Originally Posted by
Cathay Boy
When they do a study that asks based on what criteria do you choose your airlines I'm pretty sure the "language of announcements" falls on the bottom of the list behind important things like: service, friendliness, comfort, getting there on time, etc.
Anyway, 3 languages should be the max, 2 would be my preference. Have you guys try those Taiwan transportations? 4 freaking languages. Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, and English. I mean literally everyone in Taiwan speaks Mandarin thanks to the solid education there, but to be politically correct they need 3 versions of spoken languages (only 7% of Taiwanese speak Hakka, but let's add them too), and the international language English. It's funny everytime I take the metro the announcements are so long in 4 languages.
I speak English and can always understand the subsequent Cantonese after knowing what they would be saying, so have no problem with the language used by CX on board. However, I do know friends in Taiwan who detest CX because they don't have Mandarin announcement on board. As CX gets more and more Mainland customers who might not necessarily understand spoken English that well, I do think it is crucial for them to have Mandarin announcement at least on selected flts.
Regarding the announcements made in MetroTaipei and other public transportation in Taiwan, I think it is just a respect to people who are more familiar with their native language, be it Mandarin, Hokkien, or Hakka. I also think you underestimate the portion of Hakka speakers in Taiwan. I remember reading somewhere that 15% of Taiwanese are Hakka. Even though not all Hakka people speak Hakka fluently, especially the people in my generation (lol), 7% seems a bit low to me.