Language barriers

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by UnGrave, Jun 27, 2019.

  1. UnGrave

    UnGrave ななひ~^^

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    So I was doing my deliveries as per normal today, when one of the houses was answered buy an old women from India. She spoke absolutely no English, and had no idea that I was trying to tell her to pay me $13.16. No matter what I said she would just look at me and shrug, and shake her head occasionally. Eventually I just gave up, took the receipts, and left the medication with them. How am I supposed to communicate with someone who doesn't know any English, nor do I even know what language do they speak in?
     
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  2. in_awe

    in_awe [Daisy's Pet][Tilgar's Master][Evil Chaotic Fluff]

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    Google translate
     
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  3. UnGrave

    UnGrave ななひ~^^

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    To what language?
     
  4. OnceandFutureLurker

    OnceandFutureLurker Well-Known Member

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    Some use of Hindi is almost universal in India and immigrant communities from there , Urdu works as well. Plus Canada has lots of Tamil and Punjabi speakers
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2019
  5. in_awe

    in_awe [Daisy's Pet][Tilgar's Master][Evil Chaotic Fluff]

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    I used it once for a Spanish speaker, it worked fine.
     
  6. Robofs740

    Robofs740 Well-Known Member

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    I'd say using an online translator is the way to go. Now, I'm not saying that that old lady was doing this, but aren't there people who fake not knowing English to get out of paying?
    Edit: oh just read that you didn't know what language they spoke. Not sure what to do then
     
  7. in_awe

    in_awe [Daisy's Pet][Tilgar's Master][Evil Chaotic Fluff]

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    I didn't want to say it but true. This has happened to me as well
     
  8. UnGrave

    UnGrave ななひ~^^

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    The main reason I didn't use an online translator was because of how old they were. I doubt they'd have any idea what I was doing if I type something into my smartphone and showed it to them. Also they didn't get it for free, I will be collecting the money from them at a later time.
     
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  9. Robofs740

    Robofs740 Well-Known Member

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    Hopefully, they actually pay later and not try to bs. They'll probably pay, but just be prepared. So good luck on that.
     
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  10. UnGrave

    UnGrave ななひ~^^

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    I think only one guy's ever gotten away with not paying us and we're still planning on getting it from him. This client isn't going to be any different from the rest.
     
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  11. Liyus

    Liyus Laksha's Desu~ Cat

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    Stroke Tumb and index + receip with the price tiped into it(don't tell me they dont know numbers)....is the universal sig of "gimme me money"
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2019
  12. Deleted member 155674

    Deleted member 155674 Guest

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    Why would you show it to them? use the translator and use the audio function to read the translation for you
     
  13. campfire

    campfire Well-Known Member

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    That reminds of those debt collectors from Japan/Korea you see in novels.
     
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  14. UnGrave

    UnGrave ななひ~^^

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    " if you want to live any longer(buy more of your medicine) pay us the money!"
     
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  15. sgrey

    sgrey Well-Known Member

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    It's quite simple actually. Things you can do:
    1) I don't know for all machine translators, but many have voice input and can also speak. Turn on voice input, set automatic language recognition and see how that goes
    2) You draw something
    3) Goes with 2 - use pictograms
    4) Go to the neighbors and see if anyone can help. Or see if someone else is home
    5) If you deliver something, shouldn't there be contact information, like a phone number? Call it
    Something your company can have:
    1) An interpreter service. Idk where you work, some companies provide an interpreter service, where you can call and ask for help.

    And well, check if they are not faking it, maybe they are just trying to weasel out of a payment
     
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  16. fteg123

    fteg123 Well-Known Member

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    You mentioned receipts, did you show it to her that she owes money? She might be confused on product fees and delivery fees so she thinks she paid but doesn't realizes that she needs to pay extra.
    Edit: My assumption is that they ordered and purchased the product online. (unless they haven't?)
     
  17. Ursula

    Ursula Well-Known Member

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    You can just write the numbers on a paper or something like that and show her a dollar from your pocket :blobReach:
    I don't know about you but usually I don't have internet on my phone so online translation is out of options for me
     
  18. StuffedDuck

    StuffedDuck Stuffed with Fluff

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    • beat her up
    • grab the purse
    • take out the money due
    • AND a generous tip
    • thank her
    • be on your way
     
  19. On-topic

    On-topic Well-Known Member

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    should have just written 13.16$ on something.
     
  20. MarSprite

    MarSprite <Impossible to Gauge>

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    Is the medicine... herbal?