Is it soooooo difficult to understand english?
This happened yesterday when i was driving back home from work.... Its was a pretty busy hour of the evening and as i reached a signal i found two cars infront of me involved ina collision. the traffic came to a stand still and in the narrow road was parked the police car with its colored lights blinking on top....
As my car slowly down a mid aged expat woman... looked like a Brit... almost close to tears walked up to my window and knocked on it...
I lowered my window and asked her what she wanted... She asked me if i spoke Arabic...
I said I dint... but i cud manage a smattering of Arabic which i manage at work... speak Arabic to my Arab patients.... but i was surprised why she wanted my help.
She said she was the woman who was involved in the car pile up and she said as she was slowing down after she saw the orange light, a car which was behind her tried to jump the light and ended up banging her car from behind.
to add to her woes she had a small kid in her car she says..... and the kid was obviously distraught by this sudden hit from behind.....
i said Im a doctor and asked her if i could see the kid.... he must have been about 4 years... luckily but for a small abrasion he wasnt hurt.....
since the police was already there i tol the lady to settle the matter and get the things sorted out through insurance.....
now comes the interesting part... the lady tells me.... after the police came before she could even speak to him the guy who rammed into her from behind ( an arab gentleman) rushed and met the police man and they kissed each other and after a few words were spoken the police told the lady that it was her mistake.
the lady initially thought she didnt hear him right and tried to explain what had happened when she was rudely interrupted by the police and was told to speak in Arabic....
thats when she decided to take the help of passers by...
my knowledge of arabic is pretty basic.... but i decided to help this lady and tried speaking to the cop..... i had hardly introduced myself and begun talking when he finished the proceedings by saying.... Maafi Englisheee..... Lazim kalam Arabeee.......
I was very annoyed by this prerequisite that an expat who hardly knows the language be ordered to speak Arabic .... is it a dictum that to get justice in this land one has to speak the native lingo?
What was more humiliating was as this was happening the Arab gentleman was smiling sitting inside his landcruiser.... unmindful of the fact that he has just minutes ago almost killed a small kid and a lady......
Am i alone in this predicament or have any other Ql Member faced the same difficulty of not having been able to talk to a policeman becos he cudnt understand english?
So in this land if you cant speak Arabic you cant get justice is it?
i am a male doctor... happily married... does it answer your question:)
nice week end everyoneeeeeeeeee
thats only question....look at the name sexydoctor? my dentist smell good but i dont dare to say he is sexy doctor! hehehehe but thats s good one...nice nick though...
There is no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid people.
H. Bennis
are u girl or boy? :p i'm curious
As I kept saying people should not generalized everybody. In my case I had an accident with a 17 year old Qatari boy and I just took his phone number and plate number. The boy started to texted me saying we should meet, I assumed he wants to settle the problem but no! he ended up being rude to me. I reported him to the Traffic Police Capt. Al-Bonain. he's very fluent in English and brought his investigator to write down my complain. after couple of days, he called me to give the police report and he managed to get the mother of the boy to come down to the station and explain her son's behavior and she was very apologetic and paid all the damage, my car is back to as it is, as good a new!
Same thing happen to my husband's colleague, a truck hit her car in a roundabout and there's 4 Qatari men came out of the truck and kissed the policemen cheek to cheek and she was told to go to the station the next day for further investigations. She was worried, the next day she went to the station with an Arabic speaking colleague, the guys actually admits it's their fault and not hers, so her car was fixed!
I think it's all a matter of luck!
Just keep dancing, it will do you good!
that is very nice of you to help that ladies...im so proud of you :)
I know how it feel to stand in the street and asking for help..oh so sad!
and i hope its not going to happen to me at anytime. But i dont think every police in Qatar is not bla..bla..(i dont want to say it) i went alone with my car once from north of dukhan, i got lost and scared cause there is no indication to doha..i gave this police car a light to stop, he stop and asked me if i was ok. I told him that im lost and want to go to Doha. He was guiding me untill Doha,and i followed him behind. so nice he is!
Another stories i got crash by big GMC car driven by some american guy who had a chat with his friend next to him. I wasnt worry of my car, cause it have insurance, actually was worried abt the champagne in the back :p anyway he was very nice and both of us went to police station directly to ask for paper.
It wasnt complicated....i think i prefer to get crash by foreigner..hehehehe
I was bumped by a 4x4 Lexus of a local and everything was ok. The police report was in my favour.
As a mother myself I constantly think about what would happen if I got into an accident here.
It's funny, when I was still a kid, I got into an accident in the middle east. Bear with me as I have to be little vague on the details...... but I was completely wrong...no-one else was involved, and only I got hurt. At the time I was driving someone else's car and it's funny how the police report just 'disappeared'. This was done on purpose and as a favour to the owners of the car....big shot VIP in the region. I can't go into details but it's amazing how corrupt the system is. At the time it went in my favour so I was grateful, but now if I were to get into an accident I am sure that I would be blamed.
And it's not like Doha is a METROPOLIS! It's tiny! The traffic here is a pain, but NOTHING like traffic in some parts of the world. So why is everyone in such a rush!? Why cut the cue. Why jump the red light. Inconsiderate and arrogant; that's what it is.
Outside Villaggio I watched as a perfectly able person parked in the handicap spot. I started to complain, but then my husband looked at me and said...."he's handicapped alright. In the brain!" I laughed and realised he's right.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Mahatma Ghandi
Richard, LOL very nice one but wrong again!
I’m terrified at the idea of having an accident here for that reason … I heard the worst thing from people (expat) who went through the experience.
Hardly anyone in the US is really fluent in proper English and EVERYONE thinks it is the best country in the world.
We had better live as we think, otherwise we shall end up by thinking as we lived. - Paul Bourget
lol ... incredible how deceiving internet can be! I can assure you in my country (the real one) few people are fluent in English unlike the UK … and who said I don’t think it is the best in the world? :)))
I have never heard that before. Maybe George W Bush thinks Qatar is a democracy but I don't think anyone else does.
We had better live as we think, otherwise we shall end up by thinking as we lived. - Paul Bourget
, but thankfully the idiot behind me missed me by a couple of cm's. I feel so sorry for this woman and her child. I agree with most of what has been written. It's got nothing to do with speaking english. It has everything to do with who you know and whether or not you are a local.
I'll say it again. As an expat you have NO rights here. And they call this a democracy. What a laugh.
Be as careful as you can, and have a phone number ready in case of emergencies, and stay calm. Get together as much evidence as possible so that if does go to court you 'might' win...just maybe.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Mahatma Ghandi
just a dumb yank. But no, I think you are a Brit as you have a good sense of humor and you don't think your country is the best in the world (well how could you, unless you were American?)
We had better live as we think, otherwise we shall end up by thinking as we lived. - Paul Bourget
We speak Liechtenstein-ian ... lol
Yes I think THEY speak something close to German … you don’t think I come from there for real do you? ;)
I know, I always say it’d be fantastic if the entire world spoke … hem … Liechtenstein-ian … it is such a beautiful language and I would never need to learn anything else!
What language do they speak in your country? Liechtenstein? Is that some sort of Swiss German? Life would be so much better and simpler if everyone just spoke American. Think how much better the world would be.
We had better live as we think, otherwise we shall end up by thinking as we lived. - Paul Bourget
However, it is worth the lady taking the matter up with the traffic cops at Khalifa street. I hope she took pictures but even if she didn't the traffic cops report will show that she was hit from behind.
In my experience, the Qataris are usually pretty fair about these things and they should on reconsideration, find in her favor.
We had better live as we think, otherwise we shall end up by thinking as we lived. - Paul Bourget
When some foreigner has an accident in my country the police will help them to find someone who can translate and help settle the matter … that is the difference! I know Gypsy is right and that is the problem not the language barrier!
i dont expect the police to be fluent in english.... in a country like Qatar where you find more expats than locals on the road you would expect some basic level of english undertsnding on the part of police.
english is not my mother toungue too but when an expat has ab accident in delhi he speaks to the police in english and not in hindi....
the point is english is an international language is it too difficult to undertand english?
but i think gypsy nailed it with her answer.... it has got nothing to do with the language....
if you get hit by a landcruiser.... its your fault....
I have learnt it the hard way.
I’d be mad for the fact that the Arab man is turning the situation to his advantage and all but to be fair this is Qatar, their official language is Arabic! If you come to my country rarely you’ll find someone from the police fluent in English …
THis has nothing to do with the language and everything to do with the fact that the guy in the land cruiser was a Qatari. The cop was probably his cousin or a member of his tribe.
Rule of the land, you get hit by a landcrusier it's your fault.