Taxi Drivers: No English Spoken Here
No Kidding! They're Spanish, afterall!
This morning on TeleMadrid there was a report about Madrid's taxi drivers and their ability (or lack of ability) to speak English with their riders. My first thought was, "Of course they can't speak English! They're Spanish!" But then I imagined the difficulty, for example, my parents would have when they come visit me and take a taxi from the airport. The last time I went to Barajas to get them and we returned to the city in a taxi.
The report said the city/Community of Madrid was starting a program for persons in the service industry, offering a 2-month course on basic English. What a great idea!
Some of the taxi drivers TeleMadrid interviewed said they often get directions from passengers when they write down the address. Others said they spoke only a few words of English. Most, however, said they spoke nary a word of English. I can't say I'm surprised with this as the taxi drivers in Spain are often mature and driving taxis for years and years, rarely needing to learn English or any other language. But I'd imagine those whom line-up at Barajas Airport would/should have more knowledge of foreign languages.
I guess, as a last option, English-speaking passengers can simply tell the driver, "Plaza Mayor" or "Puerta del Sol" and then walk the rest of the way if their hotels are nearby. That is, IF the passengers KNOW their hotels are nearby these well-known areas. But imagine being dropped off in the middle of Bangkok, for example, and trying to find your hotel on foot while carrying your luggage and not speaking a word of the local language. That's why I always tell travelers to have the address of their hotel written down so they can SHOW the driver that address. But if that hotel's on a pedestrian street and the driver tries to tell you that - IN SPANISH - the passenger obviously won't understand. Frustrating for everyone.
Should basic English be a requirement for taxi drivers?
Saludos, MadridMan
This morning on TeleMadrid there was a report about Madrid's taxi drivers and their ability (or lack of ability) to speak English with their riders. My first thought was, "Of course they can't speak English! They're Spanish!" But then I imagined the difficulty, for example, my parents would have when they come visit me and take a taxi from the airport. The last time I went to Barajas to get them and we returned to the city in a taxi.
The report said the city/Community of Madrid was starting a program for persons in the service industry, offering a 2-month course on basic English. What a great idea!
Some of the taxi drivers TeleMadrid interviewed said they often get directions from passengers when they write down the address. Others said they spoke only a few words of English. Most, however, said they spoke nary a word of English. I can't say I'm surprised with this as the taxi drivers in Spain are often mature and driving taxis for years and years, rarely needing to learn English or any other language. But I'd imagine those whom line-up at Barajas Airport would/should have more knowledge of foreign languages.
I guess, as a last option, English-speaking passengers can simply tell the driver, "Plaza Mayor" or "Puerta del Sol" and then walk the rest of the way if their hotels are nearby. That is, IF the passengers KNOW their hotels are nearby these well-known areas. But imagine being dropped off in the middle of Bangkok, for example, and trying to find your hotel on foot while carrying your luggage and not speaking a word of the local language. That's why I always tell travelers to have the address of their hotel written down so they can SHOW the driver that address. But if that hotel's on a pedestrian street and the driver tries to tell you that - IN SPANISH - the passenger obviously won't understand. Frustrating for everyone.
Should basic English be a requirement for taxi drivers?
Saludos, MadridMan
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Blogarama
With what you are saying i personally would be biased and think ALL taxi drivers should have basic knowledge of the english language.But with the in flux of differant nationalitys going to all major cities the next person would say why can you not speak German or Japanese?. Anyone coming over to England who does not speak any English would be in big trouble because not many English taxi drivers can speak a differant language. Like you say i do my homework and write down in the language the name and address of my destination and it has never let me down yet.
But the blog you have written i must admit has a fair point.
Good point. And how does someone from the UK, Japanese who speaks English, or German who speaks English feel when they go to New York City and few of the taxi drivers there speak English - or at least not an English the passengers can understand? In Spain, nearly all of the taxi drivers are Spanish. In the New York City, USA almost none of the taxi drivers are American!
Just saw a new segment on this morning's TeleMadrid on this same topic. It seems the city has (or will) provided several thousand taxi drivers with a hand held electronic translator. Those few taxi drivers interviewed said the devices were impossible to use - to no surprise. You have to understand the question before you can type it and translate it.