doha is developing but how good is the real development?

Thats why you have Public Relations Officers in most companies to do all that stuff for you. As Thazza said, you are in an arabic country so i really think you have no right to complain. I think English is very widely used already.

You're in a country where the national language is Arabic, you have no right to ask that they speak English. You don't like it, learn Arabic.

We could also do a better job of learning their language. English is a common tongue, but not the national one.

And being realistic, English is a lot easier to learn than Arabic.

Come on super7... youre doing nobody any favours. Youre here for the money like everyone else. I think learning the language is the least people can do.

When colonial immigrants were asked to come to the UK to do jobs that white brits didnt want to do, the immigrants had to learn the language. They couldnt communicate with anyone otherwise.

Giasi I am being realistic as well. I simply do not think it realistic to expect the vast majority of the working population of Qatar to learn arabic.

The labour force here is also very transient and does not stay for extended periods required to learn the language.

Giasi in contrast to the UK we are talking about an immigrant population in Qatar that outnumbers the indiginous.

Well as you just said, English is difficult to master, therefore in all reality Bad English should be the most spoken language in Qatar and it is.

That interpreting service only addresses asian languages. Arabic isnt on there :P

At least you can communicate your point in bad English. I don't think it's possible to learn Arabic in a short time well enough to deal with official paperwork.

In my view the ppl here should try to learn English for their own sake not for ex pats.The expatriates are the one who have chosen this country to earn money,now its upto them to cope with all the hurdles and language is ofcourse one of them.If a french can refuse to speak in English despite knowing how to speak it,u cant compell a local to learn a language (which is not his native one) just to make life easier for the expatriates.

There was a time when not being able to speak French would make you look uneducated or not having perfect accent of Russian in my country could cause a worse attitude of upper class people. Nobody knows what if our children will have to speak Arabic or Chinese because they will be languages of highly developed countries. The matter is people should be flexible and use any opportunity to educate themselves.

Why we dont think that it is a shame not to know anything in the language of the country which became our home if even for a very short period of time? And why some English native speakers pick on the accent of non-native speakers when they cant say a word at least in one of the languages that non-native speaker use.

Lets study new languages, at the end it is a good excercise for brains.

Well I disagree with Farhan. I think the qatari government is duty bound to provide communication in whatever tongue is necessary to ensure that the population (which the country could not survive without) can access government services. DG your Korean example doesn't work because again the indiginous people outnumber the expatriates by a significant amount.

Qatar has imported a large number of workers (significantly more than its own population) to enable development and it has a responsibility to support them.

You're a big English snob Super :P We will have to agree to disagree. I don't have a problem with people not speaking English because I've grown used to not being able to deal with governments that aren't my own and look for alternative routes or people who can help me. And I would never expect an Arabic country to have manadatory English speakers in civil positions, especially since even the most commen language amongst expatriates isn't English.

Dont take any notice of super DG. Hes a public schoolboy and speaks with RP :P

I keep saying whatever language is most suitable. However english is an excellent alternative as it is spoken by most indians/sri lankans/pakistanis/filipinos to varying degrees.

I think that the government has a responsibility and it is not practical to expect everyone to learn arabic for a 2 year posting. They already make some concessions (note the use of the roman alphabet on road signs) so it would be a little bit of effort to provide additional english (or whatever) speakers in government offices.

This is not a question of arrogance or snobbery because I have people to deal with the government on my behalf. I believe the government needs to care for all the countries citizens/residents.

I hear varying things about what you public schoolboys do Super. ;)

I agree that there should be some people in the civil service who do speak English, but to expect them to speak perfect English when the vast majority of Qatar does not speak perfect English is silly. I think they all get along better speaking bad English to each other than trying to speak proper English.

Also, what natural English speaker is going to take a low paying civil service job at the Doha DMV?

So your first "experience" wasn't with another boy Super?

Sounds a little dull to me. :(

Whats with this morbid fascination to speak perfect english. I think that a large sum of Qataries speak competent english if not fluent. Besides, my generation is much more conscious of their english skills and thats y u have education city. Ironically, their arabic skills r deteriorating when it comes to grammar and vocab. Theres no balance. I think thats how it's almost always like in Qatar. Nothing done gradually and tactfully.

Dull it isn't. Great fun is boarding school. No gay scandals though.

well sum1 woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!

Super7 do u wanna say that you are here just to make Qatar a developed country. well its give and take my dear.They have purchased you on agreed terms and this language support I guess was,nt there in ur contract,or was it?

Terana, Just to comment on what you said about different phonetic sounds in different cutltures, the best part is when you actually do start hearing how two normally completely different sounds can sound the same. I remember in Korea when I realized the r and l really do sound the same and so do g and k. It's an eye opener.

terarse dear your criticism was personal and not based upon my comments. The snobbery and arrogance was in relation to suggesting that the Qatari government spoke more English. I was stating that it wasn't for my benefit as I am fortunate enough to not have to deal with the Qatari government at all.

Super7
I perfectly know from where I picked your subject and what i didnt like (which is my right) in your another post. I just wanted to accent that in the case when you say " laugh when i hear funny accents because it sounds funny" you sound snob and arrogant to me (pardon me).

Nothing personal, I swear:) It was about some native English speakers in general

Btw dont you know about any Korean language courses or conversation classes here? I would like to have some practise

Super's right, most people laugh when someone tries to speak their language with a really bad accent. Koreans used to laugh at me all the time, So do the French, the Spanish and Germans. They think my accent is hillarious. I usually laugh right back with them. It's not snobbery.

Terana, nope don't know of any classes.

agreed sometimes it is rude to laugh but sometimes ppl just laugh because they find it funny. it does not mean theyr belittling you.sometimes u just laugh without thinking about the moral issues...it's spontaneous..and a funny sound is a funny sound is a funny sound ad infinitum. it is possible for ppl to laugh without judging in a negative way.

well if i read a lot and learn a lot does that mean I have to become boring and sit soberly nodding considerately as someone makes an hysterical mess of whatever language he/she is speaking?

i hope not.

Far more fun to have people like Dg's koreans cracking up as you inadvertantly say you want to marry a pig and buy a fish umbrella.

Speaking English? How about plain old good customer service. I have had good service from some staff at Qtel and I have had lousy, walk away anger service from Qtel. Utilities, same thing, very spotty, depends on who you get on the desk.

Another phone service, etc would help companies learn it is important to serve the customer. The customer may not always be right, but he is always the customer and he is spending his money. When a customer has a choice, service will improve.

hey ppl..

man.. i didnt expect so much of a response and now we are discussing language. this is interesting.

what i actually meant is that development should not be skin deep.. arabic as a language is great but no matter what nationality it isnt practical to ask everyone to learn arabic just bcos u r in an arab country.

doha has developed a lot since the good old days.. i came to doha when i was 2 yrs old and believe me its changed a lot. But as we develop look at the Labour scene-exploitation,low wages etc.. labourers who are making this country "Asian Games worthy"

Once my friend called up the police to complain about some disturbance from youth near his house and believe it or not he was made to wait 20mins so that someone who understood english came on, and after all the wait, a guy comes on the line and asks to come to the station and give a written complaint all this when teenagers high on whatsoever are running up and down my friends just painted sports car.. :(

check this out once i was working on my car outside and i had to remove the battery for some electrical work. i place the battery right next to my car and am busy working under the hood about 10-15 mins later i look up for some reason and voila.. the battery's gone. would u believe somebody just walked off with it from right under my nose.whats happening to this country.. whom do we blame?

now the best part, how many of you listen to our dear old QBS, the self-confessed "Number 1 in the gulf" if the radio was alive i would ask it to go get a life.. Some of our DJ's suck big time, not all though. I mean there's a lot left to wish for. Compare it to signals coming in from other GCC countries and the quality just mind boggles you. Keep wishing i guess

i know none of these are connected but hey.. welcome to qatar!!! Its like that perfect imperfection.. Qatar can do a lot better but i think thats gonna take a lot of dedication.. i hope it comes soon

Asian Games Asian Games is all you hear and see but is Doha really ready to cope with them??? I mean you hear every body say Doha is trying to be the next Dubai/U.A.E...LMAO Lets start off with the media here QBS...They got RJ's who call themselves DJ's and are busy promoting their home country...No.1 Radio Station..and Bahrain radio also says the same thing, but is way better..I think ppl only listen to QBS wen they can't get 100.5 or 104.8 and 106.0....Even 92.6 which plays both english and arabic songs alternatively is better.. QBS is so desperate that they play BBC produced shows which keep bragging abt things happening in UK...I mean why does a person driving around want to know abt some Horse shows and House shows happening in U.k??And then they got the French transmission????Whats the logic ??How many French speakers are there in Qatar??
Next the airport ... Do asian passengers get the same treatment as Europeans or GCC citizens?? I remember when I was in Transit in Dubai the cop goes like Sir Please come this side I wonder wen we will get the same treatment here....
Now that Ramadan is approaching...I wud like to bring up an incident from last year...My friend had a hit and run accident on CORNICHE road .he called up the cops and waited for more than an hour. Finally he goes to the traffic cops who tell him to sit which lasted 2 hrs till they finally tell him to come in the evening....whats the logic ??The victim has to suffer????
SOmebody here said since we r in a Arabic speaking country we all shud learn arabic to get all the services...ok..Does that mean all the people who come for the Asian Games shud learn Arabic and Come????
I mean they say get ready for the GAMES OF YOUR LIFE and next thing you know is Half the cops are either overweight or don't speak English..
I got no problem with anything as long as the music is good on QBS...you got Rj's who read half the news paper...one who reads forwarded email like some bed time stories...one who calls himself a dj and doesn't know who Guns and Roses or Skid Row are...hahaha I mean the guy pronounces Earth Wind and Fire as Earth Wiiihnd and Fire..Another one who is trying to be a hiphop guru and another one who is a wannabe Joe metry ( what a person to imitate)?? Dj Joe and Jojo...
Can't QBS afford professional RJ's from U.K, U.S.A,Australia or New Zealand who have energy and creativity and speak fluent english...not guys/gals who talk as if they r doing the listeners a favour...

I thought that was khara? Or is it AA.:)

Dweller how long have u been in Turkey? Is it still chaotic after the explosions?
I personally thought Turkey was weird. I kinda miss it but for no particular reason. The nature is ok but not unique. The same goes for architechture. The people certainly arent the most polite. Pollution and way too many smokers.