What is Happening to my Country

Mike

Mike

Well-known Member
Location
London
I phoned the Pensions Office this morning,
the machine that answered, said, "If you
would like to speak to someone in English,
press 1", I am in England, that should be
the default, language and all other speakers,
should be the ones that get a choice, I chose,
1, but I should have listened to all the choices,
just to see how many there are.

Mike.
 

I got my claim detail statement, otherwise called "EOB" from UnitedHealthcare this week for recent claims. This one only had prescriptions on it (no doctor visits). Beginning on page 2, this statement appears in English:

"Attention: Free language assistance services and free communications in other formats, such as large print, are available to you. Call the toll-free number on your identification card."

Below that, the same statement (as in italics above) is presented again, in 37 other languages (labeled in English as to country of origin). Some of the foreign languages I might expect, such as Spanish, French, and German, but the the rest of them may not be used by anyone in the United States who is on my UHC plan. Here are just some of them:

Armenian (from the Armenian Highlands of West Asia.)
Bengali (Bengal region only of the subconitnent)
Khmer (a kind of Cambodian)
lus Hmoob (Hmong) (from parts of Southeast Asia)
Ilocano (spoken by an ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines)
Marshallese (spoken in the Marshall Islands)
Nepali (the official language of Nepal, or Gorkhali,)
Faa-Samoa (spoken in Samoa)
Tagalog (Austronesian language spoken primarily in Luzon)

. . . . . plus many other languages I cannot list becuse they are partially spelled by backward lettering and unknown symbols which are not offered on a standard U.S. laptop keyboard such as mine.
 
I have a number of power tools that come with a handbook. The instructions are 2-3 pages. The booklet is 20+ pages, in different languages. I am tempted to just tear out the English part and toss the rest but something in me says, "No! Don't do that!" Probably a rule against that somewhere.
 
MACKTEXAS said:
Armenian (from the Armenian Highlands of West Asia.)
Bengali (Bengal region only of the subconitnent)
Khmer (a kind of Cambodian)
lus Hmoob (Hmong) (from parts of Southeast Asia)
Ilocano (spoken by an ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines)
Marshallese (spoken in the Marshall Islands)
Nepali (the official language of Nepal, or Gorkhali,)
Faa-Samoa (spoken in Samoa)
Tagalog (Austronesian language spoken primarily in Luzon)

. . . . . plus many other languages I cannot list becuse they are partially spelled by backward lettering and unknown symbols which are not offered on a standard U.S. laptop keyboard such as mine.
Click to expand...
Most if not all language translation can be done via AI now, especially for the printed materials.
 
Last edited:
Mike said:
I phoned the Pensions Office this morning,
the machine that answered, said, "If you
would like to speak to someone in English,
press 1", I am in England, that should be
the default, language and all other speakers,
should be the ones that get a choice, I chose,
1, but I should have listened to all the choices,
just to see how many there are.

Mike.
Click to expand...
Personally I'm surprised that we don't have any answering machine that are speaking jive or Ebonics.

One time I was having my first van repaired, and so I wandered over to the nearby high school. I looked through the doors and they had a banner welcoming the new students to the school in 12 different languages.

I commented to the mechanic that I'd hired and I said how can they do this he goes "Oh they have translators, I've seen five translators in one room, talking while the teacher is talking" 😱😱😱

No wonder School budgets are being blown out of the water here and there. After all somebody's got to pay those translators.
 
Maybe I could make my voicemail greeting in 15 languages so these solicitors would get tired of llistening, and hang up without leaving a message: ;)

Hello, You have reached the voicemail of: Mack Doomaflachie, leave a message.
Hola, te has comunicado con el buzón de voz de: Mack Doomaflachie, deja un mensaje.
Pozdravljeni, dobili ste glasovno pošto: Mack Doomaflachie, pustite sporočilo.
Sawubona, Ufinyelele ku-voicemail ya: Mack Doomaflachie, shiya umlayeto.
. . . ETC. & ETC., BLAH, BLAH, BLAH . . .
 
MACKTEXAS said:
Maybe I could make my voicemail greeting in 15 languages so these solicitors would get tired of llistening, and hang up without leaving a message: ;)

Hello, You have reached the voicemail of: Mack Doomaflachie, leave a message.
Hola, te has comunicado con el buzón de voz de: Mack Doomaflachie, deja un mensaje.
Pozdravljeni, dobili ste glasovno pošto: Mack Doomaflachie, pustite sporočilo.
Sawubona, Ufinyelele ku-voicemail ya: Mack Doomaflachie, shiya umlayeto.
. . . ETC. & ETC., BLAH, BLAH, BLAH . . .
Click to expand...
Your friends and families may hang up too.
 
Mike said:
I phoned the Pensions Office this morning,
the machine that answered, said, "If you
would like to speak to someone in English,
press 1", I am in England, that should be
the default, language and all other speakers,
should be the ones that get a choice, I chose,
1, but I should have listened to all the choices,
just to see how many there are.

Mike.
Click to expand...


well everybody gets a choice and you press 1 - how is that a problem?

and interpreters in health services are a very good thing too - much better than family members, sometimes children, having t o interpret for relatives and/or people not understanding health instructions
 
I read one time a tip about calling high volume call centers. It recommended selecting Spanish because that sees a lower call volume and your call would be answered sooner. The article said don't worry, most of the people answering the call speak English as well.
 
I remember going for a mammogram last year and being handed a paper to fill out. It was in Spanish and the flip side was English. When did English become a second language in America? Okay...so all it took was a flip of the page and the receptionist handed me the clipboard with the wrong side showing, but it was a reminder that most of the workers and patients there and in so many other places are Hispanic. If you're not bilingual, it may be hard to get a job.
 

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