M O'BRIEN
Google
Why pretend not to speak English when your job is to represent your city to visitors? I just don't get that mentality. Upon arrival at the Palacio de los Guzmanes we were directed to a room where a woman was organising tours. I addressed the woman in Spanish and asked if she spoke English. She replied in Spanish 'the visit is in Spanish only'. I have never studied Spanish and do not claim to speak the language but I speak Italian and French and thanks to that could grasp what she was saying. I nodded and said that it was ok, we would join the tour anyway. She noted down our names and confirmed the time and place where the tour began, still in Spanish. When the tour began, I noted that she spoke in fluent English, but really good English, to a Dutch couple. Why do that, why make out you don't speak a language when you do? Surely the aim is to showcase your city and your country to visitors? Surely the fact that you speak fluent English is an asset? With a dozen or so visitors, the tour began. There were five English speakers (the Dutch couple, my wife, my son and I) and a family who originated from Southern China (my wife is Chinese and noted that they spoke Chinese), plus four Spanish people. OK, we are in Spain and the tour is in Spanish, but with half of the group speaking no Spanish, and non Spanish speakers making up more than half of the group, why not make a bit of an effort? Perhaps a short summary in English would have been enough to satisfy everyone? The result was that the Dutch couple left bored halfway through the tour, my son and I double guessed via French and Italian translating to my wife, the Chinese family concentrated on taking photos, and two Spanish couples chatted with the guide. Great result for the city of Leon.
