me nicer. I just spoke in English and everyone was so polite.
Good post.
I remember a colleague complaining of the same when she went to Paris. She is herself French, but whilst qeueing for a ticket, she had to help an English couple who were being treated badly by the attendant.
In Britain, we also have the opposite. There was a recent story of a Postmaster, Sri Lankan immigrant, who refused to serve anyone who could not communicate in English. His defense is that learnt the language, why should they be different? There are those who have gained British citizenship, through their children, but are not inclined to learn the language.
Serving them was difficult because they didn't even bring someone to interpret for them.
He ended up accused of racism by various groups and I for one, agree with him. Why move to another country and then not learn to communicate?
Good post.
I remember a colleague complaining of the same when she went to Paris. She is herself French, but whilst qeueing for a ticket, she had to help an English couple who were being treated badly by the attendant.
In Britain, we also have the opposite. There was a recent story of a Postmaster, Sri Lankan immigrant, who refused to serve anyone who could not communicate in English. His defense is that learnt the language, why should they be different? There are those who have gained British citizenship, through their children, but are not inclined to learn the language.
Serving them was difficult because they didn't even bring someone to interpret for them.
He ended up accused of racism by various groups and I for one, agree with him. Why move to another country and then not learn to communicate?
I agree with Phil. It's a great idea Joz!
Another thing I noticed is that my parents and most of their friends are willing to pay more to shop from a vendor/store that has Korean speaking owners/workers. They'll also hire Korean speaking contractors, even if they could find someone else to do the job better for less money: all so they don't have to deal with being ridiculed or misunderstood because of their accent.
A big part of me wants to be with my parents each time they purchase something, hire a contractor, etc, just so I can be their accent-free voice and to make sure they get the best deal, but I know how unrealistic that is.
And sometimes, when the requests to help them call their home owners association or their cell phone company, etc gets so frequent, I get annoyed. Honestly, I got more annoyed with my parents for needing me to be their voice when they have the vocabulary to do what they are asking me to do. But after my experience at my former cable company, I definitely think differently about that.
I agree with Phil. It's a great idea Joz!
Another thing I noticed is that my parents and most of their friends are willing to pay more to shop from a vendor/store that has Korean speaking owners/workers. They'll also hire Korean speaking contractors, even if they could find someone else to do the job better for less money: all so they don't have to deal with being ridiculed or misunderstood because of their accent.
A big part of me wants to be with my parents each time they purchase something, hire a contractor, etc, just so I can be their accent-free voice and to make sure they get the best deal, but I know how unrealistic that is.
And sometimes, when the requests to help them call their home owners association or their cell phone company, etc gets so frequent, I get annoyed. Honestly, I got more annoyed with my parents for needing me to be their voice when they have the vocabulary to do what they are asking me to do. But after my experience at my former cable company, I definitely think differently about that.
Joz - That's a good idea! Here's a video about Betty Nguyen mentioning her responsibilities.
Joz - That's a good idea! Here's a video about Betty Nguyen mentioning her responsibilities.
@joz: I've been put in that situation many times, and mentioned briefly in my post on a NPR piece called "Hands of my Father". I think putting kids in that situation makes them grow up faster than they should.
@joz: I've been put in that situation many times, and mentioned briefly in my post on a NPR piece called "Hands of my Father". I think putting kids in that situation makes them grow up faster than they should.
Actually, I was planning on doing a related post about how children of immigrants are often asked to handle very grown-up situations and business for their parents who either lack or are uncomfortable with their own English skills.
Jee, your post is an excellent reminder that many people who DO speak English are discriminated against because they speak with accents.
Actually, I was planning on doing a related post about how children of immigrants are often asked to handle very grown-up situations and business for their parents who either lack or are uncomfortable with their own English skills.
Jee, your post is an excellent reminder that many people who DO speak English are discriminated against because they speak with accents.
Definitely true..I was at a Subway the other day and a European man (probably just a tourist) was getting a sandwich, and I definitely understood everything he was saying, but the guy behind the counter was just extremely impatient and patronizing toward him.
I can't remember what the man asked for on his sandwich--he called something by a different name and it was clear that the dude behind the counter understood him, but he just gave him a really hard time for the sake of being a jackass.
Definitely true..I was at a Subway the other day and a European man (probably just a tourist) was getting a sandwich, and I definitely understood everything he was saying, but the guy behind the counter was just extremely impatient and patronizing toward him.
I can't remember what the man asked for on his sandwich--he called something by a different name and it was clear that the dude behind the counter understood him, but he just gave him a really hard time for the sake of being a jackass.
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