|
 |
Immigrant success in US without English | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Snowflake Senior Member United States Joined 5781 days ago 1032 posts - 1233 votes  Studies: Mandarin | Message 9 of 16 10 November 2011 at 4:59am | IP Logged | ||
|
What they don't mention is what happens when an emergency occurs and there is no one present to translate. The lack of English then can be life threatening. Granted, that is not the focus of the article. Edited by Snowflake on 10 November 2011 at 5:00am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5907 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 10 of 16 10 November 2011 at 2:31pm | IP Logged | ||
|
That's why it doesn't suprise me when non-English speakers don't move out from their native communities. Nobody wants to be caught in an unpleasant situation where they can't communicate. It's all about support. This Mr. Sanchez and Mr. Zhang have been able to capitalize on it.
Just a quick note on the migrant issue: I've never considered myself one, but I guess I am. My family have done our best to assimilate and adapt. But dealing with life in a different language sometimes wears you down faster than it would in your own language, especially when everybody around you seems to have fewer problems getting what they want. All I can say is I've now experienced life on both sides and it's a real eye-opener. I think it's remarkable that Mr. Sanchez and Mr. Zhang were able to conduct business on such a rudimentary level. It reminds me what I've seen here, too. I do freelance work for a company that conducts international business in --very broken-- English. Companies do everything with their intranet programming these days. Amazing! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Snowflake Senior Member United States Joined 5781 days ago 1032 posts - 1233 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 11 of 16 10 November 2011 at 4:42pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Someone can be in a situation within their native community and still be at risk. I have stories from within my family where that happened, with unpleasant results.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6094 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 13 of 16 11 November 2011 at 6:57pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I strongly suspect this is very much the exception, not the rule. By and large, immigrants who do not learn the dominant language are stuck in linguistic enclaves and with not very remunerative jobs.
3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6094 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 14 of 16 14 November 2011 at 3:11pm | IP Logged | ||
I remember an episode of the US hospital drama ER where a Hispanic couple's child died of an overdose of medication because they read the word once on the medicine bottle instructions for dosage as meaning "eleven", which is its meaning in Spanish. Fictional TV, but based on real cases? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| July Diglot Senior Member Spain Joined 5095 days ago 113 posts - 208 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishB2 Studies: French | Message 15 of 16 14 November 2011 at 9:56pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I remember that episode too - I wonder if such a thing could really happen. Bearing in
mind that the rest of the label would be printed in English, I wonder if you would really cling to the one word that looked familiar? Possibly. It was an interesting argument for multi-lingual instructions. I mean, if your dishwasher comes with instructions in six languages and shampoo bottle with three, why should medicines only have one language printed on them? (Apart from the obvious reason that they're only available in one country, of course!) Edited by July on 14 November 2011 at 9:57pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6094 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 16 of 16 15 November 2011 at 8:58pm | IP Logged | ||
If the dosage was given in bold type and the rest not, perhaps. I once accompanied a Turkish woman to hospital in the ambulance after she collapsed while on a visit to Britain to see her son. I acted as interpreter until someone more qualified was found. Most of what I said was reassurance to her, and basic explanation to the doctor/paramedic of what had happened and her symptoms. The vulnerability of being taken ill in a foreign country whose language you don't speak was certainly brought home to me. 1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
