English speaking on boats. Guest from EU?

Discussion board focusing on Great Lakes Shipping Question & Answer. From beginner to expert all posts are welcome.
GuestfromEU
Posts: 359
Joined: December 7, 2014, 10:33 am

Re: English speaking on boats. Guest from EU?

Unread post by GuestfromEU »

You said this better than I could, Geest. English was a bit easier for me to learn as my native language is German, but I would certainly not say «easy». My colleagues who learned later in life struggled and still do years later. Even when I learned Norwegian to B2 level in my early 30's it was challenging, and this is one of the more easy languages to learn for native German speakers.

Even between foreign ships with the same crew nationality, radios are used to say as little a possible, as clear as possible when communicating with another ship or shore. That is something taught in Bridge Resource Management and in maritime college before this - speak with intent, clearly, only essential details, and to the point. Formulate your words in your head before depressing the microphone. Some can say this makes for boring times but I prefer boring over excitement when dealing with ships in any situation. Though our office was a bit distracted with the World Cup but now all is back to normal business after watching die Mannschaft exit yesterday :(
RCRVRP

Re: English speaking on boats. Guest from EU?

Unread post by RCRVRP »

Very interesting and informative replies. Thank you!
And now the next question on the topic, how did it come to be that English became the official language of shipping?
Was some sort of international body formed by treaty or some other form of international law to make the rules and enforce them?
Were the maritime insurance companies pushing a common language for safety reasons?
Sometime long ago both the French and the Dutch were maritime powerhouses, would they have pushed for a different language at the time?

Did a common language only become a necessity when the telegraph and radio came into use?

So many questions come to mind. I hope you can tell us more.
Or perhaps recommend a book on the topic.

RCRVRP
Geest

Re: English speaking on boats. Guest from EU?

Unread post by Geest »

Generally speaking in international trades English is the "official" working language. Yes there are a litany of issues and misunderstandings resulting from thick accents or people who have to speak English as a 2nd, 3rd or 4th language but if you work in the field you quickly learn to speak and write plainly and clearly with no colloquialisms or turn of phrases. You also learn quickly to ask questions and double or triple check plans to make sure everyone is clear on what will be happening and what is needed before anything starts.

English is a miserable language to learn, so a I always considered it a professional courtesy to make any interaction as simple as possible. Learning a few common words, phrases and greetings in the most common languages I encountered in shipping to help clarify things or bridge a language barrier was also a great help.
GuestfromEU
Posts: 359
Joined: December 7, 2014, 10:33 am

Re: English speaking on boats. Guest from EU?

Unread post by GuestfromEU »

Most officers and crew from India, Ukraine, Philippines, Indonesia, and other non-native English speaking countries I have worked with had better comprehension of English than many native speakers. English is the international language of shipping. When local harbour or mooring pilots speak with tugs and shore personnel, the local language is often used but the ship's crew always uses English for giving and repeating orders, communicating with other vessels and authorities, and even on board. Indian officers and Filipino crew do not usually speak Tagalog or Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, or others as a mutual language (though some phrases are so commonly used they are understood). If officers or crew speak a common language they often do with each other for on board communications but never when dealing with external parties.

I never fault anyone with an accent because they are probably trying their best to speak another language. It would be like someone criticizing my Spanish...it is not perfect, but I also speak Spanish infrequently and do not consider myself fluent. But I also have a fascination with languages and grew up speaking German and English daily. The only obstacle from a technical viewpoint is that sometimes when describing a problem there are no words in other languages for specific tools or parts we call things in English. Then there is different terminology in British English (the rest of the world), American English, Canadian English, etc.
RCRVRP

English speaking on boats. Guest from EU?

Unread post by RCRVRP »

Guest from EU on the retirement age thread you mentioned managing ships with Ukrainian and Indian masters and chief engineers.
My question is this, is English the universal language used in international shipping as it is in international aviation?

We have all encountered customer service for our cell phone or other devices where the customer service person speaks english but with such a heavy foreign accent as to be barely understandable.
Is this a problem in shipping as well? If so it could be a very real safety problem.
If this is a problem in shipping how common is it and how is it dealt with?
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