# Spanish speakers: Help a gringo out. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 6, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600 "2014-10-06T23:23:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600/21 "2014-10-07T20:01:43Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > “Ay yi yi! Los internet Americanos es muy difficult!” Then he’ll sit down against a wall, strum a lazy chord on his guitar, tip his sombrero down over his eyes and go to sleep. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600/22 "2014-10-08T02:50:57Z")
The fact is that a significant percentage of Mexican professionals, even doctors and engineers, are functionally illiterate; they can barely read English at all. I am sure that **ducati** ’s help is very much appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600/23 "2014-10-08T03:01:34Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > I did, but since I can’t read it, I don’t know what I’d be pointing him to. > > I’m not going to spend hours translating pages to make sure they are what he needs. [translate.google.com](http://translate.google.com) or google Chrome’s built-in translation (it’s the same engine). Spanish/English is the most common language pair, both for translations in general and for dual-language webpages, so it’s one where google translate tends to give quite decent results; when they miss it’s easy to see. In fact, you’re one lucky son of a bitch, because your native language is the one most common in language pairs on the internet so most google translations involving it are at the very least understandable. And yeah, on one hand it’s nice you want to be helpful but on the other you seem to be making a lot of assumptions about what kind of help would this guy need or even want. Thinking that 300 bucks are better spent on something else than a pair of speakers isn’t the same as not knowing how to set up a pair of speakers or how to download music from _la red_. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600/24 "2014-10-08T09:57:37Z")
You guys are funny, I’ll give you that. It’s not that think all Mexicans are illiterate monkeys with no functional knowledge of electronics. I simply don’t know what he knows about itunes, iphones, etc. Turns out to be very little. I ended up giving him a Bose Soundock and an iphone that just plugs into a cradle on it. I did show him the website Mr. Mace posted and it seemed helpful. So he’s got that going for him, which is nice. ---
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600/25 "2014-10-08T10:28:49Z")
Why would you think your employees are ignorant of basic technology? Why would you assume that one of your Hispanic employees, correctly, would not be able to understand itunes? How would itunes be able to show how to use a Bose Soundlink III? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600/26 "2014-10-08T11:28:20Z")
And most importantly, where is my free Sounddock and iPhone? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600/27 "2014-10-08T15:32:26Z")
I call dibs on the Bose Soundlink lll and the Samsung Galaxy S5. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600/28 "2014-10-08T18:55:12Z")
> [@Boogly](#): > > Why would you think your employees are ignorant of basic technology? I don’t. I simply don’t know what they know, ya know? > [@Boogly](#): > > Why would you assume that one of your Hispanic employees, correctly, would not be able to understand itunes? I asked him if he knew what Itunes was, and how to get music on an iphone. He said no. That was my first clue. > [@Boogly](#): > > How would itunes be able to show how to use a Bose Soundlink III? It wouldn’t, but Bose would. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600/29 "2014-10-08T19:05:06Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > I don’t. I simply don’t know what they know, ya know. You should probably start at glass beads and small hand mirrors and work your way up. Try predicting an eclipse, that always wows them. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600/30 "2014-10-08T20:09:06Z")
Geez why push apple on the poor hombre. Give him some CD’s, a player and some quality speakers that aren’t in a little plastic docking station. Itunes and ipods and Iapples and Iphones are not gifts to the world of good music. They suck actually. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600/31 "2014-10-08T23:27:06Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > And most importantly, where is my free Sounddock and iPhone? Uhh… Sorry dude. You speak English. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600/32 "2014-10-08T23:28:10Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Geez why push apple on the poor hombre. Give him some CD’s, a player and some quality speakers that aren’t in a little plastic docking station. > > Itunes and ipods and Iapples and Iphones are not gifts to the world of good music. They suck actually. Apple hater! Apple hater! ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600/33 "2014-10-09T00:17:17Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Uhh… Sorry dude. You speak English. Y lo más importante. ¿Dónde está mi SoundDock libre y iPhone? ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600/34 "2014-10-09T09:52:55Z")
> [@si amigo](#): > > y lo más importante. ¿dónde está mi sounddock libre y iphone? what? no comprend-o! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-help-a-gringo-out/700600.md?page=1)