Cyprus-Forum.com

[davidp]

I don't wish to be a sad B****R but My wife and I visited Debenhams (a really English department store) in Limassol today. The Cafeteria menu looked good so we approached the counter and asked for two items from the menu.
The server didn't understand what we wanted and said that the items were not available so we went to macdonalds.

For christs sake, I know we are pathetic at not being fluent in greek after living here for eight months but surely an English department store should employ bi-lingual front end staff.

[Buddy]

Hi David,

Then shouldn't the people working in Lidl's in the UK speak German

Buddy

[davidp]

Hi Buddy

If their target audience is German, why not.
My problem is that the menu is printed in Greek and English so surely I should be able to order in either!

[Sotos]

Why you just didn't show the item you wanted on the menu? Sign language always works!

[dms007]

Please dont expect things to be as it is in England.
This is not England and please stop complaining and making comparisons.

[davidp]

A good idea but their only menu is fixed to a wooden stand as you enter the restaurant and I would have had to drag it to the counter and lift it up to make it visible.

I didn't feel that hungry.

[davidp]

Please dont expect things to be as it is in England.
This is not England and please stop complaining and making comparisons.

I didn't come to Cyprus expecting it to be like England and wouldn't have come here if it was.

All i'm saying is that if macdonalds can employ customer service staff that speak more than their own language, why can't debenhams

[mrterrific]

All i'm saying is that if macdonalds can employ customer service staff that speak more than their own language, why can't debenhams

Don't agree with you at all. If you are in a foreign country, then just because one institution has staff that speak english, then I don't see why they all should. The fact that it's Debenhams is neither here or there. I'd also be embarassed to spend 8 months living in a country and not be able to order from a menu in the native tongue. Maybe you could use this as an excuse to boost those Greek lessons.

Besides, maybe the member of staff that served you can speak english, but didn't understand your particular accent. UK regional accents can at times be impenetrable to native english speakers, never mind those who aren't.

[dms007]

I agree with mrterrific.
Instead of telling them to employ an English speaker, why don't you learn Greek?
This is a Greek speaking country where the majority of the people speak Greek.

[devil]

It is not always as easy as you think. Let me state, first of all, that I'm bilingual English/French and have done some freelance professional technical journalism, for which I've won two awards. I've also written some books. It can therefore be said that I have some feeling for language, especially as I did several years of Latin and two years of Russian (difficult) at school.

I first learnt a smattering of modern Greek in 1952 (in this country). I've been living here since 1998. The first thing I found was that Greek had changed somewhat since the 1950s and the second is that I'd more or less forgotten everything I'd learnt 40-odd years earlier. I did take some private lessons to try and upgrade myself, but I found it extremely difficult to upgrade my language skills in, what you must admit, a difficult language, when one is one's 70s.

Yes, I have little difficulty in a restaurant or most shops (read supermarkets ) and I can exchange courtesies, but I cannot indulge in a discussion. If this forum were in Greek, I would not even open it.

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