Foreign taxi drivers face language test after passengers complain they can't talk to them
Casey and Farage in same article shocker
YOU'LL never guess who I had in the back of my cab...
The patter of taxi drivers is often seen as a one-sided affair as they regale passengers with tales of life behind the wheel.
But one group of them are now facing an L-test – that’s a language test – to ensure their English is up to scratch after customers complained they could not talk to them.
Bradford council bosses found that many of the city’s foreign drivers do not even speak enough English to have a moan – and customers miss it.
Attempts at conversations about the weather or questions like “Busy tonight?” are being greeted with a puzzled silence.
Taxi and minicab operators admit it has now become standard for people to ask for “English speaking” drivers.
Until now, drivers had little difficulty convincing licensing officers in the West Yorkshire city that they had mastered English as a second tongue.
The rules say they must show “a basic understanding of written and spoken English”. Reading a paragraph out of a paperback book and filling in a receipt was enough to get a licence.
But under plans set to be approved by councillors this week, would-be cabbies will sit a “conversation test” demanding far greater language skills.
They will have to understand a series of questions fired at them by a council worker.
Licensing manager Carol Stos said: “The current new driver process is that an applicant needs to read a paragraph from a book and complete a receipt for a perceived journey.
“A new procedure is proposed which requires an applicant to answer normal conversational questions.
They can include things such as, ‘What do you think of the weather recently?’, ‘Where did you take your last customer?’ and ‘How do you get from A to B?’”
Ukip leader Nigel Farage said he hoped Bradford’s lead would be followed by other towns and cities, including London.
He said: “Travelling by taxi is expensive and one of the compensations is a good chat and a good laugh.
“I have travelled in many cabs in London, with reputable companies employing Romanian drivers who use sat-nav and are barely able to converse a word with me.
“Speaking the language is a high requirement for an integrated society.”
Senior figures within the taxi trade agreed with Mr Farage.
Wayne Casey, admin officer for the National Taxi Association insisted: “Being able to communicate with a passenger is important. It is common sense.”
And Khurram Shehzad, chairman of the Bradford Private Hire Liaison Service, added: “It is in the interests of the public.
“Some drivers may know how to drive – but when they have a customer in the car with them, they can’t have a conversation.”
source: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/550406 ... UK+Feed%29
