English Language exam for public workers?

It has been announced that public workers will need to pass a GCSE grade C. However when I took my English language CSE and "O" level years ago it was a written exam.

I have when first meeting Scotsmen, and Geordie's struggled to understand them yet after two days I could understand every thing they said. It was the same with a Russian lecturer at University but the Chinese lecturer even two years latter I could not understand her.

In fact the only way we were able to get her replaced was one guy asked for the lessons to be translated into Welsh and the translator could not understand her.

Be it Birmingham, Liverpool, Cardiff or Glasgow the people from these areas speak fluent English but that does not mean some one from another area will understand them. As to Wales and Scotland the speaking of other British languages is clearly a problem be it a lady from Patagonia Argentina who only speaks Welsh or some one from England who does not speak Welsh although it may seem that all public workers should be bilingual in South Wales and in North Wales above the A55 road until Conwy even the locals rarely speak Welsh.

So sounds good but what is the point of a written exam and how with a spoken exam will all the UK be covered? In Hong Kong police officers who could speak English had red lapel badges. Having Welsh dragons on the lapel of Welsh speaking public officials would clearly help.

my english is atrocious my grammer is terrible as is my spelling and punctuation so would probably fail
am i good with my hand you bet i am
can i communicate well yes i can
if its a hands on job with minimal clerical then spelling is not important punctuation is not important being cleary understood and communicating well is

so a course in communication with emphasis on relevant parts [sorry about the caps]

dont know what happened there

If I worked in France or Germany for a living I would certainly take the 'trouble' to learn the language basics fluently before moving there. Then continue studying it while there.

In this country we have people from all over the world who work in prestige jobs who see to only have a smattering of the language because they have reached those positions in their own country.

Without seeming racist, we have a lot of very good doctors from foreign shores but their spoken English leaves a lot to be desired.
What scares me about this situation is if they don't have a thorough understanding of our language that they may pronounce a disease or a drug incorrectly an this can lead to someone being diagnosed/treated incorrectly. If you are given the wrong item in a shop you can simply hand it back. Get the wrong drug and it could be curtains for you.

big-all said:

am i good with my hand you bet i am

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Whoa... Too much information.!!!!!

Dydw i ddim yn siarad Cymraeg neu Saesneg!

ericmark said:

It has been announced that public workers will need to pass a GCSE grade C.

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No, they need English ability equivalent to that level, and employers will be required to verify it. It is proposed to apply to people who work in the public sector and have direct contact with members of the public.

Doctors are already supposed to be able to speak and understand English to a higher level.

"People who do not speak fluent English will be barred from public sector jobs which involve working directly with the public"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33750709

misterhelpful said:

Dydw i ddim yn siarad Cymraeg neu Saesneg!

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Dylech fynd i Gymru yn amlach wedyn !

Indian call centre workers can speak English, but they sure as hell can't understand context.

JohnD said:

"People who do not speak fluent English will be barred from public sector jobs which involve working directly with the public"

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Will they still be able to be local news reporters and continuity announcers?

^woody^ said:

Indian call centre workers can speak English, but they sure as hell can't understand context.

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They are ok until you ask them something not on their list. Something like 'Why is your company so f*****g useless?'

Each person should be judged on their individual ability before being given the job. If the job involves building brick walls, they don't need to be understood that much. But, if the job is for a station announcer at Liverpool St, it would be helpful if they could speak good English. Of course it doesn't work like that.

conny said:

misterhelpful said:

Dydw i ddim yn siarad Cymraeg neu Saesneg!

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Dylech fynd i Gymru yn amlach wedyn !

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I've only just left, mun!

Before we can work out if their language skills are good enough we have to devise a test. But ask a native to the UK. "Haven't you been driving today" and often one will get the wrong answer. Yes means you have not been driving, no means you have, but so easy to forget about a double negative specially when one is in a hyphenated form.

Even the words "decimate" look it up in an old dictionary it will say get rid of one in ten, but a newer dictionary may say get rid of near everything.

Also the use of words from another language. Many of our words derive from another language, but are altered slightly, and are used more in one location than others mainly due to military service where the words have been brought back by people working abroad.

The phrase speak fluent English is if using the Latin derivative means to speak continuously without breaks. Anyone inserting muums and ares is not speaking fluently it needs to flow. Well many who speak with a good flow still speak in a way others can't understand.

I don't disagree with doctors and other public workers being able to converse with the local population, but how can one test that ability? Having worked away for many years when I meet a guy from Glasgow I can understand him, but my wife requires me to translate. He is without question speaking English in a fluent way which can be understood by his local community, but take him to Birmingham and there is a problem.

British rail had this problem with station announcements and they found people from Inverness were the most widely understood so some woman from that town recorded the announcements for the whole nation. OK it also had to get around the echo with any PA, but the point is if people around the UK have problems being understood in different locations how can anyone judge people from other countries as to if they can be understood?

First job is device a test, only then can you actually say if the skill is to the required standard and clearly can't be a written test. Some phones do require you to speak to a voice recognition software so I suppose the technology exists, but until the test exists the requirement is just politician talk it means nothing.

I just wish non UK drivers of HGVs working in the UK could read and understand British road signs that explain diversion routes, width and height restrictions.

Come to think about it, I wish the people who write those signs could get it into their head that not all drivers will be able to read and undertand English.