Taxi Driver Online

London cabbies go multilingual
London taxi drivers are preparing for the arrival of non-English speaking tourists for the Olympics in 2012

September 24, 2010

Foreigners have traditionally been deprived of - or spared from - the forthright views of London taxi drivers by the lack of a common language.

The virtues of Margaret Thatcher's reign as prime minister, the straightforward ways in which Britain could be improved and the identity of celebrities who have graced the backs of drivers' cabs have all been lost on them.

The language barrier may soon be lifted, however, with a scheme to get cabbies to learn foreign languages in time for the arrival of Olympic athletes for the London Games in 2012.

Some 3000 black-cab drivers will be issued with language courses in French, Spanish, Italian, German and Chinese to ease communication for athletes as they travel about the capital. The audio lessons, which are endorsed by Transport for London, have been tailored for cabbies so that they are equipped not only with practical phrases but ones that allow them to engage in traditional banter.

Phrases on the Spanish course, for example, will include "La semana pasada, el actor Michael Caine estaba en el taxi conmigo" (I had that Michael Caine in the back of my cab last week) and "Es correccion politica vuelta loca" (It's political correctness gone mad).

Paul Noble, the course creator, who speaks six languages as well as his native English, said that the idea came from a discussion with his publisher, Collins, which is owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Australian.

"We came up with the idea of plug-ins, so if people want to do something specific like skiing or wine-tasting then they can download lessons for that specific activity. We thought, with the Olympics coming up, that it would be useful to do a plug-in for taxi drivers."

The drivers who receive CDs or audio files will get stickers of flags to show which languages they can speak.

Carlos Oliveira, 53, a cabbie for Radio Taxis, which has signed up for the courses, said that he was keen to supplement his knowledge of basic Spanish with phrases from other languages. "The first people these foreigners are going to see are cab drivers, so if we can show them that we parlez a bit of their language then that's got to be a good thing," he said. "To be able to say 'welcome' in Chinese would go a long way."

Source; http://www.theaustralian.com.au/travel/news/london-cabbies-get-multilingual/story-e6frg8ro-1225928780041
The Australian - The Heart of The Nation

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The post important phrases they need to learn are:

Spanish translation;
“Yo no voy por el camino largo, honestamente gobernador”

French translation;
“Je ne vais pas le long chemin, honnêtement gouverneur”

Italian translation;
“Non voglio la strada più lunga, onestamente governatore”

German translation;
“Ich werde nicht den langen Weg, ehrlich Gouverneur”

Chinese translation;
“我不是走很长的路要走，诚实州长”

English translation;
“I ain’t going the long way, honestly governor.”

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Brummie
Brilliant as always

how do they sound with a black country accent?

enoch and eli.....

what about the white drivers?....

If they think I'm fannying around with all that language crap for three weeks of sport, they can take a running jump.

There's little chance of me working those 3 weeks anyway.

Tits.

How many Olympic athletes will be getting a black cab whist over here?

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Grandad,

Someone got out of the wrong side of bed this morning wheres your spirit of adventure I think this is a great idea and the 2012 Olympics should be a nice little earnwer surely even if you work well away from the Olympic zone there will probably be a lot fewer cabs out on the ranks those weeks

The foreign language skills were only intended for the athletes as the article says.

The cabbies won't need those skills for all the tens /hundreds of thousand of visitor & spectators from ALL OVER THE WORLD!!

Will they?

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how many wont go home after, like that 14 strong nigerian golf team with no clubs.....

Well we cope just fine with thousands of visitors from all over the world every day of the week.

I wonder why TFL think the sports week will be any different?

Probably because TfL realise that the level of language skills required by the 'other taxi mob' in London is sadly lacking & cannot, in their case, be made-up with intelligent thinking to resolve language barrier.

It's the Basil & Manuel syndrome, with the 'other taxi mob' only capable of "Que?"

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Brummie Cabbie.

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Well if the games attract a large number of visitors from Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Poland, they'll be well catered for by the London Minicab industry for language skills.

The fact they don't have a clue how to communicate with the indigenous population, or know where they are going seems irrelevant to the TFL people.

I think you wont need to brush up on your language skills GBC, I dont think see you Jimmy, or get te feck yur basa is in there
Mind you if it was you would not need it as I cannot see many from north of the Border coming down to get riped off

I thought most in london WERE from bangladesh, ethiopia and poland anyway?

when ive had the misfortune to deliver down there i was hard pressed to find an WASP's down there (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant)