文章基本信息

标题：Multilinqual gripes
作者：Mona Doyle
期刊名称：The Shopper Report
印刷版ISSN：1077-5099
出版年度：2005
卷号：Dec 2005
出版社：Consumer Network, Inc,

Multilinqual gripes

Mona Doyle

American consumers are seeing more Spanish on labels and routinely having to get past Spanish options on bank terminals and telephone calls. They are seeing and buying more and more merchandise made in China. They are having to get their questions answered with hard-to-understand accents coming from remote call centers based in Mumbai or Mexico. Some American consumers are taking it all in stride, some are blaming it on globalization, some are trying to be understanding, and some are burning a not-so-slow burn.

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* "Please stop multilingual packaging! The more languages, the smaller the printing, the more difficult it is to read."

* "PET PEEVE-- Clerks who speak very limited English but who certainly know our money!"

* "I don't shop Wal-Mart beyond groceries anymore. Didn't know Sam Walton was Chinese. Plus we don't buy anything made in China if we know or find it's made in China."

* "When I call a company with a question, I've learned to insist on talking with a supervisor, who is more likely to speak with an accent I can understand."

* "Gripe! Is anyone else totally very upset (to put it mildly) that everything in our country, America, an English language speaking country, is being turned into a condescending Spanish speaking country? I am a tolerant, unbiased, non-prejudiced person who feels corporations, businesses local and national, governments from national to city, and everything in between are catering to this segment of immigrants. What is even worse, most are illegal. They are being given food, lodging, education, jobs etc., when people living here, born here, are homeless or people who pay the taxes to support social services programs can't get help if they encounter a bad time. When other immigrants came in they had to have a sponsor or a place to go to, or a job or training, they needed to be screened, had to learn to speak and write and read America's language--English. Now everything from labels, newspapers, TV, recordings, signs, advertisements, etc. are in Spanish. What gives??!"

Happy Holidays, Mona Doyle