was this poll taken in Spanish only ?......
#2 | Posted by skizziks at 2009-07-02 01:06 P
lol -- missed your #2 post when I put up my #4.
Do you know 65 languages are spoken in Los Angeles County alone?
I was taking bids for painters and termite inspection work for the last month or so. It wasn't the Latino guys who would come out that I had a problem understanding and speaking to, it was the large number of Asians now in the construction business here in CA.
One painter who was Chinese had to bring a woman to interpret for him. Another fellow, a termite inspector, was Korean and although he was a nice guy and seemed to do a good inspection job, I literally could not understand him well enough to conduct an interview to find out what kind of wood repairs were needed, etc.
I tried hard, spoke slowly, and he worked hard on his part too -- even asking me if I minded him answering his ringing cell phone "in my own language [Korean]" I told him of course I didn't mind, and thought it polite that he even asked me. But he lost the job. I was not able to get it clear enough from him -- either verbally or in writing -- just what wood repairs I needed, what materials he planned on using, etc. because he literally could not speak to me in English well enough for me to understand him.
And I am used to talking to people with many different language backgrounds living for years in L.A. so I try and accommodate them as well as I can but I won't hire someone who can't even write up a contract or speak to me about the job well enough so I could even understand what he was saying.
