In my Monday morning French class at Morpeth (see https://linguaforme.co.uk), we’ve been learning that to say “I would like some more wine” is “Je veux plus de vin”. On the other hand, to say I don’t want any more wine is “Je veux plus de vin”. The difference? Well, it all depends on how that tiny word “plus” is pronounced.
My daughter, who teaches English as a foreign language to non-native speakers, tells me it is often the little words that turn a sentence negative that a foreign language speaker will miss. Thus, after listening to LNER’s lengthy announcement about all the tickets that are not valid on their trains, she points out that what someone not 100% familiar with English will hear is “Lumo … valid, Hull Trains … valid, super off peak … valid”. The tiny word “not” will often be missed. Far better, she insists, if LNER simply said nothing.
But Govia Thameslink have taken this concept of failing to consider the accessibility of their information to non-native English speakers to a whole new level. I was astonished, whilst at St Pancras station this morning, to see their CIS unhelpfully displaying a list of stations at which their train is not calling. St Pancras of course is an international station serving arriving Eurostar passengers. A little more sensitivity to those not so familiar with the English language might have been expected. One thing our European friends clearly do better than us. But multi-lingual announcements at the UK’s leading international station sadly still seems to be some years in the future.
