Home
Log in / Sign Up
    Private Messages   Advanced Search   Rules   New User Guide   FAQ   Advertise   Contact Us  
Forum -> Household Management
Saving on cleaning help - I speak Spanish
Previous  1  2



Post new topic   Reply to topic View latest: 24h 48h 72h

Raisin




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Oct 27 2015, 6:29 am
Mama Bear wrote:
I find that I lose about an hour or more just sitting at the computer using google translate back and forth with my cleaning lady... and the grammar/syntax is so off half the time, that neither of us understand what the other is saying! Especially if you misspell one word by one letter, then the entire sentence makes no sense!
She's good and fast and clean though, and I'm glad she's not leaving me - they all leave after one or two times coming, bc they find full time jobs elsewhere.


I told my cleaning lady to put some raw gefilta fish rolls in the freezer. Seems she confuses fridges and freezers, since I found them in the fridge after shabbos. Expensive mistake for me. There are many things I find it hard to communicate. (I speak a bit of a language she speaks, but not fluently and she speaks hardly any english)

I would definitely pay more for someone who spoke fluent english.

The other advantage I find with my cleaning lady is that since she finds it hard to find work, she is almost always available. (she has other jobs but not many, although she recently started babysitting her grandchild some mornings, even so she still has free time each day) When I give birth or its erev pesach she has always been able to give me extra hours.


Last edited by Raisin on Tue, Oct 27 2015, 6:37 am; edited 1 time in total
Back to top

amother
Firebrick


 

Post Tue, Oct 27 2015, 6:37 am
amother wrote:
Meaning if she cant speak English she has less of a client pool (?) so therefore I would hire her but expect a lower rate. Did I make this up?


Where I live almost NONE of them speak English and have a huge client pool awaiting them, regardless of linguistics. What language YOU speak is totally irrelevant, no one's gonna give you first dibs, and certainly no reason to give you a discount!
Back to top

Sanguine




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Oct 27 2015, 7:07 am
MamaBear wrote:
Deep thought of the day: does her inability to speak English means she deserves lower pay for the same work?


Can't resist posting this clip here (it's been on this site before but I love it)

Back to top

turca




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Oct 27 2015, 9:59 am
Mama Bear wrote:
I find that I lose about an hour or more just sitting at the computer using google translate back and forth with my cleaning lady... and the grammar/syntax is so off half the time, that neither of us understand what the other is saying! Especially if you misspell one word by one letter, then the entire sentence makes no sense!
She's good and fast and clean though, and I'm glad she's not leaving me - they all leave after one or two times coming, bc they find full time jobs elsewhere.

"household Spanish" is pretty " simple" ( for me it's simple bc I'm born and raised in Mexico). I see that google translate could be pretty educated, that's when u might get in trouble. Some of these workers are illiterate...
The best is to get a few tips from a Spanish speaker friend.
Back to top

turca




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Oct 27 2015, 10:00 am
Sanguine wrote:
Can't resist posting this clip here (it's been on this site before but I love it)


Hah!
Back to top

amother
Blush


 

Post Tue, Oct 27 2015, 12:42 pm
amother wrote:
Where I live almost NONE of them speak English and have a huge client pool awaiting them, regardless of linguistics. What language YOU speak is totally irrelevant, no one's gonna give you first dibs, and certainly no reason to give you a discount!


I speak a rudimentary Spanish and DH is fluent having been born in another country. We have the most loyalty from our workers. They will always give us first dibs and love working in our home. We pay the same as everyone else maybe on the low side. We pay ten plus one way transport of 6 extra. There going rate is ten to twelve. I can have a many or as few hours as I want usually. They will accommodate us and we keep cleaners for years.
Back to top

trixx




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Oct 27 2015, 1:08 pm
What blush said - my parents have loyal workers as both speak Spanish. I speak basic Spanish and when I shared someone's cleaning lady you could see the look of relief on her face when I greeted her in Spanish, offered food (she was coming straight from her) and told her exactly what needed to be done.
Back to top

Fox




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Oct 27 2015, 2:20 pm
turca wrote:
"household Spanish" is pretty " simple" ( for me it's simple bc I'm born and raised in Mexico). I see that google translate could be pretty educated, that's when u might get in trouble. Some of these workers are illiterate...
The best is to get a few tips from a Spanish speaker friend.


This is a side note, but I've always wished someone in the Jewish world would offer online classes and/or CDs of "household Spanish." A few things exist out there, but they obviously don't cover kashrus-related issues, holidays, etc.

I'd even pay extra for monthly translation services . . .

amother wrote:
There are parts in Miami where no one speaks English. mean you can walk into Macy's and find NO one that speaks English.


Dave Barry wrote about his wife and her mother (both Spanish-speakers) attending a Julio Iglesias concert. When Julio began a song in English, the man sitting next to them said to his wife, in Spanish, "Why is he singing in English? If he wants to sing in English, he can go to Minnesota."
Back to top

Sanguine




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Oct 27 2015, 2:55 pm
OT - Did you notice that "Mama Bear" and "MamaBear" are both on this thread?? How confusing Scratching Head
Back to top

Mama Bear




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Oct 27 2015, 4:46 pm
Well, look at our sigs, that'll tell you who's who Smile
Back to top

Mama Bear




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Oct 27 2015, 4:49 pm
Well, the simple words for garbage can, bag, rag, sweep, mop, money, the days of the week and hours of the day, are easy to learn, and when you pantomime, you can communicate. it gets more complicated when the lady talks to *ME* in spanish. bc I know the words I wanna use, but I don't get her spoken spanish. Plus, it's not really fair, why am I breaking my teeth in spanish but the cleaning lady won't try to learn some basic english words in return? Then when she starts asking me stuff via google translate, it gets so confusing. I had a whole thing with my cleaning lady this afternoon, we spent half an hour sitting here and typing and neither of us getting what the other was saying. I think we're good though. She's coming back on Viernes. Very Happy (which she pronounces, biernes.)
Back to top

finallyamommy




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Oct 27 2015, 5:27 pm
Mama Bear wrote:
Well, the simple words for garbage can, bag, rag, sweep, mop, money, the days of the week and hours of the day, are easy to learn, and when you pantomime, you can communicate. it gets more complicated when the lady talks to *ME* in spanish. bc I know the words I wanna use, but I don't get her spoken spanish. Plus, it's not really fair, why am I breaking my teeth in spanish but the cleaning lady won't try to learn some basic english words in return? Then when she starts asking me stuff via google translate, it gets so confusing. I had a whole thing with my cleaning lady this afternoon, we spent half an hour sitting here and typing and neither of us getting what the other was saying. I think we're good though. She's coming back on Viernes. Very Happy (which she pronounces, biernes.)


Friday! (Sorry - couldn't resist piping up - I used to be pretty good at Spanish in high school but then I forgot all of it.) And yeah, v sounds closer to b in the dialect of Spanish that I learned at least.
Back to top
Page 2 of 2 Previous  1  2 Recent Topics




Post new topic   Reply to topic    Forum -> Household Management

Related Topics Replies Last Post
Interior car cleaning Monsey
by amother
1 Mon, Mar 25 2024, 10:07 pm View last post
S/o cleaning help can’t afford
by amother
56 Mon, Mar 18 2024, 8:37 pm View last post
[ Poll ] Cleaning Help
by amother
32 Mon, Mar 18 2024, 2:30 am View last post
Taking away someone's pesach cleaning help - spin off
by amother
50 Sun, Mar 17 2024, 3:13 am View last post
Car cleaning for pesach recommendations
by amother
1 Sun, Mar 17 2024, 1:49 am View last post