Celestia Forums

I'm sure a lot of you know that if you call up customer service for most any company, chances are the rep will have an "accent"

Well, get this: I called customer service for a company. The rep who answered me had an accent of course........but actually had the nerve to tell me that they couldn't understand me because of my "amercian accent"

That does it. I'll take my business elsewhere in the galaxy (but probably will run into a Klingon who doesn't like my accent)

STARNIGHTER wrote:......but actually had the nerve to tell me that they couldn't understand me because of my "amercian accent"
..

...well he was probably just honest about it. These people are usually underpaid and no native citizen wants to do the job!

According to our European standards as to speaking foreign languages, Americans are generally "outstanding" . American tourists in Germany usually address people in (american) English (without asking beforehand).

I for example speak German, English, French (all VERY fluently) as well as some Portugese and Italian...and Latin, of course (9 years at school!)

How many languages do you speak fluently, if I may ask??

Bye Fridger

Most American companies outsource their customer service to non-US locales because it is actually cheaper for them to do so, not because Americans don't want to do the job (in many companies, customer service jobs in the US actually pay relatively well). Believe me, I've had a major problem with various customer support services of American companies, where the rep has a thick and almost indecipherable Hindu accent.

...John...

Dollan wrote:Most American companies outsource their customer service to non-US locales because it is actually cheaper for them to do so, not because Americans don't want to do the job (in many companies, customer service jobs in the US actually pay relatively well). Believe me, I've had a major problem with various customer support services of American companies, where the rep has a thick and almost indecipherable Hindu accent.

...John...

Over here, call centers usually hire people who have little choice. They tend to pay VERY low rates. We just had a discussion of this unpleasant situation in the press. Honestly, who wants to do this kind of job as long as there are alternatives??

Bye Fridger

Oh, there's no question or dispute about the fine people who are trying to do their job, and it's true that the fact that they can speak english as well as their own language is to their credit.

I'm purely calling attention to the fact that when a customer has a question, problem, or issue with a product, they deserve some degree of good communication with the company. If someone here in the USA spends big money for a telescope and has some problem with it, the last thing they want from customer service is to be told "I can't understand you because of your (amercian) accent". Other than that rare incident, I have no problem with accented customer service reps, and truely appreciate the situations many of them endure.
Have a great day!

I can relate to what Starnighter is trying to express here, I've experienced the same myself. It can very disconcerting, very frustrating, especially when you're attempting to seek help. There is much I'm tempted to say about this, but I won't because I'm afraid it's all negative. I will however point out that such language barriers exist right here at the Celestia forums... we have all had the chance to experience the frustration, either being the one asking the question or the one trying to answer.

Those who know one or more languages, it's a wonderful personal achievement... a talent.

Not knowing a second language, or multiple languages, is not a thing to be faulted for or made fun of.

It is also worth noting that the same type of problem can be found within the US itself. I've been on help lines before and have tried talking with people from, I can only assume, the deep south. I only understood every third word, I swear...

Language will always be something of a barrier, whether its language, accents, or even simple expressions.

...John...

LordFerret wrote:...
Those who know one or more languages, it's a wonderful personal achievement... a talent.

LordFerret,

knowing several languages is least a matter of talent.

It is foremost a matter of MOTIVATION to undergo the large EFFORT of learning foreign languages! No doubt, the latter requires a lot of discipline ,'sweat' AND practice. Believe me. I KNOW .


MOTIVATION:

1) English is one of the most important languages worldwide. Hence, many people with different mother tongues know they will have to learn English to some extent. Good for North Americans as well as for people from the UK, Canada and Australia. They already speak that important language perfectly . Why should they learn LESS important languages as well?

2) French is simply the most beautiful language , so people of French mother tongue usually see little reasons to learn and speak less beautiful languages ...ahem...

3) Europeans are way more frequently in contact with foreign languages than North Americans. The smaller the country, the larger people's natural desire to speak the languages of their neighbors (cf e.g. The Netherlands). In Europe it's VERY easy to cross language borders!

Addendum: The UK sometimes does NOT seem to be part of Europe .

When I once requested a /black coffee/ during the 11 o'clock tea time break in Cambridge's DAMTP, the lady said in amazement: You must be from EUROPE!

4) European school education.

The language "bandwidth" at school goes hand in hand with 3) . For example, I had 13 years (!) of French 4-6 hours/week, 7 years of English 4 hours/week and 9 years of Latin. That was normal highschool standard! The real point was however, that the French border was 5 KM away from my house, England was pretty close and I went there very often.

Despite these plausible reasonings, there are no doubt a number of NEGATIVE implications of 1) , too.

Among the most disturbing is that many North Americans imply (without asking!) that people in other countries know and are willing to speak their language! Of course it would be easy to list a few reasons for that familiar behaviour

Bye Fridger

hehe,
I had an incident like this a year or so ago. It was for a computer part and of course I got the over seize service department. I too was told that they had a difficult time understanding my "American" english, so I did a double take on them. I started to speak with a heavy British accent instead. That did the trick and for some reason, using some more British english terms and way of speaking that is different from our way of speaking, we got through it. The only way I was able to pull this off is that I had a friend from Britain and I was able to pick up his accent and learn the subtleties in the way they phrase things. Trust me there is a difference. Of course I watch allot of PBS and BBC America and I like British TV in general and that helped as well. I am of course not saying anyone should try this but after reading this I found it funny. Maybe I was British in a past life. lol

Don. Edwards

That's funny Don...

For my own two cents.

One of our (America's) problems used to be that we were isolated/insulated form the rest of the world. We used to have Latin in the schools, and a part of me wishes that it would be brought back. It may be a dead (as far as use) language, but once you know some of it, learning other romance languages isn't so hard. One of the middle schools that I attended gave 1/3 year courses in Spanish, German and French. That was wonderful.

I know English, obviously, and had four years of French. I know a smattering of Spanish and Portuguese. Many libraries in the states carry full courses on tapes and dvds... So I have attempted at different times over the past few years to learn some Japanese.

As Fridger says, it is a matter of motivation and effort. (Hmmm, sounds like what I say to my Algebra students...) Of course, this has little to do with the "accent" barrier. For me, I stick to email for tech support. It usually overcomes many of those barriers. You just have to be more patient.

Don. Edwards wrote:hehe,
I had an incident like this a year or so ago. It was for a computer part and of course I got the over seize service department. I too was told that they had a difficult time understanding my "American" english, so I did a double take on them. I started to speak with a heavy British accent instead. That did the trick and for some reason, using some more British english terms and way of speaking that is different from our way of speaking, we got through it. The only way I was able to pull this off is that I had a friend from Britain and I was able to pick up his accent and learn the subtleties in the way they phrase things. Trust me there is a difference. Of course I watch allot of PBS and BBC America and I like British TV in general and that helped as well. I am of course not saying anyone should try this but after reading this I found it funny. Maybe I was British in a past life. lol

Don. Edwards

While for people from the US, your story might sound kind of funny, indeed in our schools so-called "Oxford English" is being tought. Certainly, many people with almost no previous encounters of North Americans ( or e.g. also of Australians!) have serious trouble adapting to the different way of pronounciation and the numerous different idioms. Notably people from Texas and the South of the US sound "unusual" to many.

Bye Fridger

t00fri wrote:...
2) French is simply the most beautiful language , so people of French mother tongue usually see little reasons to learn and speak less beautiful languages ...ahem...

buggs_moran,

I too had 1/3 semester classes in French, Spanish, and Greman. I could never grasp French and Spanish, but did well with German, although I remember very little of it today. That was some thirty years ago. If I were to choose a language to learn it would end up being German. As I seemed to have an afinity for it.

I an sure Fridger is wincing on this. I wish they offered Germn in my highscool, he and I could have had some very interesting conversations I am sure. Although I would have a horible american accent. I guess its never to late to learn. Although Latin has always fasinated me, that would run a close second.

Don.

t00fri wrote:Notably people from Texas and the South of the US sound "unusual" to many.

Heck, they sound as foreign as one from Mumbai to many northern Americans. Of course, we sound foreign to them as well... I had a Calculus teacher in college that was from the DEEP south. He had some heavy Cajun influences as well. I couldn't understand a word (of course, studying more probably would've helped immensely . )

Don. Edwards wrote:...
Although Latin has always fasinated me, that would run a close second.
...
Don.

While the usefulness of Latin is strongly debated these days, I always found it a VERY helpful fundament for the mix of French & Portugese & Italian that I speak to a varied extent, as well as for Spanish that I can pretty well understand, at least. Also it's useful for deciphering some terminology in medicine, biology etc.

Besides, I must confess, I just liked Latin in school, because of it's "rigorous" grammatical structure, yet very wide possibilities of interpretation.

Another aspect is noteworthy: Once you know at least one language besides your own, adding further foreign languages is much less of an effort. So there is always hope

In my case, practicing my mother tongue (German) is largely confined to family and friends. Professionally, I tend to speak English most of the day, since many, many years. In my lab also ALL public events like seminars are in English. Also over lunch, where we usually tend to be a group above ~10 people, there are always a few guys, who do not understand German. More than 80% of our ~20 postdocs & visiting scientists are from abroad.

Bye Fridger

t00fri wrote:Among the most disturbing is that many North Americans imply (without asking!) that people in other countries know and are willing to speak their language! Of course it would be easy to list a few reasons for that familiar behaviour

This pretty much sums it up I think: http://www.satirewire.com/news/0010/international.shtml

Chuft-Captain wrote:

t00fri wrote:Among the most disturbing is that many North Americans imply (without asking!) that people in other countries know and are willing to speak their language! Of course it would be easy to list a few reasons for that familiar behaviour

This pretty much sums it up I think: http://www.satirewire.com/news/0010/international.shtml

My God, that's a pretty strong summary

Bye Fridger

I'm ashamed to say that I agree with that summary, being American myself I'm often shocked by people's blatant apathy.

It's funny Fridger you should mention French, I had one year of it in highschool... I remember perhaps a dozen words.

It appears to me that English is the global language of business (for the most part), and will remain so for quite some time to come. Were I to take the time (and effort and disipline) to learn another language, it would be Chinese... for what should be obvious reasons.

It runs in my mind a few years ago, a survey showed that on telesales, the Scottish accent is the clearest accent around. I don't mean the Trainspotting/Rab C Nesbit accent, but cultured Invernesshire. Just thought to put my t'pence in!