Should French be used in M-1 rail?

[darwinism]

This is probably a North American thing. I've used public train systems across Europe and South America and they all announce train stops in the local language and then again in English [[when the announcement is automated). But I don't recall ever hearing multi-language train announcements anywhere in the U.S.

No reason to scoff at an idea that is "outside-the-box thinking". In fact, it ought to be embraced and encouraged.

I have also traveled around the world and rode on transit systems.

M-1 is new and an opportunity for Detroit to completely change negative old perceptions. Remember the saying, "Perception is Reality"? Well then, if the goal is to change negative old perceptions, then adding the sophisticated touch of French announcements is a small cost that yields long-term benefits. Of course, Spanish and Arabic are also reasonable languages to include.

Thank you to the OP for sharing a creative thought aloud. We need more such initiatives.

[Newdetroit]

No reason to scoff at an idea that is "outside-the-box thinking". In fact, it ought to be embraced and encouraged.

I have also traveled around the world and rode on transit systems.

M-1 is new and an opportunity for Detroit to completely change negative old perceptions. Remember the saying, "Perception is Reality"? Well then, if the goal is to change negative old perceptions, then adding the sophisticated touch of French announcements is a small cost that yields long-term benefits. Of course, Spanish and Arabic are also reasonable languages to include.

Thank you to the OP for sharing a creative thought aloud. We need more such initiatives.

Sort of like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8LM0ulztDU

Or you can watch the dubai metro...watch it from 13:48 onward...sort of looks like Woodward..hahaha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9cF4PkUc-0

[archfan]

Maybe you could have a different language each day, to show just how cosmopolitan and non-insular we've become.

Monday - English
Tuesday - Arabic
Wednesday - Spanish
Thursday - French
Friday - German
Saturday - Pig Latin
Sunday - Church Latin, for the Mass Mob

[iheartthed]

No reason to scoff at an idea that is "outside-the-box thinking". In fact, it ought to be embraced and encouraged.

I have also traveled around the world and rode on transit systems.

M-1 is new and an opportunity for Detroit to completely change negative old perceptions. Remember the saying, "Perception is Reality"? Well then, if the goal is to change negative old perceptions, then adding the sophisticated touch of French announcements is a small cost that yields long-term benefits. Of course, Spanish and Arabic are also reasonable languages to include.

Thank you to the OP for sharing a creative thought aloud. We need more such initiatives.

I didn't scoff and no, this is not "outside-the-box" thinking when it's the norm in many parts of the world.

However, when multi-lingual announcements are used they have a functional purpose [[i.e. a multi-lingual residential population or tourism base). If they just announce in French on Detroit's system in order to fake cosmopolitan then it will come off as very cheesy and the opposite of what it's trying to achieve.

[FormerEastsider]

archfan....you left out a few...Ebonics, Yiddish, Farsi, Patois, and Gibberish.

[Wesley Mouch]

They do use English in the Paris Metro...

Really! I have no recollection of that. Thanks. I retract my comments then.

With today's technology, couldn't we have anyone on board simply ask the car for announcements in their own language? A 'babble fish' of sorts?

[darwinism]

Really! I have no recollection of that. Thanks. I retract my comments then.

With today's technology, couldn't we have anyone on board simply ask the car for announcements in their own language? A 'babble fish' of sorts?

Even better!! With technology such as Siri and BabbleFish, yes absolutely!

[canuck]

Why not? A nice touch to celebrate Detroit's French roots and its proximity to Canada. There is a push in NY and Vermont to have more folks serve potential customers in French at least in towns close to the border. I agree with Spanish and Arabic as other languages to be used in Detroit transit communications. Incidentally, those two languages are also the most spoken in Montreal apart from French and English. The Montreal metro, bus and suburban trains only do written and spoken messages for safety in English unfortunately.

[Jason]

Having M1 speak French to sound fancy has a Beverly Hillbillies vibe to me.

Spanish makes more sense, but Detroit has far fewer Spanish speaking residents than other cities. We have more Arabic residents than the average city but still not very many, and they tend to speak English anyway.

I'd go the People Mover route and have certain signage in those languages, but the audio doesn't need it. You don't even need to understand a language to understand the messages as long as you can recognize the name of the next stop that's being announced.

[canuck]

I think it's a great idea. In fact I'll fill up my trunk with a bunch of the useless French signs on my way to Detroit from my place in the Toronto area on my next trip.

Way to go 401don. Just be careful not to disturb the Mandarin or other signage next to them. Dog forbid.

[T.Low]

It's a great idea to add a splash of international flavor to spruce things up.

I would, however, alter the premise away from perceived sophistication and/or current demographics to include historical significance.

For example, where a stop may have a historical significance to the Potowatomi, have the announcement in English and Potowatomi. Same with a Huron location, French, British, etc. Avoid pandering to groups by keeping it accurate and authentic.

How cool would it be to have Aretha Franklin announce the North End stop?

[pumphandle]

If we add any language, it should reflect the population of the city and be Spanish.

I'd say go with all three...

Gannon, I like the way you're thinking, and I mostly agree. If folks absolutely had to choose two of the three, I'd lean toward letting go of Spanish. My reasoning:

Detroit is the only large city in the United States that's actually north of Canada, giving it a somewhat unique claim to French/Canadian gateway status. Similarly, the Detroit region's unique role within North America as an Arabic-focused hub is nearly undisputed.

When I turn to look at Spanish, however, I can think of no way in which Detroit has a unique or semi-unique claim to the language/culture. We have a lot of Spanish speakers, of course, but so does virtually every other place in the country. If part of the job of multi-language announcements would be to show what is "special" about Detroit, then French and Arabic probably have the strongest arguments in their favor [[along with English, of course).

I'd also disagree slightly [[and very respectfully, while thanking him for his good idea) with the original poster's perception of French as an upper-crust language. I know a couple people who have taught in urban schools with lots of sub-Saharan refugees -- immensely tough African street kids who have seen horrendous violence and poverty for most of their lives -- and many of them use French as their main means of communication when possible.

There are almost certainly quite a few taxi drivers [[among others) in Detroit who would be thrilled if the city leaned more toward French, even in a small way. [[None of which subtracts from your original post, Newdetroit, which introduced a splendid idea.)

[SyGolden48236]

Oy vey! This is one of the most absurd ideas that I've seen on this board in a long time. You won't become "sophisticated" or "cultured" by having destination announcements on the Hipster Hauler in another language. That is just like putting perfume on a pig.

If Detroit wants to appear "sophisticated" or "cultured" it can start by educating its children and by reversing the very real "culture" of crime and blight. It can begin by having its citizens stop shooting people over the slightest "disrespect". It can begin by the citizens cleaning up their neighborhoods.

You cannot manufacture "sophistication" or "culture" by using a language that the vast majority of the residents do not speak on a silly choo-choo train.

[renf]

The Census Bureau's Annual Survey asks people if they speak a language other than English in their home. The Bureau estimates there are just over four million residents in metro Detroit.
The most popular languages other than English in the 2013 were the following with the number of speakers indicated:

Spanish 111,000
Arabic 108,000
Hindi 48,000
Chaldean 31,000
Chinese 21,000
Albanian 20,000
Dravidian 19,000
Polish 16,000
German 14,000
Japanese 13,000
Italian 13,000
French 12,000

[canuck]

Oy vey! This is one of the most absurd ideas that I've seen on this board in a long time. You won't become "sophisticated" or "cultured" by having destination announcements on the Hipster Hauler in another language. That is just like putting perfume on a pig.

If Detroit wants to appear "sophisticated" or "cultured" it can start by educating its children and by reversing the very real "culture" of crime and blight. It can begin by having its citizens stop shooting people over the slightest "disrespect". It can begin by the citizens cleaning up their neighborhoods.

You cannot manufacture "sophistication" or "culture" by using a language that the vast majority of the residents do not speak on a silly choo-choo train.

Oy Veh! Maybe a few words of wisdom in yiddish can help us out of our collective mess in biblical fashion. Mazel Tov!