July 28, 2011 at 8:43 am
TravisDBA (7/27/2011)
cengland0 (7/27/2011)
GSquared (7/26/2011)
Most company owners/managers won't get that "English" is actually a set of just barely recognizable languages, not just one. Easiest way to explain it to them is to switch to "Valley Speak" (I was born in California, so I'm allowed to). That's not even from a different country, much less a different continent!Or have them go to Scotland. I'm an American that lived there for 3 years and I can tell you that dialect is harder to understand than the Indian one.
The point is, that clear communication is crucial in this business. Without it the business suffers ultimately. It's not a matter of being anti-ethnic, which some people seem to automatically read into this. It's simply a matter of clearly communicating in a high-tech environment when millions of dollars of revenue are ultimately at stake. I can't tell you how many times I have seen projects fail or have to be totally retooled primarily because of the lack of this important variable.. In the illustrious words of George Bernard Shaw: "The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that is has occurred":-D
There is a reason that in the United States one of the requirements for obtaining a pilot certificate is that the applicant be able to read and speak English. Pretty much throughout the world you must speak English in order to fly withing the Air Traffic Control System or use major airports.
A seemingly small mis-communication in some environments can have disastrous consequences.
The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival.
July 28, 2011 at 8:57 am
sturner (7/28/2011)
There is a reason that in the United States one of the requirements for obtaining a pilot certificate is that the applicant be able to read and speak English. Pretty much throughout the world you must speak English in order to fly withing the Air Traffic Control System or use major airports.A seemingly small mis-communication in some environments can have disastrous consequences.
Now that's interesting. Do they get tested on their English skills? Does it need to be American English or UK English or Indian English? Any dialect is okay or what?
July 28, 2011 at 6:11 pm
cengland0 (7/28/2011)
sturner (7/28/2011)
There is a reason that in the United States one of the requirements for obtaining a pilot certificate is that the applicant be able to read and speak English. Pretty much throughout the world you must speak English in order to fly withing the Air Traffic Control System or use major airports.A seemingly small mis-communication in some environments can have disastrous consequences.
Now that's interesting. Do they get tested on their English skills? Does it need to be American English or UK English or Indian English? Any dialect is okay or what?
Exactly, it is not simply knowing the language that is the issue with clear communication, They can know the language good enough, but if they're strong dialect or accent butchers it, then it still becomes very difficult to understand someone, irregardless of how well they know English. Plus, factor in talking over long distance telephone lines and that makes it even worse.It's a real issue in this industry, and it's about time that people start recognizing the issue instead of just jumping to the conclusion that it is a by-product of anti-ethnicity attitudes, which is just total bs. So, can you change your strong accent if you needed to? Absolutely Yes! Accents are not fixed. Any linguist will tell you that. 😀
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
July 29, 2011 at 5:55 am
TravisDBA (7/28/2011)
So, can you change your strong accent if you needed to? Absolutely Yes! Accents are not fixed. Any linguist will tell you that. 😀
That's unfortunate actually. I now live in the south part of America and have been trying very hard to not pick up this southern drawl. It's horrible.
"I've got y'all's assignments here."
July 29, 2011 at 5:56 pm
cengland0 (7/29/2011)
TravisDBA (7/28/2011)
So, can you change your strong accent if you needed to? Absolutely Yes! Accents are not fixed. Any linguist will tell you that. 😀
That's unfortunate actually. I now live in the south part of America and have been trying very hard to not pick up this southern drawl. It's horrible.
"I've got y'all's assignments here."
It can't be any worse than some of the strong New York accents I have heard up there. The word "idea" is NOT pronounced "ideer" the last time I checked the dictionary. Everyone's point of reference on what is "horrible" is totally dependent on which part of the country they happen to be standing in at the time.:-D
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
July 30, 2011 at 3:13 pm
That's unfortunate actually. I now live in the south part of America and have been trying very hard to not pick up this southern drawl. It's horrible.
"I've got y'all's assignments here."
Depends where you're from. The southern states accents sound enchanting to the English ear.
New York is distinctive.
Mind you, by the same argument a scouse or brummie accent probably sounds good with enough mileage separating the listener from the source:-P
August 1, 2011 at 6:29 am
It gets worse than just accents.
I've had a multitude of people assume I'm not American, because I "speak well" instead of "talk good".
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
August 1, 2011 at 6:32 am
GSquared (8/1/2011)
It gets worse than just accents.I've had a multitude of people assume I'm not American, because I "speak well" instead of "talk good".
Are you sure it had nothing to do with your Avatar? :w00t:
August 1, 2011 at 6:37 am
GSquared (8/1/2011)
It gets worse than just accents.I've had a multitude of people assume I'm not American, because I "speak well" instead of "talk good".
:hehe: Sadly, my experiences with people assuming I'm not American haven't involved my accent - but have rather involved comments along the lines of "you're too polite to be an American". 🙁
-Ki
August 1, 2011 at 6:12 pm
Kiara (8/1/2011)
GSquared (8/1/2011)
It gets worse than just accents.I've had a multitude of people assume I'm not American, because I "speak well" instead of "talk good".
:hehe: Sadly, my experiences with people assuming I'm not American haven't involved my accent - but have rather involved comments along the lines of "you're too polite to be an American". 🙁
Isn't it funny how stereotypes tend to work one way? Foreigners can say things like this about Americans and where's the outrage? However, just let an American say " You speak English too well to be from China." they would be regarded as a bigot, and the person from China would probably be very offended. It's fine as long as anyone but Americans say things like this. It's hypocritical, but it's the way it is nowadays:-D
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
August 2, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Ninja's_RGR'us (8/1/2011)
GSquared (8/1/2011)
It gets worse than just accents.I've had a multitude of people assume I'm not American, because I "speak well" instead of "talk good".
Are you sure it had nothing to do with your Avatar? :w00t:
Actually, the funniest time was when I was working for a multinational based out of Los Angeles, and one of the Legal Dept people stopped by my office to find out what kind of visa I had, since he was supposed to keep track of those things for compliance purposes. I asked him if a California state birth certificate was good enough. This was someone I'd known for 7 years at that time, and he'd thought I was English the whole time.
Another person (same company), whom I'd also known for years, was trying to guess where I'm from. He ran the gammut from UK to South Africa, Canada, a variety of African nations, and when none of those were right, he told me, "Well, you certainly learned how to speak English really good!" He never once guessed "USA". I agreed with him that I had, indeed, learned how to speak American English quite well. Never did let him know I was born less than a 100 miles from where we were having that conversation.
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
August 2, 2011 at 1:00 pm
TravisDBA (8/1/2011)
Kiara (8/1/2011)
GSquared (8/1/2011)
It gets worse than just accents.I've had a multitude of people assume I'm not American, because I "speak well" instead of "talk good".
:hehe: Sadly, my experiences with people assuming I'm not American haven't involved my accent - but have rather involved comments along the lines of "you're too polite to be an American". 🙁
Isn't it funny how stereotypes tend to work one way? Foreigners can say things like this about Americans and where's the outrage? However, just let an American say " You speak English too well to be from China." they would be regarded as a bigot, and the person from China would probably be very offended. It's fine as long as anyone but Americans say things like this. It's hypocritical, but it's the way it is nowadays:-D
Oh come on!
We're Americans! We're proud of it to the point of arrogance! We're rude, obnoxious, and happy to be that way! Everybody knows this! It's more FUN that way!
They usually let us get away with it, because we're also the most generous, helpful nation of people who ever lived. And because we can kick their ****** if they don't let us get away with it, of course. :w00t:
(How many Americans does it take to change a lightbulb? Twelve if it's a union job, twelve-hundred if it's a government job.)
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
August 2, 2011 at 1:02 pm
TravisDBA (8/1/2011)
Kiara (8/1/2011)
GSquared (8/1/2011)
It gets worse than just accents.I've had a multitude of people assume I'm not American, because I "speak well" instead of "talk good".
:hehe: Sadly, my experiences with people assuming I'm not American haven't involved my accent - but have rather involved comments along the lines of "you're too polite to be an American". 🙁
Isn't it funny how stereotypes tend to work one way? Foreigners can say things like this about Americans and where's the outrage? However, just let an American say " You speak English too well to be from China." they would be regarded as a bigot, and the person from China would probably be very offended. It's fine as long as anyone but Americans say things like this. It's hypocritical, but it's the way it is nowadays:-D
You should have answered Visa Platinum + black AMEX :-D.
Tho I can see how funny that is in real life ;-).
August 2, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Ninja, I think you ended up quoting the wrong post.
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
August 2, 2011 at 2:04 pm
GSquared (8/2/2011)
Ninja, I think you ended up quoting the wrong post.
Yup. But you're smart enough so that I don't have to go back and edit it.
That's what I love so much about you man ;-).
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