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Language Barrier
After a trip to Mexico and talking to the Firefighters over there, or "Bomberos" as they call themselves, I became curious as to know...
How many of you have ever been faced with a language barrier, and how did it affect the incident?
What do you do if you're faced with someone who speaks little to no English in an emergency, who do you call?
Does your department carry those quick reference sheets made specially for EMS and Fire?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ron Ayotte on
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What irony.... your ancestors probably didn't speak a word of English when they emigrated here from Canada or wherever...
You probably have had a meal or two from or in Chinese restaurants where the majority of the staff doesn't speak English... the same can be said for any other ethnic restaurant, including Irish pubs where Gaelic is the preferred language...
Maybe they should get the hell out too.... insert sarcastic rolling eyes smiley icon here...
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Permalink Reply by Mick Mayers on
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While I have been learning Espanol for quite a while now (I can read Spanish pretty well and my daughters and I speak to one another in very rudimentary Spanish), I have found that on my Google G1 I could load a translate application that I keep on Spanish. It has been pretty accurate so far translating spoken voice English to Spanish although if you try to get it to say the phrase, it's not even close, so you at least need to be able to read some Spanish. We have a significant population of immigrants and there are areas where if its a school day and no kids are around, you'd better know some of the local language.
The statements made by a few people on here, frankly, are a little disturbing, but it's no different than the sentiment shown by the rest of the xenophobes who happen to figure out which end of a keyboard to peck at. And yes, for those of you advocating that we speak English, xenophobia is a word we use in the English language.
Where I grew up, there were a significant number of older residents who spoke Polish, Czechoslovakian or Italian, and while they could speak English, when things were going to crap, they resorted to the old language, because that's what they knew best. I'm constantly amazed at the number of people who forget that we are all immigrants to this nation, unless your ancestors happen to be Native Americans. Likewise, many of our forefathers came here because they were being persecuted in their home country and came here for religious tolerance, or political asylum, or simply because America promised a level playing field if you were willing to take a chance, work hard, and do the right thing.
There was a day and age when there were signs saying "Irish Need Not Apply". In fact, some of the organizations I am a member of were formed because of the discrimination against these immigrants and their "foreign languages". It's funny because when you look at it, it's not a Hispanic issue, or a Black issue, or a Chinese issue; it's a (insert scapegoat here) issue. When times get tough, it's easy for the smallminded to find someone to blame for their problems rather than to be introspective and realize what the core causes are to the issues.
Is it frustrating being unable to communicate with someone in English here in the good ol' USA? You bet. Think of how frustrating it must be to have come all this way to a country that is supposedly the greatest on earth, trying to make a living doing jobs that other people won't take, and your child gets sick, then not being able to describe what is wrong so you can get the help you need.
Illegal immigration is a problem that needs to be rectified. If these people want to work here, and they want to use our services, then they need to pay into the system like everyone else. Having an illegal sub-economy is not good policy or good practice. But that isn't the issue. The issue is that we have people here, we serve them, and we need to work TOGETHER with those people to increase their fluency in our language, and we, likewise, theirs.
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Permalink Reply by marc loreas on
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Well Said!
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Permalink Reply by John Dobson on
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Grrrrr I love chinese food thanks for making me hungry. NO Mcds no pizza always chinese or a good BBQ.
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Permalink Reply by Fabulous Heather Days of Summer on
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ROTFLMAO
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from when comes the origin of BBQ?
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LHO LERK LLGB SYL CUL CYE
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Bilingual Dust - LOL
I just pictured the dust on the back window of my car yelling at me "Wash Me" in multiple languages - very creepy
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AMEN AND AMEN
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BBQ comes from The Caribbean Arawak Indians who taught the Spanish sailors the art of "barbacoa" (means: wooden sticks). The Arawak Indians placed the meat on green wooden sticks over an outdoor fire. Others claim that the Taino Indigenous Nation of the Caribbean used a term "Taino barabicoa" which means "The sticks with four legs and many sticks of wood on top to place the cooking meat." There is also the Taino word "barabicu", which translates as "sacred fire pit".
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R...rolling
O...on
T...the
F...floor
L...laughing
M...my
A... ass
O...off
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wow - you are a fount of knowledge !!!
spectacular
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