Whoever came up with the YouTube idea is a genius. I am definitely a visual person so when I want to learn something on any subject from cooking to changing the oil in my car, YouTube is the place to go.
Many, many years ago my boy child, Danny, was dating a girl from Thailand who had several Thai restaurants owned by her family. She was an awesome cook so Dan naturally wanted to share her talent. Not everyone can cook Thai and have it taste great. At the time there were very few Thai Cooking how-tos on YouTube. Well, bottom line; she was too shy and didn’t feel her English was good enough to make videos.
The other day was trying to be techy without asking for help, so I pulled up a YouTube tutorial. Well, wouldn’t you know? The video was done by a 10 year old. Yes, I know that you’re 3 year old can work your iPad, but can she explain to you how it works? Probably not. The last thing I needed was a kid trying to coach me on the complicated steps in his mumbling voice.
I then switched to another video. This time I was listening to a person from an Asian country. I had no clue what this person was saying because I am not talented in understanding people with thick foreign accents. I think this person is the same one who answers the phone when I have to call tech support for my lap tap.
I could continue this rant about YouTube but that’s not my intent. It’s about the companies who employ outside of the United States to keep costs down. It certainly does not help me when I ask for an English-speaking person. On many occasions this has led to explaining (and a little yelling) that I can’t understand people with accents. I have even asked to speak to their supervisor which led to a dropped call.
Just let me press 1 for English, please!
Agreed. But would that be US English or English English?
Kirk, I can pretty well understand English English, so either or is fine with me.
There are YouTube channels for different nationalities. Otherwise, you’d see a LOT more of foreign language videos. I can’t imagine anyone YouTubing in a foreign language on the U.S. Channel unless they are trying to reach a U.S. based foreign audience. Either way, you can always disconnect. Help lines are another matter though, aren’t they? You’re at their mercy. I do try to listen hard, ask them to slow down, etc. but I eventually run out of patience. Some companies have recognized this and moved back to U.S. based help lines for U.S. customers. On the other hand, I’m sure that if you were in France or Germany, you’d speak in their native language…right?
You canal ways use subtitles on the YouTube video – takes longer to make but now anyone in any language can share in English if they put in the effort.
Oh Nancy you made me giggle while reading this – I do the exact same thing…get frustrated, talk to my laptop or ipad and like you I’m very familiar with the outsourced companies where I find myself repeating “I can’t understand you what did you just ask me” it’s amazing that companies would rather save money on outsourcing versus keeping their customer support within the U.S. personally I would be willing to pay a little extra for a product if I knew their support dept would stay in the U.S.
Marti
Yes, Art, I can always disconnect if the person doing the YouTube tutorial talks with an accent I can’t understand or talks too fast for me to understand what is being said. After all, I’m on there to learn and I’m not a wiz kid who can hear it once and just do it.
Gerry, sub titles–yes, good idea.
Marti, Glad I made you giggle. I complain about things that bother me with my NY humor…sometimes I’m real serious and sometimes not! People tell me I say what they are thinking.
I hear you , I got so tired of speaking to someone in India (and was not clear when he spoke English) Then he got upset , then really couldn’t understand him, and let him know. The next day I called the company and let them know I only wanted to speak to someone in the US or that spoke English the way I did. I never got a call from India again. Yes I do think the out sourcing is wrong, when people in the states need jobs, I understand the labor is less, but we all should try to work with American companies as much as we can.
Melanie,
There are many, many people who agree with you.