Received: from [75.33.34.121] by web81307.mail.mud.yahoo.com via HTTP; Sat, 08 Dec 2007 13:54:16 PST Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2007 13:54:15 -0800 (PST) From: Herb Brannon Subject: Re: [PRCo] Bilingual bus drivers To: pittsburgh-railways@dementia.org In-Reply-To: <2553EE7C-FE0B-4EBC-BEC2-5FFC754B4266@comcast.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="0-1492396884-1197150855=:8948" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Length: 3380 --0-1492396884-1197150855=:8948 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I was able to really send "shock waves", albeit good shock waves through some Hispanic drivers a few years ago when I lived in Austin, TX. We were all sitting in the operators lounge, playing some silly game which required that scores be kept for each player. I was the only "Anglo" in the group. Bear in mind, however, all these guys were my good work buddies. They would switch from English to Spanish, and back and forth. At one point, one guy told a joke, in Spanish. When the punch line came I laughed along with them. (The punch line was, "And look, Henry has the pen.") So, thinking quickly, I figured I better say the punch line to prove that I understood what was said, and not just laughing along with them. So I said, "Si, la pluma es con Enrique", or Yes, the pen is with Henry. I never saw four chins drop to the floor so fast and such a look of surprise come over four people at the same time. It was really priceless...........I wish I would have had a camera to record the moment. At that time I then knew that those years of taking Spanish were really worth it. ;-) Fred is correct. Learn the language of those who make you uncomfortable and you will become comfortable in their presence. This works for everyone. For the past two days I have been working the 15-Union/Harvard and most trips I am the only White person on the bus. However, I am just as comfortable driving the 15 as I am driving the 75X-North Olmstead. I know the vernacular and that some things being said, while the average White would think something "bad or obscene" is going to happen, only indicate the "grassroots" (for lack of a better term) method of speech which goes along with the inner city lifestyle in a large American city. Then too one learns in some situations not to "talk down" to the people around one while at the same time not parroting their speech. I always can tell a White driver who is actually afraid of some of the inner city crowd when they (the driver) starts talking like an inner city Black when they are in conversation with Black people. Just be yourself, learn the language or method of speech and this life, in this day and age, is much easier to navigate through. I now give the soapbox back to Fred III. Fred Schneider wrote: You know how I feel on this. In Brussels it is policy that bus drivers and trolley motormen and subway staff speak both French and Flemish. And I think it is fantastic that Herb can greet his passengers in Cleveland in both Spanish and English. Because the west Germans, during our occupation, taught English in the schools starting in the third grade, many and perhaps more than 50% of the transit personnel in Germany spoke German and English. In Switzerland, because they have four national languages, most people in public service occupations speak multiple languages. But somehow, in Canada, this seems to be forcing the issue the wrong way. Should not the policy be requiring everyone to learn the other language starting in the third grade ... then in fifty years the problem would go away. That would also be my solution to Spanish and English in the U. S. If three-quarters of the people eventually speak both languages, then you don't fear without reason that the other person is speak behind your back about you. You cannot force 40-year-old bus drivers to learn a new language. It doesn't work. You can get them to learn a few sentences. Then when the stranger asks what you don't know, you're dead in the water. But you can put signs under the drivers name on the bus that proclaim that this driver speaks Spanish and English. You could ask for drivers who do speak the other language to volunteer to work those neighborhoods. Ottawa man lobbies for bilingual bus drivers Last Updated: Friday, December 7, 2007 | 5:47 PM ET CBC News Ottawa bus drivers might greet riders with a "hello," but a "bonjour" is rare, and that's not fair, says one francophone passenger. Michel Thibodeau has launched an official complaint against OC Transpo, the city's public transit company, demanding that it enforce its policy of treating francophones and anglophones equally. That entails greeting passengers, calling out stops and making announcements in both languages, he said. "So that francophones don't feel left out," he added. The company should ensure new drivers are bilingual and current drivers should get language training so they can at least greet passengers in French, he said. The City of Ottawa's French services department is currently looking into the complaint. Thibodeau said he expects to hear from them next week. Bilingual drivers would be ideal, said OC Transpo head Alain Mercier, and the company is making an effort to offer more services in both languages. "It certainly is a challenge to work towards bilingualism with the 2,000 people in our organization," he said. And while the people hired by the company aren't guaranteed to be bilingual, the vehicles they use will be. All new buses will be soon be equipped with a system that automatically calls out major stops in both French and English, Mercier said. Herb Brannon --0-1492396884-1197150855=:8948 Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
I was able to really send "shock waves", albeit good shock waves through some Hispanic drivers a few years ago when I lived in Austin, TX. We were all sitting in the operators lounge, playing some silly game which required that scores be kept for each player. I was the only "Anglo" in the group. Bear in mind, however, all these guys were my good work buddies. They would switch from English to Spanish, and back and forth. At one point, one guy told a joke, in Spanish. When the punch line came I laughed along with them. (The punch line was, "And look, Henry has the pen.") So, thinking quickly, I figured I better say the punch line to prove that I understood what was said, and not just laughing along with them. So I said, "Si, la pluma es con Enrique", or Yes, the pen is with Henry. I never saw four chins drop to the floor so fast and such a look of surprise come over four people at the same time. It was really priceless...........I wish I would have had a camera to record the moment. At that time I then knew that those years of taking Spanish were really worth it.  ;-)
 
Fred is correct. Learn the language of those who make you uncomfortable and you will become comfortable in their presence. This works for everyone. For the past two days I have been working the 15-Union/Harvard and most trips I am the only White person on the bus. However, I am just as comfortable driving the 15 as I am driving the 75X-North Olmstead. I know the vernacular and that some things being said, while the average White would think something "bad or obscene" is going to happen, only indicate the "grassroots" (for lack of a better term) method of speech which goes along with the inner city lifestyle in a large American city. Then too one learns in some situations not to "talk down" to the people around one while at the same time not parroting their speech. I always can tell a White driver who is actually afraid of some of the inner city crowd when they (the driver) starts talking like an inner city Black when they are in conversation with Black people. Just be yourself, learn the language or method of speech and this life, in this day and age, is much easier to navigate through.
 
I now give the soapbox back to Fred III.

Fred Schneider <fwschneider@comcast.net> wrote:
You know how I feel on this. In Brussels it is policy that bus
drivers and trolley motormen and subway staff speak both French and
Flemish. And I think it is fantastic that Herb can greet his
passengers in Cleveland in both Spanish and English. Because the
west Germans, during our occupation, taught English in the schools
starting in the third grade, many and perhaps more than 50% of the
transit personnel in Germany spoke German and English. In
Switzerland, because they have four national languages, most people
in public service occupations speak multiple languages.
But somehow, in Canada, this seems to be forcing the issue the wrong
way. Should not the policy be requiring everyone to learn the other
language starting in the third grade ... then in fifty years the
problem would go away. That would also be my solution to Spanish and
English in the U. S. If three-quarters of the people eventually
speak both languages, then you don't fear without reason that the
other person is speak behind your back about you.

You cannot force 40-year-old bus drivers to learn a new language.
It doesn't work. You can get them to learn a few sentences. Then
when the stranger asks what you don't know, you're dead in the
water. But you can put signs under the drivers name on the bus
that proclaim that this driver speaks Spanish and English. You
could ask for drivers who do speak the other language to volunteer to
work those neighborhoods.



Ottawa man lobbies for bilingual bus drivers

Last Updated: Friday, December 7, 2007 | 5:47 PM ET
CBC News
Ottawa bus drivers might greet riders with a "hello," but a "bonjour"
is rare, and that's not fair, says one francophone passenger.

Michel Thibodeau has launched an official complaint against OC
Transpo, the city's public transit company, demanding that it enforce
its policy of treating francophones and anglophones equally.

That entails greeting passengers, calling out stops and making
announcements in both languages, he said.

"So that francophones don't feel left out," he added.

The company should ensure new drivers are bilingual and current
drivers should get language training so they can at least greet
passengers in French, he said.

The City of Ottawa's French services department is currently looking
into the complaint. Thibodeau said he expects to hear from them next
week.

Bilingual drivers would be ideal, said OC Transpo head Alain Mercier,
and the company is making an effort to offer more services in both
languages.

"It certainly is a challenge to work towards bilingualism with the
2,000 people in our organization," he said.

And while the people hired by the company aren't guaranteed to be
bilingual, the vehicles they use will be.

All new buses will be soon be equipped with a system that
automatically calls out major stops in both French and English,
Mercier said.





Herb Brannon --0-1492396884-1197150855=:8948--