The Need to Communicate with Rocket Languages
In our Virtual Reference Collection, we have access to Rocket Languages, an immersion language program that teaches 15 languages free of charge. I don't know about you, but free is something I can afford. Learning a foreign language can be a daunting task, but it can bring several rewards.
I have taken three years of Spanish in high school and two years in college. I am by no means fluent, but on more than one occasion I have had a need to speak Spanish to make myself understood.
In a hotel room in Jacksonville, Florida a maid walks in to clean my room. I still had a couple of hours until checkout and I was working on my laptop computer. She spoke to me in rapid-fire Spanish and I told her that my Spanish was not very good. She thought this was the funniest thing in the world. Communication was a problem. The only thing I could do was say, "Quince minutos" which meant 15 minutes. She immediately packed up her vacuum cleaner and left.
At the Flowood Library we have a member on staff who is fluent in Spanish and Spanish speaking patrons can be referred to her when she is here. But what if she is not here? Well, we do the best we can.
I was in the Richland Walmart one day and a woman from India was saying to another customer, "ice cream." The other customer tried to tell her she didn't understand. I walked up to the lady and said, "ice cream." Using the words "ice cream" and some hand gestures I walked with this customer to the ice cream section at Walmart. She said, "thank you" and the problem was solved.
If I had only been using Rocket Languages to learn Hindi, then I might have been able to have a conversation with her. I had to stay with the only words that she knew and use nonverbal hand gestures. Fortunately, the word "ice cream" is a word that needs no interpretation.
Sign Language is often used by patrons when they come into the library. If a patron cannot hear, they can often read lips. Sometimes we must write in English on pieces of paper in order to communicate. Sign language is available in the Rocket Languages program.
There is nothing like the feeling of being in a foreign land such as South Korea and having a language problem. I was directed to a building on Yongsan Army Base where I was told I could get help and found myself facing three soldiers of the Republic of South Korean army. I asked for the return of my luggage keys in English and they responded to me in Korean or Hangul. I smiled and left determined to go back to HQs for reinforcements. I returned with a KATUSA (Korean Augmentee to the United States Army). I would find out later that they did not have my luggage keys and that they did understand English.
Learning a foreign language is not currently a requirement at the Flowood Library, but as our patrons become more diverse, I can see where one day it might be.
Here at the Flowood Library, we will adapt to the needs of our community.
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