499C0110 林棨暘 499C0113 何盈潔 499C0144 蕭佩珊

Gender: female Current company: XX Hotel Location: Tainan City, Taiwan Job title: Captain Job duties: shift arrangement, cashier, management, training new employees. Years of working: 4-5 years

Do you need to use English to commutate at work? How important is it for you to use English to communicate? Yes, I need. There are many foreign visitors to stay in the hotel for the business or tourism. They always dine in the restaurant, so I should use English to communicate with them. English is very important, no matter where they come from, English is an international language.

With what media and on what occasion do you use English to commutate? What are the purposes of the communication? When the customer wants to book the room, we always use phone, and face-to face enquiry to answer them. The purposes of the communication is reservation, asking, answering, enquiries and introduction.

What language communication problems do you have? What strategies and resources do you use to solve the problems? The visitors come from different countries and their accent is not easy to understand. Therefore, I should listen carefully. I sometimes use the body language to communicate with the foreigner, when I can’t figure out what they say.

What cross-cultural communication problems do you have? What strategies and resources do you use to solve the problems? Some visitors are vegetarians, and others are meat-eating, so we need to separate theirs seat in the dining. Some foreigners not used to Eastern flavor. The chief should prepare special food for them.

How do you think about the problem solving experience? How important is it for you? The customer sometimes find fishbone in their food, so they complain to us. Then, I should cope with this problem. I give them a special discount. I can learn how to solve the same problem next time.

How do you improve your language and cultural competence? I usually watch English movies and listen to English music. They can let me realize how to use the vocabulary and grammar in the communication. I also participate in international volunteer activities to other countries to improve my cultural competence.

What help do you think the government, the society or the company should provide to help workers improve their English competence? I think the company should provide employees with more courses about English or Japanese. Courses can include telephone manners, international etiquette, make-up training and how to pose the graceful posture.

What suggestion do you have for school English education? I think the school should arrange more opportunity for students to practice training regularly. It can improves students’ the social experience and learn the differences of foreign cultures.