steve mclaren still at it

[Dubai Blue]

Some people just start talking like complete head-the-balls whenever they have to communicate with a foreigner. I've got a mate who does it; he thinks that putting on a ridiculous accent and missing out words is a better way to be understood than the tried-and-tested method of just enunciating clearly in perfect English.

It's often accompanied by exaggerated hand movements and facial expressions and usually results in the foreigner just staring blank faced at him wondering what the fuck he's banging on about. Steve McClaren is obviously cut from the same cloth.

He's an idiot but he's far from alone. Go to any popular holiday resort and you'll see the exact same charade from any number of Brits in the hotels, shops and restaurants.

 

[Cellarite]

so very, very true dubai. the reason that he is slated over here is because he's a buffoon. this is undeniable and the evidence is clear to see in his attempts to manage england and his comedy accents.

 

[M18CTID]

Some people just start talking like complete head-the-balls whenever they have to communicate with a foreigner. I've got a mate who does it; he thinks that putting on a ridiculous accent and missing out words is a better way to be understood than the tried-and-tested method of just enunciating clearly in perfect English.

It's often accompanied by exaggerated hand movements and facial expressions and usually results in the foreigner just staring blank faced at him wondering what the fuck he's banging on about. Steve McClaren is obviously cut from the same cloth.

He's an idiot but he's far from alone. Go to any popular holiday resort and you'll see the exact same charade from any number of Brits in the hotels, shops and restaurants.

I agree with that to an extent but depending how good a foreigner's grasp of the English language is, sometimes it is necessary to speak in "pigeon English".

Even Sugar alluded to this in the last series of The Apprentice - the contestants were in Hamburg and one girl who was pitching to a potential customer spoke the way she normally would and the German woman hardly understood a word of what she was saying. It didn't help that she was being spoken to at a hundred miles an hour though so sometimes sticking to how you normally talk doesn't help.

There was no need for McLaren to speak that way to the Dutch interviewer because it was clear from the outset that she could speak and understand English perfectly. I talk to customers on the phone from Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, France, Dubai, and Qatar. Everyone I speak to in Scandinavia and Holland speak perfect English and there's no need to put on a silly accent, slow down, or miss words out. It's a bit of a struggle with some of the people from the Emirates though as some (not all) speak only broken English and that's when you have to change your approach and start sounding like a dick. Most of the Belgians and French I deal with speak perfect English too but I had a French bloke on the phone the other week and even when I slowed the words down to a standstill he struggled to understand anything I said and had to resort to passing the phone over to a female colleague who understood me much better.