Originally Posted By gaston lives Why, in the name of all that is holy, at the Legend of the Lion King (or wahtever the naem is) do they do the announcement in Spanish BEFORE they do it in English? I don't mind doing instructions in Spanish or Welsh or Cambodian or wahtever, but WHY oh WHY isn't English FIRST?
Originally Posted By Minniemusician I can think of two reasons. For one it is always said that you save the best for last. Right? But if you think of the protocol in other arenas it also makes sense. If you attend a ball game between the USA and say Canada you would know that you play the National Anthem of the guest and then the home Anthem is last.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I would guess that a lot of the time, people would talk over the beginning of the announcement. There would be a higher chance that people who speak Spanish would be able to understand the Engish than the other way around. This way, when the beginning of the message is lost, it has a higher chance of being picked up later in the announcement.
Originally Posted By gaston lives Just curious, since all the other shows do the English first, I thought it was weird.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper gaston...the same thing popped into my head when I heard it but I had forgotten. It did surprise me at the time.
Originally Posted By SuperDry If I had to guess, I think it might be that it's for the benefit of the English speakers in the audience, in that it makes for a less disruptive transition between the announcement and the show.
Originally Posted By avromark ^^^ How about English only, and while your at it in my province where the vast majority of people are English, does French come first in phone queues, etc. And why should a bilingual person have preference over someone who actually meets or exceeds all the qualifications, if they are under qualified? End Rant What % of guests do you think only understand Spanish?
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>What % of guests do you think only understand Spanish?<< At WDW: very few. Latin American tourists tend to be upper middle class, and most speak at least a little English. DLR is another story altogether. Very different demographics.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey ^^^ How about English only, and while your at it in my province where the vast majority of people are English, does French come first in phone queues, etc.>> My father grew up in a small country town in Avoyelles Parish here in Louisiana, which is the middle of Cajun Country. French was his first language, and he and the other children at school were forced to learn English so they could assimilate, even though Cajun French was the primary language of the whole region. Now, his native language is all but lost.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey I think this is probably one of the most ridiculous topics I've ever seen on these boards. Who cares if French, English or pig Latin comes first?
Originally Posted By avromark <<Racist much? Sheesh.>> In communities where English are the vast majority, French is taken to be equal. It's a requirement to carry French. However in communities where English is in the minority (Ie. Quebec) they actually have language police, Signs should be French Only (later revised to French predominant. By law if you have a business everything should be bilingual in English Canada, French in French Canada), you can technically be charged for labeling goods in English only. For instance if you import food from a foreign country you're obligated to repackage/supplemental label every item with French. This can tax small stores already thin budgets. And racist I'm not considering I'm multiracial and multilingual.
Originally Posted By avromark Now its different if you choose to provide it, but to be forced to provide it is a different matter.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey <<Now its different if you choose to provide it, but to be forced to provide it is a different matter.>> If you live in an area where there are two native languages, you should be required to provide it. Not doing so would be like me going to Mexico, setting up a business and refusing to speak Spanish or label my products in Spanish. I don't agree with people coming to the US and not speaking English, but you have to accomodate people when two languages are native to an area.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey In the case of WDW, visitors from all over the world come there, so it makes sense for Disney to provide different languages. Again, who cares if French comes first?!? As long as English is spoken as well, it doesn't make any difference.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Spanish is not native to the United States. But, I've got no problem with announcements being made in more than one language. Now, if they would tell the South Americans that line cutting isn't permitted I'd be thrilled. I know everyone does it...but there seems to be a larger percentage of Spanish speaking folks who do. Now, I understand that might be a cultural issue where, in many South American countries the person with the most money is served first. But, Florida isn't South America...even though some may argue otherwise.
Originally Posted By Labuda "Spanish is not native to the United States" It's more of a native language than English is.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey <<Spanish is not native to the United States.>> I never said it was, and if you read post #16, I said I didn't agree with people coming to the US and forcing us to make concessions because they don't speak the language. It's one thing that WDW provides instructions in English and Spanish, it's completely another to have signs, etc. in two different languages because of an influx of non-native speakers, some of whom have no plans to learn the native language.
