What ever happened to a little patience?

Sorry this going to be a little rant but one thing that drives me crazy is when people complain about the language barrier on a cruise ship. In particular, they complain about how they have difficulty understanding or conversing with a staff member. In the cruises we have been on, at least once or twice a cruise it takes us little time in understanding or conveying a message to a staff member. I understand the staff do not have a grasp on all the colloquialisms and that sometimes you have to find common terminology. Sometimes I find the conversations to be quite amusing.

I respect anyone who can communicate in another language. I know that when I travel overseas I appreciate the patience that people have when I try to speak Spanish or very busted Italian. I wish some cruisers would provide the same courtesy and exhibit a little patience.

Agree. Perhaps some people shouldn't travel out of their comfort zone.

I've read many, many posts on CC, and I don't remember ever seeing that particular complaint.

Not on a cruise, but while in Europe a few weeks ago I saw an American woman (yes, she was American from the mid-west based on clothing and accent) keep raising her voice when a lady in a shop in Paris wasn't understanding what she wanted. I finally intervened and told the lady that yelling wasn't going to make the shop girl understand, and in my very poor French was able to convey what the tourist needed help with.

People shouldn't be allowed to leave their country if they can't learn to be polite and at least try to speak the language of where they are traveling.

That said, I'm not about to learn Tagalog or Arabic to communicate with crew on a ship, but if they aren't understanding me I will rephrase the question and omit any slang or contractions. It's amazing how "When are y'all doing the stuff later?" turned into "What time will the dessert buffet open?" will be understood and properly responded to.

Not on a cruise, but while in Europe a few weeks ago I saw an American woman (yes, she was American from the mid-west based on clothing and accent) keep raising her voice when a lady in a shop in Paris wasn't understanding what she wanted. I finally intervened and told the lady that yelling wasn't going to make the shop girl understand, and in my very poor French was able to convey what the tourist needed help with.

People shouldn't be allowed to leave their country if they can't learn to be polite and at least try to speak the language of where they are traveling.

It's amazing how "When are y'all doing the stuff later?" turned into "What time will the dessert buffet open?" will be understood and properly responded to.

I'm afraid that patience has gone the same way as Common Sense!!

Sometimes I think it's not even language but dialect and context. I was in the Food Hall in Harrods and three German ladies were asking one of the shop girls where they could get tea. Here's the rub, they weren't really asking it using those words, and the words they were using were a bit confusing. The girl (who was not a native English speaker but did speak English) thought they were asking where to buy tins of tea and kept pointing them towards the front of the room. Finally the German ladies gave up. I walked up and asked if they were looking for a place to sit and drink tea, and that's exactly what they wanted. I was able to point them up two floors to the tea room, where I'm sure they had a lovely cuppa and scones.

I have read these complaints on the MSC and to the lesser degree the Celebrity boards. I wish that languages were taught in US elementary school like most places around the world. When we were Italy on Celebrity cruise and did a visit with our my wife's Italian family, it was amazing how quickly my daughter picked up the language. She and her little cousin, who spoke no English, were able to communicate in an incredible manner. Over the next fee days, they were using words and phrases in each others language to converse and play.

A few years ago when we were on an Oceania Cruise and doing a ship tour of Katakolon, we stopped a plaza where one could gets some drinks and doing a little shopping. After being there for 30 minutes, we got back on the bus and we heard this group of 5 or 6 Americans just complaining to death how no one at the stop spoke good English. How stupid.

I've read many, many posts on CC, and I don't remember ever seeing that particular complaint.

I take the post to mean on the ship not here on CC.

I've read many, many posts on CC, and I don't remember ever seeing that particular complaint.

Here is a thread about this topic.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2167469

I agree.

I speak a version of Southernese that is hard for my family to understand sometimes, so I can sympathize with many of the crew. That said, I have had little trouble communicating with any of the staff on the cruises we've been on. If you take your time and avoid using slang you can usually find common ground fairly easily.

We were given a seminar at work on communicating with co-workers and customers whose first language was not English. We were told to not use contractions or slang. Speaking in a joking manner is also confusing sometimes as is teasing.

I have a problem with my husband doing all of those things. I can usually tell when the listener doesn't understand. They always nod and/or laugh.

I wish that languages were taught in US elementary school like most places around the world.

 

My daughter, now almost 30, took Spanish from K - 12th grade (in private education) and Russian in college and is trilingual. All the public USA school kids I know take at least one language other than English and in the majority of school systems, it is a requirement for graduation and entrance to college.

I'm afraid that patience has gone the same way as Common Sense!!

Good manners have gone in that same direction.

I'm not sure lack of patience is the main problem when tourist do not speak the local language. I think it more frustration at not being able to make themselves understood. If they would only be reasonable and keep front and center in their mind, it is THEIR fault they cannot be understood. THEY do not know the language of the land where they find themselves.

With all the apps on smart phones, ipad minis etc, translation is a WiFi signal away. I always traveled to foreign countries with a pocket dictionary. It served us very well and locals were eager to try and help us seeing as we made it somehow possible for them to do so.

Proper prior plan prevent p*** poor performance. (A saying my custom woodworker - carpenter taught me particularly about measuring before cutting. :D)

We were given a seminar at work on communicating with co-workers and customers whose first language was not English. We were told to not use contractions or slang. Speaking in a joking manner is also confusing sometimes as is teasing.

 

I have a problem with my husband doing all of those things. I can usually tell when the listener doesn't understand. They always nod and/or laugh.

Communicating with co-workers is a different issue. In an English-speaking country, residents who don't speak English will (presumably) be anxious to learn, and simplifying the language probably won't help. Maybe use slang and then translate if needed, but the more normally you speak, the more they'll learn.

When I speak to people who don't speak English very well, I try to use easy words and no conjunctions or slang BECAUSE that is the way I like for people to speak Spanish to me. :D

LuLu

I'm afraid that patience has gone the same way as Common Sense!!

I knew a Pygmy Doctor who had very little patieces.

:)

 

All the public USA school kids I know take at least one language other than English and in the majority of school systems, it is a requirement for graduation and entrance to college.

What school systems are these? I graduated from high school in Los Angeles 45 years ago and there were language classes available but certainly not required by any higher education school I knew of (UCLA graduate here). I remember taking Latin. Why, I have no idea and neither did my parents. I sure wasn't forced to and it was not requirement for graduation. My Mom wanted me to take French and my Dad wanted me to take Spanish and I took a language for just a year that no one speaks. Total waste of my time.

I just asked this questions of a bunch of my admin staff that are in their 20's-30's. They are scattered from NYC to Northern MO to Los Angeles to Phoenix, so represent a WIDE variety of high schools. Only 3 out of 21 had language classes in HS. And all three took Spanish. One speaks it fluently, one can make do. The other one-he said he forgot everything he learned 15 years ago. And 9 out of the 21 have college degrees, several from NYU, one from Colombia, one from BC, one from ASU and one from USC. So obviously, even in some of the better colleges in the USA, it certainly is not a requirement for admission.

It's the slanguage that makes it difficult for people all over the world to understand each other in different languages. I speak pretty fluent Spanish (learned on the streets and in my neighborhood growing up). BUT it is SPANGLISH. And I do have a very hard time conversing when I make my business trips to Chile and Peru. I have to slow down and think it through and eliminate a lot of colloquialisms that are standard in the US but unheard of in South America and even large parts of Mexico.

Patience is a virtue-isn't that what all our Grandmother's taught us.

With all the apps on smart phones, ipad minis etc, translation is a WiFi signal away.

What school systems are these? I graduated from high school in Los Angeles 45 years ago and there were language classes available but certainly not required by any higher education school I knew of (UCLA graduate here).

Although the three "titles" have been abolished, my old HS has a foreign language requirement - now for every student. German, French, Spanish and Latin.

I was on a British ship last year (Queen Victoria) for 94 days with people from England, Scotland, Australia, Canada and the U.S. We all spoke English but we still had problems understanding each other sometimes.

Don

What school systems are these? I graduated from high school in Los Angeles 45 years ago and there were language classes available but certainly not required by any higher education school I knew of (UCLA graduate here). I remember taking Latin. Why, I have no idea and neither did my parents. I sure wasn't forced to and it was not requirement for graduation. My Mom wanted me to take French and my Dad wanted me to take Spanish and I took a language for just a year that no one speaks. Total waste of my time.

 

 

 

I just asked this questions of a bunch of my admin staff that are in their 20's-30's. They are scattered from NYC to Northern MO to Los Angeles to Phoenix, so represent a WIDE variety of high schools. Only 3 out of 21 had language classes in HS. And all three took Spanish. One speaks it fluently, one can make do. The other one-he said he forgot everything he learned 15 years ago. And 9 out of the 21 have college degrees, several from NYU, one from Colombia, one from BC, one from ASU and one from USC. So obviously, even in some of the better colleges in the USA, it certainly is not a requirement for admission.

 

 

 

It's the slanguage that makes it difficult for people all over the world to understand each other in different languages. I speak pretty fluent Spanish (learned on the streets and in my neighborhood growing up). BUT it is SPANGLISH. And I do have a very hard time conversing when I make my business trips to Chile and Peru. I have to slow down and think it through and eliminate a lot of colloquialisms that are standard in the US but unheard of in South America and even large parts of Mexico.

 

 

 

Patience is a virtue-isn't that what all our Grandmother's taught us.

Most states in the US have required at least two years of a foreign language as a requirement for graduation for about 15 years now.

Most states in the US have required at least two years of a foreign language as a requirement for graduation for about 15 years now.

Washington state does not require foreign language for graduation, however Washington public universities do require 2 years of high school or college level foreign language for admittance.

That said, I was a supervisor in a call site for 15 years and there were fairly frequent callers from the U.S. that my employees had a hard time understanding due to regional accents.

Not even wi-fi is needed. If you are content to just use text rather than spoken words, Google translate can operate in stand-alone mode without any internet connection. Just download the appropriate language in advance to your device, then you can type away and the translation will appear as text below your English.

I'm not sure texting would be such a good idea when trying to order dinner, ask a salesperson a questions when shopping, ask a bus driver if you are on correct vehicle........ All those times when you are face to face with a person who speaks a language different than any you know. You can only take up just so much of their time and Patience. :)

Same time frame, but "back east". My HS had three diploma tracks - you either got an "academic", "general", or "commercial". The last was for the "secretary/bookkeeper/clerk" career path, the first for those going on to college, and the middle for "everybody else". In order to get an "academic" diploma, two years of the same foreign language was a graduation requirement.

 

Although the three "titles" have been abolished, my old HS has a foreign language requirement - now for every student. German, French, Spanish and Latin.

In MA, we had a two year minimum language requirement to graduate a 'college course.' If one was enrolled in business course, foreign language study was not required. I love languages and studied three years Spanish and two French. Can't speak much of either all these years later..... sadly.

I knew a Pygmy Doctor who had very little patiences.

 

:)

Corrected.