Is it me
Jun 16, 2010 | 1:05 am
#1
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Is it me
Last night on my flight I was given a card signed by the crew thanking me for being DM and flying with them again. I have not had this before or have I been missing something. I also got asked to write to CX to tell them no need to keep making bi lingual in flight announcements for seatbelt sign when everyone is asleep. Seems the crew gets lots of complaints about this.
Jun 16, 2010 | 2:34 am
#2
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In regards to the card - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/14043443-post13.html
Jun 16, 2010 | 5:01 am
#3
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Jun 16, 2010 | 5:34 am
#4
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Jun 16, 2010 | 5:10 pm
#5
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so tell me again what language do they speak in taiwan
Jun 16, 2010 | 5:31 pm
#6
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Mandarin is most widely spoken, but outside of Taipei it is common to hear Taiwanese dialect (it's about as different from Mandarin as Cantonese). Older people usually know it and use it often; many younger people know very little.
The Taipei subway makes announcements in 3 languages, Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English. I have heard that CI and BR do announcements in Taiwanese also but I can't confirm if or how often.
The Taipei subway makes announcements in 3 languages, Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English. I have heard that CI and BR do announcements in Taiwanese also but I can't confirm if or how often.
Jun 16, 2010 | 7:08 pm
#7
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Mandarin is most widely spoken, but outside of Taipei it is common to hear Taiwanese dialect (it's about as different from Mandarin as Cantonese). Older people usually know it and use it often; many younger people know very little.
The Taipei subway makes announcements in 3 languages, Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English. I have heard that CI and BR do announcements in Taiwanese also but I can't confirm if or how often.
The Taipei subway makes announcements in 3 languages, Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English. I have heard that CI and BR do announcements in Taiwanese also but I can't confirm if or how often.
Since Mandarin is the official language for Taiwan, and literally everyone knows it (even older people, and people outside of Taipei, although they do speak more Taiwanese privately), there's really no purpose of speaking Taiwanese besides "nationalistic" reasons, which I won't get involve here.
Jun 16, 2010 | 7:59 pm
#8
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Let's not get too OT, ok?
Thanks!
Guy Betsy
Cathay Pacific Asiamiles forum moderator
Thanks!
Guy Betsy
Cathay Pacific Asiamiles forum moderator
Jun 16, 2010 | 10:01 pm
#9
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Wrong, Taiwan MRT (subway) makes announcements in FOUR languages. Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, and then English.
Since Mandarin is the official language for Taiwan, and literally everyone knows it (even older people, and people outside of Taipei, although they do speak more Taiwanese privately), there's really no purpose of speaking Taiwanese besides "nationalistic" reasons, which I won't get involve here.
Since Mandarin is the official language for Taiwan, and literally everyone knows it (even older people, and people outside of Taipei, although they do speak more Taiwanese privately), there's really no purpose of speaking Taiwanese besides "nationalistic" reasons, which I won't get involve here.
My apologies on the subway mistake, last I recalled it was 3, but this was either some time ago or I was not paying attention - I speak neither Taiwanese nor Hakka.
Sorry, I really didn't mean to get so OT on this - airlines are often necessarily multi-lingual when international destinations are involved. I think the OP's point is that this can go overboard quickly.
Jun 17, 2010 | 12:45 am
#10
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There's a Letter to the Editor about this in CXWorld June 2010.
http://downloads.cathaypacific.com/c...pdf/CXW171.pdf
Language needs
Cathay Pacific is increasingly carrying more Putonghua-speaking passengers who may not fully understand Cantonese or English. Other public transport systems and our sister airline Dragonair make announcements in English, Cantonese and Putonghua. Are there any plans to make inflight announcements in all three languages and make this a standard for all flights? Also, CXs inflight announcements tend to be inconsistent in some cases only English announcements are made inflight.
Name withheld
Pom Komutanont, Manager Inflight Services Development & Standards, replies:
Cathay Pacifics passenger announcement language requirements are based on the Customer Proposition Definition as set out by the Product Department. It is our policy that English and Cantonese announcements are made on all flights with additional languages on specific routes only. This is based on passenger demographics on particular routes. For example, Putonghua would be the third language on the Hong Kong-Taipei service. The number of mandatory announcements are also kept to a minimum to ensure interruptions to passengers are minimised. Specific details on the policy and guidelines for its implementation can be found in the Cabin Crew Policy Manual.
Cathay Pacific is increasingly carrying more Putonghua-speaking passengers who may not fully understand Cantonese or English. Other public transport systems and our sister airline Dragonair make announcements in English, Cantonese and Putonghua. Are there any plans to make inflight announcements in all three languages and make this a standard for all flights? Also, CXs inflight announcements tend to be inconsistent in some cases only English announcements are made inflight.
Name withheld
Pom Komutanont, Manager Inflight Services Development & Standards, replies:
Cathay Pacifics passenger announcement language requirements are based on the Customer Proposition Definition as set out by the Product Department. It is our policy that English and Cantonese announcements are made on all flights with additional languages on specific routes only. This is based on passenger demographics on particular routes. For example, Putonghua would be the third language on the Hong Kong-Taipei service. The number of mandatory announcements are also kept to a minimum to ensure interruptions to passengers are minimised. Specific details on the policy and guidelines for its implementation can be found in the Cabin Crew Policy Manual.
http://downloads.cathaypacific.com/c...pdf/CXW171.pdf
Jun 17, 2010 | 9:46 pm
#11
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Interesting, thanks for that post above. I have been convinced for some time that there isn't a "rule" per se, anyone who flies CX around enough can tell you that you can be on the exact same route and get announcements in different languages (usually whether or not to include Mandarin)! I can think of two HKG-JFK flights last month....one they announced in Mandarin (3 languages), one only in the standard 2 (English/Cantonese). I suspect that maybe pre-flight a good ISM would check loads and see if there are a lot of mainland/Taiwanese last names, which generally have tell-tale English spellings vs. HK English-name spellings. If they see a sufficient # of last names like Wang, Li, Chen, etc. then include Mandarin as well.
Jun 18, 2010 | 3:57 pm
#12
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Whatever's the case, I think 3 is a good cut-off, 4 is too much.
Jun 18, 2010 | 5:23 pm
#13
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Originally Posted by Pom Komutanont, Manager Inflight Services Development & Standards & Doublespeak
The number of mandatory announcements are also kept to a minimum to ensure interruptions to passengers are minimised.
PS. Isn't that kind of redundant? If announcements are kept to a minimum, doesn't that imply that interruptions are also minimized?
Jun 19, 2010 | 1:28 am
#14
Join Date: May 2010
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Last night on my flight I was given a card signed by the crew thanking me for being DM and flying with them again. I have not had this before or have I been missing something. I also got asked to write to CX to tell them no need to keep making bi lingual in flight announcements for seatbelt sign when everyone is asleep. Seems the crew gets lots of complaints about this.
Jun 19, 2010 | 2:44 am
#15
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It seems random to me, because I am not a DM+ however I've got this card a few times now. And I've never gotten a regular DM card (although admittedly I only take about 4-6 CX flights a month so I'm probably not a great sample size, and I've never gotten a card on KA, which I fly more often). I think maybe they intended to give the cards out to DMs on those particular flights and they only stocked DM+ cards. Still a nice gesture regardless and service was great on both of the flights.