One unexpected barrier - or, I guess, an inconveinence - is the language barrier at work. It's not my lack of speaking Mandarin that's the problem.....well, yes, it is a problem, but that's not unexpected. It's the way the Chinese employees speak English - and how they try to speak English at work - that is an issue. And it's very subtle.
They say things that mean nothing to them but mean a whole lot to native speakers. For instance, I was trying to stress a point in a meeting that the team needs to stay on top of the machine performance shiftly. They need to make sure they analyze the reports and come up with a daily action plan.
You need to know the shiftly efficiency. I asked in an examinatory tone: "What was it last night?"
They paused...." I think it was 82%"
I jumped on that. "You think? No....you need to know. You need to know this and take action".
"I know it!" they protested. "I think it is 82%!"
"Do you know it, or do you think it is?". That distinction was lost on them. Clearly, they thought it was the same, where the statement "think" expresses doubt, to me.
In another meeting, we were talking about tests that need to be run on the new line. I saw that the schedule said the test would be run later this afternoon.
It was 12:30, right after lunch, where we started our meeting but the technincians were still on break. I brought up the test we were planning to run.
" I see this test is in the schedule. Are we planning to run it today?"
"Yes!" was the answer.
Great.....when will we run it?
"We will run it now!" was the response.
Um, now?
"Yes, we run it now".
But the line is not running now........
"Yes, I know, we will run it today"
But when today?
"We are running it now."
BUT IT IS NOT RUNNING NOW! THE LINE IS DOWN!
The response? "What do you want us to do? The technicians are on break! They have to have lunch! That's why the line is down!"
There is no concept of "now" to them. It is perfectly acceptable for them to say, on a fall Sunday at 11 am Eastern, that the Browns are playing "now". Now, in general, means today. There is no real word for "at this instant".
It's little things like this that drive me crazy, bit by bit. Thank God we are coming back to the US in about 5 weeks......
They say things that mean nothing to them but mean a whole lot to native speakers. For instance, I was trying to stress a point in a meeting that the team needs to stay on top of the machine performance shiftly. They need to make sure they analyze the reports and come up with a daily action plan.
You need to know the shiftly efficiency. I asked in an examinatory tone: "What was it last night?"
They paused...." I think it was 82%"
I jumped on that. "You think? No....you need to know. You need to know this and take action".
"I know it!" they protested. "I think it is 82%!"
"Do you know it, or do you think it is?". That distinction was lost on them. Clearly, they thought it was the same, where the statement "think" expresses doubt, to me.
In another meeting, we were talking about tests that need to be run on the new line. I saw that the schedule said the test would be run later this afternoon.
It was 12:30, right after lunch, where we started our meeting but the technincians were still on break. I brought up the test we were planning to run.
" I see this test is in the schedule. Are we planning to run it today?"
"Yes!" was the answer.
Great.....when will we run it?
"We will run it now!" was the response.
Um, now?
"Yes, we run it now".
But the line is not running now........
"Yes, I know, we will run it today"
But when today?
"We are running it now."
BUT IT IS NOT RUNNING NOW! THE LINE IS DOWN!
The response? "What do you want us to do? The technicians are on break! They have to have lunch! That's why the line is down!"
There is no concept of "now" to them. It is perfectly acceptable for them to say, on a fall Sunday at 11 am Eastern, that the Browns are playing "now". Now, in general, means today. There is no real word for "at this instant".
It's little things like this that drive me crazy, bit by bit. Thank God we are coming back to the US in about 5 weeks......
2 comments:
Same thing happens in the States...Albany GA...plant operator responds to a task request by saying "I'll do that directly". I think "Cool, that's sorted!" Next day the task is not done! Come to find out that "do it directly" means "when I'm good and fooking ready!"
Well, cmon Craig, that's Albany. Every fourth word out of people's mouth there is unintelligible. :)
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