The other day at my work I was asked a very uncommon question for our humble, little museum:
"Do you have any Visitor's Guides [Maps] in French or, maybe, Spanish?"
Now, I would say that about 1 in 10 people that come into the museum do not speak English or do not speak it well. Never with that many non-English speakers in a year in a half of working at the museum have I ever been asked that question. Never until last Sunday.
So, these question beg to be asked:
Should museums and other tourist spots have guides in multiple languages? No matter what the size of the museum? Should it be required by law?
Comments (2)
Abby,
This matter is dear to my heart. I've been advocating for our non-English speaking visitors for at least 2 and a half years now. I love going places, whether it be a museum or other similar tourist attraction, that have guides in foreign languages. It shows that that institution cares about their visitors and realizes their place in the world. Most importantly, it shows that those places welcome non-English speaking patrons and is willing to make them feel comfortable within the establishment. There is a element of global awareness, intelligence, empathy, welcoming and wholesomeness in having these items available.
As for being required by law, unless these museums or other establishments are government run and if the government declares official languages, should that ever occur.
I wouldn't require it by law but it would be more comfortable for the visitors and people working at the museum.
I worked in a tourist town and I wish that I had more Spanish training or that more of the workers had Spanish training. I speak German and when European visitors came we could converse through that language as well as some of the others I know the basics of.