Workers banned for not speaking English.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....ge-health-safety.html

This all seems a little too extreme on Waterstones part, health and safety or not.

But it does raise the topical issue of foreign nationals settling into this country speaking in their native tongue.

David Cameron recently brought the matter up by suggesting that benefits could be cut if some refuse to learn English, also a little extreme maybe.

But the fact remains that because some refuse to learn to speak and read English, other problems occur. Take for example the matter of the cost to the taxpayer of providing interpreters:

The need to erect notices in public buildings all in a multitude of different languages:

The need to print extra amounts of paper publications also in different languages:

And then there is the problem of classes of school children where only a minority of pupils speak English.

Apart from all these, I learnt today that in some hospitals patients are put at risk simply because some nurses cannot speak English, and that content notices put on the doors of storage cabinets are being replaced by pictures of what the cabinet contains.

[jackthehat]

Mrs JtH was in-charge of a multi-racial workforce and politely insisted that everyone spoke in English during their time on the work-floor.
It reduced misunderstandings, both within the work processes and the personal chit-chat of the workers.

None of them objected.

[emmie]

a close relative works in a business that now employs lots of polish workers, and not one speaks English, either won't or can't. He says he feels completely out of place, so wrong.

[bednobs]

yes i could see what the headline was but the post says "workers banned for not speaking english" which kind of implies they've been banned from work or something

[mushroom25]

in the rail industry, it's a bit important to be able to speak and understand English - it's no good saying "que?" when told "there's a train coming"...

there was a group of eastern europeans just started their UK rail careers somewhere near Bristol; they attended their track safety course, and they all passed the exam. at the end of the course, the trainer asked them to put their chairs on the tables as they left, and not one understood what they'd been told. so the trainer had to fail them.

[THECORBYLOON]

What would they do if there were employees who wanted to speak Gaelic or Welsh to each other?

[mike11111]

There is an important difference between being unable to speak English and unwilling to speak English.In Wales or Scotland there is no one, apart perhaps from a few very aged in remote parts, who cannot speak English fluently. Their reluctance to do so, therefore, must be attributed to other reasons than simply lack of knowledge.

[tiggerblue10]

Some migrants who come to the UK and eventually apply for settlement must take a test called the "Knowledge of Life in the UK test". Those that do not know any English at all must study the English Language first in order to take the test.

[DTCwordfan]

What is English?

And, before I am jumped on, that is a serious question.

I would suggest that in this case "a level of language needed to adequately communicate in the job, and hence avoid errors."

If the workers were cleaners, then I would have thought Waterstone's actions excessive. If theyhae to communicate book items, client addresses and all the rest, a higher level of communication in English would be necessary.

[DTCwordfan]

sticky keyboard here....."if they have to"

[emmie]

If you are in hospital, and a nurse cannot be understood, or indeed understand the tasks assigned, or be able to communicate effectively with the patients, how does that work. Not an isolated incident, but just one of many. I have worked with people from every port of call, and all had to speak English, so if they want to work here, then they should have a fair grasp of the language. I don't see it any different, if a British person relocates to Spain, France and won't learn the language. How do you fit in, communicate, and indeed become part of that community. Or is it simply that they will settle in with their own people. If so that is the biggest problem, whether you are an ex pat, or an incomer.

[THECORBYLOON]

There is a big difference between encouraging folk to learn English and banning other languges when not on a break. If there is an H & S risk when two French folk chat to each other, I'd love to know what it is.

[Mosaic]

DT: 'the limits of my language are limits of my life ' (Wittgenstein)
That is why you should seek to become immersed in the language of the country you live in.

[Mosaic]

Corby - eew they'd kiss n everything.....

[Craftypig]

How the hell does someone get a job in a hospital if they cannot speak English? Don't they interview people anymore?

[boxtops]

If I read this article correctly, these people do speak English but are speaking their own language between themselves. Having worked with a couple of chaps who used to speak Welsh together, I know how annoying that can be to the rest of the workforce.

[DTCwordfan]

I agree Mosaic - I do speak some other languages.

What is the term for someone who speaks 3 languages? - Ans: Trilingual
What is the term for someone who speaks 2 languages? - Ans: Bilingual
What is the term for someone who speaks 1 language ? - Ans: Monolingual or Unilingual? - No, it's American or English

[emmie]

craftypig, if you look at the news recently, i believe in EU, there is no requirement to interview nursing staff on the competency of their language or skills. I am not in a position to say that is a 100 percent accurate statement, it's what i had read. I was in a hospital a couple of years ago, who had a number of nurses who's command of English was poor to bad. And the same goes for relatives who have been in hospital, and sorry but some of the doctors are no better.

[emmie]

This is the article.

http://www.telegraph....f-foreign-nurses.html

[DTCwordfan]

em - had that comment from a family friend today who was in hospital for a triple by-pass. The first nurse in intensive care was a good Cornish filly and the second one, a Filipino, that who was barely incomprehensible. Fortunately for him, he hardly knew what was going on, it was more his wife who was concerned with the comprehnsion and lack of language (which rather undermines that statistic about national levels of English published earlier and, in my experience, I would have rated the Philiippines much lower).

[modeller]

My neighbour works for the police and they have to pay £120 a day for each interpreter . In all this costs them half a million a year. Now that is bad enough but many of those asking for translaters have lived in this country for 20/30 tears . They can't or wont learn English . Some are extremists who can speak English but refuse to do so.

I have spoken to NHS consultants , doctors and nurses who obviously did not understand what I was saying .
We all have spoken on call centres to foreigners who cant understand what you are saying in basic English and their accent is so bad that even if they do understand you can't understand the answer.