Tomorrow we get to deal with the "north of the 48th parallel" and lemme tell ya something. Y'all got some weird rules in Canada about auto insurance 
Wheeeee......I'm unemployed
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Congratulations on the new job, Like I said when one door closes three doors open. Its also hard to keep a good man down for long!
Tom
Tom
Tomorrow we get to deal with the "north of the 48th parallel" and lemme tell ya something. Y'all got some weird rules in Canada about auto insurance
Hmmms sounds familar to me. I think that the 48th parallel also runs through the State of Michigan??? Or something like that I remember as a kid that there was a marker on the Highway annoucing that.
Tom
Congrats, Ice! That old job sucked and you're much better off now, getting fired was the best thing that could happen. If you were still at that old sucky company, you wouldn't have this spiffy new job now would you?
That's what I tell myself everytime it's happened to me. And it always turns out to be true!
That's what I tell myself everytime it's happened to me. And it always turns out to be true!
yeah its weird. I actually am happy to get up in the morning and get ready for work.
Yeah AT&T sent me my last check...for like 20 bucks..and get this. I worked 3 hours that day and they took out the FULL Union dues (cheap bastards)
Yeah AT&T sent me my last check...for like 20 bucks..and get this. I worked 3 hours that day and they took out the FULL Union dues (cheap bastards)
today was quite a interesting day...got to deal with our friends north of the 48th (that's Canada if you didnt know)
Other than the policies being a little different and different words the agents use, its the same thing....until you hit Quebec
Now no offence to the folks from Quebec but its just weird to call and hear "for English press 9" and French is the main language on the auto attendant and when most people pick up.
I felt so embarrassed today on the 1st Quebec call. I call and get through to a rep who spoke French. I said "Can I get an English speaking rep on the phone please" (not the brightest move in hindsight) and the guy said "I speak English"..
After apologizing I changed my line to "English please" and most are pretty cool and some even apologized to me which was weird. They would start in French and I would say "English please" and they said "oh yes. I'm so sorry. How can I help you?". We do have French speaking reps here so some calls it says "French rep only" so they call on them
But I did get some humour when the one rep "you don't speak French?" and I said "no I'm sorry I don't. I know simple things like Bon Jour, bienvenue, au revoir and Merci and thats it" and she understood. Then when she asked the name it was one of the most French names you could get. Like Jean Paul Francois Levesque and I rifled it off as best I could in French. The rep said "your French is better than you think"
so we're still having fun...lot less stress than the old job and I actually wake up happy and not "oh crap I have to go to work"
now if I can ask a favour from one of our Bilingual folks (French/English). What is the best way (ie: polite) way to ask for someone to speak English? If its in French, that would work too. I know when I use to deal with Spanish I would say "I no habla espanol, I habla English" but what is the best way to say it. I feel awkward saying English please because I feel I am offending someone by asking them to speak English.
Other than the policies being a little different and different words the agents use, its the same thing....until you hit Quebec
Now no offence to the folks from Quebec but its just weird to call and hear "for English press 9" and French is the main language on the auto attendant and when most people pick up.
I felt so embarrassed today on the 1st Quebec call. I call and get through to a rep who spoke French. I said "Can I get an English speaking rep on the phone please" (not the brightest move in hindsight) and the guy said "I speak English"..
After apologizing I changed my line to "English please" and most are pretty cool and some even apologized to me which was weird. They would start in French and I would say "English please" and they said "oh yes. I'm so sorry. How can I help you?". We do have French speaking reps here so some calls it says "French rep only" so they call on them
But I did get some humour when the one rep "you don't speak French?" and I said "no I'm sorry I don't. I know simple things like Bon Jour, bienvenue, au revoir and Merci and thats it" and she understood. Then when she asked the name it was one of the most French names you could get. Like Jean Paul Francois Levesque and I rifled it off as best I could in French. The rep said "your French is better than you think"
so we're still having fun...lot less stress than the old job and I actually wake up happy and not "oh crap I have to go to work"
now if I can ask a favour from one of our Bilingual folks (French/English). What is the best way (ie: polite) way to ask for someone to speak English? If its in French, that would work too. I know when I use to deal with Spanish I would say "I no habla espanol, I habla English" but what is the best way to say it. I feel awkward saying English please because I feel I am offending someone by asking them to speak English.
I feel awkward saying English please because I feel I am offending someone by asking them to speak English.
ICE, don't feel bad at all. This happens to us all day long and we don't get offended what so ever. We have callers asking to speak to a rep in "Vietnamese, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, Persian, + 40 other languages". Every now and then we get an English speaking calller
I know Sadoun. Its just weird for me. The only other job that I had to deal with French speaking folks is a couple jobs ago when I was the Telephone consultant for Regis Corporation (yes the hair people). They have salons in Quebec but I very rarely dealt with them. They kinda did their own thing
I guess the reps are probably use to it but it just felt weird and I really didnt know how else to explain it. I did notice that you got a fair amount of options when you said that
1. The rep who knew limited broken English
2. the rep who seemed to be offended when I asked. I said "English please" and the rep went "yeah" like "why are you asking me to speak in English when we are a Quebec based company". Those reps would get huffy when I butchered a name or a city name. I'm sorry if I can't pronounce "Trois-Rivières" properly
3. The rep who was fluently bilingual and was willing to help me. Those folks were pretty cool and that's what made it fun
I guess the reps are probably use to it but it just felt weird and I really didnt know how else to explain it. I did notice that you got a fair amount of options when you said that
1. The rep who knew limited broken English
2. the rep who seemed to be offended when I asked. I said "English please" and the rep went "yeah" like "why are you asking me to speak in English when we are a Quebec based company". Those reps would get huffy when I butchered a name or a city name. I'm sorry if I can't pronounce "Trois-Rivières" properly
3. The rep who was fluently bilingual and was willing to help me. Those folks were pretty cool and that's what made it fun
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hey ice here is a cool website that might help you with your french
Online English to French to English Dictionary
john
Online English to French to English Dictionary
john
Here you go, from Yahoo! Babel Fish - Text Translation and Web Page Translation
i am sorry, i do not speak french. do you speak english? => je suis désolé, je ne parle pas français. parlez-vous anglais ?
Unfortunately it does not tell you how to pronounce any of that.
i am sorry, i do not speak french. do you speak english? => je suis désolé, je ne parle pas français. parlez-vous anglais ?
Unfortunately it does not tell you how to pronounce any of that.
ideas:
- hang out with some French-speaking friends.
- watch some French-language TV.
- get a French-For-Tourists tape or CD.
- extra points for mastering even a 5-word vocabulary, but with perfect accent! -
I just ask my Vietnamese friends.
Many of them speak French, fluently.
It's just so amazing to have a cute little Vietnamese lady who speaks English with the most lovely musical voice, start rolling out the French! - :up
- hang out with some French-speaking friends.
- watch some French-language TV.
- get a French-For-Tourists tape or CD.
- extra points for mastering even a 5-word vocabulary, but with perfect accent! -
I just ask my Vietnamese friends.
Many of them speak French, fluently.
It's just so amazing to have a cute little Vietnamese lady who speaks English with the most lovely musical voice, start rolling out the French! - :up
I am glad you landed a position that you like.
I knew you would get something better than what you had.
I knew you would get something better than what you had.
Tomorrow we get to deal with the "north of the 48th parallel" and lemme tell ya something. Y'all got some weird rules in Canada about auto insurance
Congrats on the job!!! What sort of weird rules do we have compared to yours?
I wasn't aware of any difference. Unless you mean we HAVE to have it and it can cost as much as the insurance company dictates, they can cancel it at the drop of a hat on you and make it impossible (or at least very expensive) to get coverage again. If you make multiple claims they jack up your rate and or cancel your coverage..........I'm sure there are other things.
differences between US & Canada (this is only on leased vehicles)
-US minimum liability can be split between personal injury, per accident & property damage. So when we call they'll say 100/300/50 (100000 for Body injury, 300000 per accident, 50000 property). Or they can have combine usually 500 (500000). Canada is only combine and minimum of 1000000. I've seen 2 million
-Also in BC, SK and MB they have some government required insurance
-folks have multiple policies for same vehicle in Canada
those are the big differences
Here you go, from Yahoo! Babel Fish - Text Translation and Web Page Translation
i am sorry, i do not speak french. do you speak english? => je suis désolé, je ne parle pas français. parlez-vous anglais ?
Unfortunately it does not tell you how to pronounce any of that.
I might just say the last part there (do you speak english)?
Today was better. Most bilingual reps were really cool
I watched alot of Montreal Canadiens hockey games on RDS (French sports network) but never really cared what they said..guess I have t pay attention more
hey ice here is a cool website that might help you with your french
Online English to French to English Dictionary
john
Oh I forgot to mention we don't have computers...we have terminals so no internet
hell we got D mail...or as I say "B-E Mail"...this stuff is ancient...its before e-mail. in house only
Forgot to mention last week that finally got some good news. Unemployment approved it so I got paid for 2 weeks (in MN you dont get paid the 1st week you have unemployment)
so I got a little extra money from AT&T
so I got a little extra money from AT&T
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