the only British person onboard

[Unregistered]

Hi iv got a cadetship with a shipping company which mainly employs people who don't speak English and kinda worried that when i come to my sea phases am not goin to be able to learn much seeing that their is a language barrier or even sign off stuff my training book

[GuinnessMan]

Hi iv got a cadetship with a shipping company which mainly employs people who don't speak English and kinda worried that when i come to my sea phases am not goin to be able to learn much seeing that their is a language barrier or even sign off stuff my training book

How do you know they don't speak English? Who said that? Company or cadets? Why not just wait and bloody see?

[penfold]

Bad day at the office GM?

[GuinnessMan]

Bad day at the office GM?

No, just I've been the "only Brit on board" a couple of times and it never bothered me then and wouldn't bother me now. Officers (especially deck ones) are required to have a certain level of English and this just struck me as making assumptions based on very little!

[billwillis]

As a September starter, I am not in the slightest bit concerned if I get put with a none "British" crew. I'm pretty sure that someone will speak English anyway. In my experience with British people, is, they're ****ing annoying to work worth; so I'm happy to go with the devil that I don't know; for a change.

[Aleorea]

I agree with you billwills, as an officer British crews can be more tricky to work with than Filipino. One Canadian Chief Mate I sailed with said very generally speaking British crews moan about trivial stuff far more than any other nationality.

OP as for being the only British on board this happened to me on all my ships during cadetship, some were all former-USSR national crewed, and the others where all Filipino crewed. Although it was far from perfect, I found sailing with the Filipinos much better than the Russians, this was primarily because generally they have a much better command of the English language.

[YoungMariner]

I would say that being the only Brit onboard isn't easy. Working with Brit Officers is great, but I can understand the issues with Brit crew, but its rare you'll come across them unless your in the North Sea/Ferries.

I spent the final trip as a cadet and my first trip as Officer onboard ships where I was the only Brit and it was tough. There are major differences between the way Eastern European and Asian crews train to our system, and this can cause some confusion onboard and make it a little difficult. The idea of someone being trained to be an Officer from the start can be a little alien to some cultures.
You'll need to work harder then most people, and I'd recommend having some good books to help you out, since you may not have the people around you who can help you with the items in your taskbook/workbook.

[ETwhat?]

I dont think the OP is meaning the ratings but from experience it is easier to have a mix of different lanugages onboard as that tends to force everyone to speak english rather than thier native language.
That said even if they dont choose to use it for general chit chat ive found that most have a oworking ability to make sense in english. i think the hardes part of training with no british officers is getting them to understand the TRB and the format of what we actually need to achieve as cadets. Ive seen a chief engineer translate word for word some bits fo the TRB that said it can also make things easier 'here sign this' ok kinda thing and that just puts a degree of responsibility on yourself for only asking for a signature when you feel you do qualify for it.

[Randomist]

As ET says, often most of the crew who have English as an additional language will be able to communicate well enough but talk amongst themselves in their own language.

The only time I've run into a little trouble is when, as sometimes happens, there's pressure on mooring stations. It's hard to be in charge of the deck when things may have to be done quickly and communication breaks down with the officer. I've noticed a pattern of English getting louder, more high pitched and then disappearing completely as all the deckhands start shouting in their own language. Usually this can be sorted by grabbing hold of the Leading Hand and stepping in yourself and issuing instructions. Just to make sure you stay on top of the situation.

Generally I've found most people will be able to get along in English when they have to.

[dannyboy]

this might be silly question but is their any harm in learning a few words and phrase in a foreign language if you are going to be on the boat for a while

[alistairuk]

this might be silly question but is their any harm in learning a few words and phrase in a foreign language if you are going to be on the boat for a while

Course not - learning Tagalog for "STOP" is very useful (although iv'e forgotten it) - although given that certainly on the ships I am on, we can have 50+ different nationalities it's best to stick to the "official working language" (its a requirement with most companies) when doing work related activities.

Also; different areas of countries can have different languages / dialects as I discovered a few years ago...

[Randomist]

In fact I've found you can get a lot of respect from the guys you're working with if you learn how to talk to them a little in their own language

[GuinnessMan]

this might be silly question but is their any harm in learning a few words and phrase in a foreign language if you are going to be on the boat for a while

In fact I've found you can get a lot of respect from the guys you're working with if you learn how to talk to them a little in their own language

Exactly! I used to work with an all Romanian crew at one point during my cadetship and they were quite happy that I was learning some Romanian. One motorman wouldn't respond to me at all until I had said "Hello, how are you?" in Romanian to him.

I still use some of the Russian, Latvian and Tagalog I've picked up along the way...

[Aleorea]

Thanks to my cadetship I'm fluent in Russian swear words....

[size4riggerboots]

I picked up Dutch swear words last contract..... From my English Captain. We then got a dutch Captain and I had to remember NOT to bible about muttering "Hotver Dommer" and "Cut Mi Peerar" Obviously that is not how you spell them. Probably.