There is one yearly task that I dread: finding a lawn-mower. We hire somebody to do the first mowing of the season, and then N does all the mowing himself. I get to call mowers on the phone and I hate doing that because they don’t understand me. At all! My accent defeats them completely, and it’s very frustrating not to be understood in a language that I speak extremely well.
People are so not ready for globalization.
A couple of thoughts.
Non-latinos cut lawns where you are? I though latino immigrants had completely taken over lawn care. Have you tried Spanish?
If they’re not latino are these white or black people that can’t understand you?
I do sympathize. Formative years in Russian phonetics do not make a happy transition to anglophone surroundings.
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We don’t have any Hispanic immigrants at all in this area. The only immigrants from anywhere that we have around here are professors. 🙂
These are all local very white people.
“Formative years in Russian phonetics do not make a happy transition to anglophone surroundings.”
Yes, the accent is not going away ever.
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I’m looking for a part-time nanny for Klara to start in September, and I’d much prefer to have a Hispanic woman. But that’s a pipe dream because it’s easier to encounter an elephant here than a Spanish-speaker.
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Interesting article about immigrant caregivers:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/04/11/the-sacrifices-of-an-immigrant-caregiver
Many women travel from the Philippines to work as nannies. They make more here as caregivers than they do back home as degreed professionals and academics.
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Would pretending that they don’t know English well and need you to speak slowly and clearly, like you are teaching them, help?
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Could be worse, you could be speaking actual English to them with a West Country accent instead …
🙂
[… but if you can listen to “Hideous Towns” by The Sundays and make out the lyrics, you’re pretty much good to go …]
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A conservative literary critic and college professor
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