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Jobs where they should speak English well but fail to do so
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Zackback



Joined: 05 Nov 2010
Location: Kyungbuk

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 4:26 am    Post subject: Jobs where they should speak English well but fail to do so Reply with quote

Have you ever been in a situation where because of their particular job you assumed they would be able to communicate with you in English but they couldn't - at least not well enough to give you the information you needed?
I was at an international airport a few years ago and I went to the help desk and the woman working there just could not speak English that well. I had to ask her 3 times what she told me.
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Steelrails



Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 5:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

People speaking English is like getting a tip or any other courtesy. It is to be appreciated, not expected.
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edwardcatflap



Joined: 22 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 6:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Obviously for a job that involves dealing with foreign members of the public on a regular basis, English ability should be and is a requirement - Steelrails is talking b...locks. At an international airport help desk you'd expect staff to be pretty good, yes. Personally I've never had any problems with Koreans in positions where you'd expect them to speak English. Except once in a pretty expensive hotel in Soraksan when the receptionist couldn't tell me where the hotel restaurant was. I'd only been in Korea a few months, before anyone starts.

Last edited by edwardcatflap on Sun Nov 18, 2012 2:43 pm; edited 1 time in total
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young_clinton



Joined: 09 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 6:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's what NET's are for. It's thier country and they're speaking thier language, Korean. Some want to and are trying to learn English.
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comm



Joined: 22 Jun 2010

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Steelrails wrote:
People speaking English is like getting a tip or any other courtesy. It is to be appreciated, not expected.
The people who make signs in English should speak English, or hire someone who can. As it stands, it's pretty obvious that most companies hire a Korean who says he speaks English and that guy just bullsh**s his way through it. I used a sign at a ride in Lotte World in a lesson this year, it read:
Quote:
To prevent from being injured, please take off your earings while running.

They didn't even bother to spell check "earrings".
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Unibrow



Joined: 20 Aug 2012

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Steelrails wrote:
People speaking English is like getting a tip or any other courtesy. It is to be appreciated, not expected.


If you work at the desk of an international airport you should have at least a decent grasp of English.
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highstreet



Joined: 13 Nov 2010

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

comm wrote:
Steelrails wrote:
People speaking English is like getting a tip or any other courtesy. It is to be appreciated, not expected.
The people who make signs in English should speak English, or hire someone who can. As it stands, it's pretty obvious that most companies hire a Korean who says he speaks English and that guy just bullsh**s his way through it. I used a sign at a ride in Lotte World in a lesson this year, it read:
Quote:
To prevent from being injured, please take off your earings while running.

They didn't even bother to spell check "earrings".


I think it has to do with cost. Why hire a person to proofread, when your customer base is 99% Koreans. Besides, I've never read a badly written sign that I couldn't understand.
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litebear



Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Holland

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 12:05 pm    Post subject: Re: Jobs where they should speak English well but fail to do Reply with quote

Zackback wrote:
Have you ever been in a situation where because of their particular job you assumed they would be able to communicate with you in English but they couldn't - at least not well enough to give you the information you needed?
I was at an international airport a few years ago and I went to the help desk and the woman working there just could not speak English that well. I had to ask her 3 times what she told me.


I had a similar experience at Malaga airport. Woman at the info desk couldn't speak a word of English, I was stunned.
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ttompatz



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 3:42 pm    Post subject: Re: Jobs where they should speak English well but fail to do Reply with quote

Zackback wrote:
I was at an international airport a few years ago and I went to the help desk and the woman working there just could not speak English that well. I had to ask her 3 times what she told me.


Only in Manila at NAIA I & III.

I have never had a problem elsewhere in an international airport.

.
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John Stamos jr.



Joined: 07 Oct 2012
Location: Namsan

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 6:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

highstreet wrote:
comm wrote:
Steelrails wrote:
People speaking English is like getting a tip or any other courtesy. It is to be appreciated, not expected.
The people who make signs in English should speak English, or hire someone who can. As it stands, it's pretty obvious that most companies hire a Korean who says he speaks English and that guy just bullsh**s his way through it. I used a sign at a ride in Lotte World in a lesson this year, it read:
Quote:
To prevent from being injured, please take off your earings while running.

They didn't even bother to spell check "earrings".


I think it has to do with cost. Why hire a person to proofread, when your customer base is 99% Koreans. Besides, I've never read a badly written sign that I couldn't understand.


If your customer base is 99% Korean, why the hell are you applying English labels in the first place? Of course you can understand it, but I find it hilariously stupid that Koreans/Asians in general always try to write it themselves, when they could pay a white dude like me $5 to make it sensible. Sure, they're cutting costs. But, they should feel embarrassed about the ridiculous crap that winds up on their stuff. In Thailand, I saw a "Throw your trash away" sign that said, "Please hold junk in a bin". That was the funniest. And I'm looking at the salad I'm eating for lunch today that says "With healthy and homemade recipe, our variety of salads presents you refreshing and tasty experience". Just stop. Hire a white dude. You're making yourselves look stupid. Korean traditional restaurant, ugh...
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Hugo85



Joined: 27 Aug 2010

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The guy at the information desk at the entrance of the building where you make your ARC.

All he does is sneer, give angry looks and throw random answers at everyone who asks a question and who doesn't speak Korean... So something like 95% of the people who enter the building.
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jvalmer



Joined: 06 Jun 2003

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hugo85 wrote:
The guy at the information desk at the entrance of the building where you make your ARC.

All he does is sneer, give angry looks and throw random answers at everyone who asks a question and who doesn't speak Korean... So something like 95% of the people who enter the building.

You'd be surprised at how may of those foreign workers speak very good Korean. BTW foreign laborers probably make up 90% of foreigners on working visas in Korea.
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fermentation



Joined: 22 Jun 2009

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

KATUSA.
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Steelrails



Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jvalmer wrote:
Hugo85 wrote:
The guy at the information desk at the entrance of the building where you make your ARC.

All he does is sneer, give angry looks and throw random answers at everyone who asks a question and who doesn't speak Korean... So something like 95% of the people who enter the building.

You'd be surprised at how may of those foreign workers speak very good Korean. BTW foreign laborers probably make up 90% of foreigners on working visas in Korea.


This is true. Most foreigners of Middle-Easter, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Island persuasion, as well as Chinese and Mongolians have been significantly better at Korean than the average university educated NET.

Not that I agree with the sneering attitude from the ARC guy, but I can sorta understand when you deal with polite laborers who can speak your language despite having a middle school education and then you get some entitled NET strolling up and not understanding even the most basic of words and screaming about their civil rights.

Quote:
Obviously for a job that involves dealing with foreign members of the public on a regular basis, English ability should be and is a requirement - Steelrails is talking b...locks. At an international airport help desk you'd expect staff to be pretty good, yes.


This is true, but I still don't expect it. I don't expect English in any country that English isn't the native language.

As far as international airports and such, it all depends on where the majority of travelers are from. If most come from China or Japan, well sorry, English gets bumped.

Quote:
Just stop. Hire a white dude. You're making yourselves look stupid.


Not as stupid as the belief that native English speaker=white male. Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, and Women need not be considered.
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edwardcatflap



Joined: 22 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
This is true, but I still don't expect it. I don't expect English in any country that English isn't the native language.



Really? so you wouldn't expect the receptionist in an International Hotel chain to speak English, or a pilot, or a flight attendant? So what language would you expect a receptionist working in an expensive international hotel in a developing country say, where 90% of the customers are foreigners to speak? Just the local language? Meaning she wouldn't be able to check in 90% of the customers properly. Really?

Quote:
As far as international airports and such, it all depends on where the majority of travelers are from. If most come from China or Japan, well sorry, English gets bumped.


No it doesn't. If you're on a plane travelling from Korea to Japan, and the pilot and flight attendants are Korean, what second language will the majority of them speak? Yes, English. The same goes for airports.
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