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Language Barriers Solved with the Internet

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty Community Partners

This is a true story.

Yesterday, we had a man come into our office who was driving a street-sweeping machine.  He handed his cellphone to our DOFI (Director of First Impressions) and has a colleague of his explain that the person standing in front of her did not speak English, was from Poland, was named (we’ll say Paul, for ease) and needed some help.  Then the person on the phone said Thank You and hung up.

Well, language barriers can sometimes be tall.  Our DOFI tried to figure out what he wanted, but could only make out what she thought was “banco” or something similar.  She smartly got on Google and found a Polish translation program that helped her understand that he was looking for a loan (which we don’t do, obviously, being a Keller Williams office) because he was remodeling his home.  After finally getting back in touch with the original phone caller, we were able to confirm that we couldn’t help him and send him on his way.

After that, I asked around regarding language software and found out that the BBC has a great online site for simple communication.  Here’s the one for Spanish: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/

Yes, you can do anything on the internet.