Lawson introduces staff badge indicating foreign-language speakers

And are they getting paid more for being bilingual? I mean most Japanese took no effort to learn a foreign language. Shouldn’t they get much more money than Japanese for the ability they actually studied and often paid for?

This is not a requirement for working there.

In Europe or America working in a supermarket and being bilingual speaker does not give extra payment.

The vocabulary needed to ring up a bottle of water, though.

I thought Japanese students were taught some English because Japan is such an economic powerhouse that trades with so many English-speaking nations.

And that 'Lawsons' logo is very familiar. It was in my hometown when I was a kid, then it disappeared in America.

I  thought Japanese students were taught some English because Japan is such an economic powerhouse that trades with so many English-speaking nations.

Sure they are taught "some" English but that doesnt mean they can use it.

these days, one hardly speaks to the cashier, except possibly to ask for a bag.

It's just, tap tap tap and you're out.

@starpunk

It was originally a dairy shop owned by a person named Lawson back in the states. Japanese company bought it and it became a convenience store here, but to this day their dairy products are well known for, such as their infamous dessert cake rolls with cream fillings. I think the logo you’re referring to is the one with a milk bottle, hence its origin.

The SADDEST part about living in Japan is that when a foreigner goes shopping in a supermarket 99.9% of the items packaging is in Japanese, and when English is present it is written SO SMALL that you need a telescope and a x20 magnifying glass to be able to read it and when you read it of no help at all, example pack of dried apples it reads dried fruits.

Recently Seven Eleven started printing in large fonts the contents on the face of the package not somewhere on the lower corner of the back.

I'll give it about 10 to 15 more years before things get better .

リッチToday  06:54 am

And are they getting paid more for being bilingual? I mean most Japanese took no effort to learn a foreign language.

I would say most Japanese make a lot more effort to learn English, than English speakers do to learn a second language .

Once again cheap labor stepping in to fill the gaps and do things the locals can’t. Communicate for one! These youngens will gain a lot by seeing the skill and language level of their future competitors.

I don't care if they are visibly a foreigner or not, I will be speaking in Japanese only to whomever is behind the desk.

The SADDEST part about living in Japan is that when a foreigner goes shopping in a supermarket 99.9% of the items packaging is in Japanese, ..

Oh, in Japan everything is in Japanese, what a scandal.

Are you asking to write everything in all languages or only the one you can read?

I don't care if they are visibly a foreigner or not, I will be speaking in Japanese only to whomever is behind the desk.

So?

Other customers may well be assisted by an employee who can converse in Thai/Korean/Chinese/English etc.

Good for Lawson - good for their customers. The convenience store business is super competitive, and little things like this can help the franchises.

TheLizardKing

Are you offended Lawson will allow their bilingual staff to show they're bilingual (or trilingual in many cases) and able to help customers better?

This will only incentivize laziness and an unwillingness to learn the language.

Garthgoyle

You are telling me that a fully bilingual person with Japanese AND their native language will work at a konbini? Do you even live here? Lmao.

This will only incentivize laziness and an unwillingness to learn the language

No, it won't. It will allow staff help tourists better, business travelers and short term residents better.

Maybe you're referring to foreign longer residents. In which case, life is way bigger than just services at a convenience store. It will also add motivation to Lawson's staff, allowing them to show their skills. Disney World have done this for decades and it works well.

No, it won't.

Yes, it will.

It was originally a dairy shop owned by a person named Lawson back in the states. Japanese company bought it and it became a convenience store here, but to this day their dairy products are well known for, such as their infamous dessert cake rolls with cream fillings. I think the logo you’re referring to is the one with a milk bottle, hence its origin.

Interesting, didn't know the origin of Lawson. I don't think you mean "infamous" though, I think you just mean "famous".

If I notice the staff are foreign I usually ask whete they're from. Locally it's mostly Nepalese.

The best thing about Lawson though? Yona Yona beers of course.

It is very selfish or even impolite to expect or to demand speaking any other language than Japanese here. If foreign guests, tourists or people living here can't or don't want to show a little effort to study and use some Japanese before or during their stay, they should maybe consider to go somewhere else. Foreign language services are of course nice if available, but there's surely no duty or obligation to establish them biased or one-sided only by the hosts, the Japanese people.

You are telling me that a fully bilingual person with Japanese AND their native language will work at a konbini? Do you even live here? Lmao.

I met someone like that. I popped into a Lawson and the guy at the register looked sort of possibly half Japanese, hard to tell. In any case, upon seeing me he went straight into perfect, US-accented English, and when he'd finished, went back to perfect customer-service Japanese for the local person behind me.

Don't know what his story was - exchange student, or something - but he sounded extremely bilingual to me.

I don't care if they are visibly a foreigner or not, I will be speaking in Japanese only to whomever is behind the desk.

Thats sugooi.

I met someone like that. I popped into a Lawson and the guy at the register looked sort of possibly half Japanese, hard to tell.....Don't know what his story was - exchange student, or something - but he sounded extremely bilingual to me.

I second that.

I'll give it about 10 to 15 more years before things get better .

I’ll give it about 10 to 15 more years before you learn basic Japanese.

When I'm in Japan, I expect only my work interpreter to speak English. It is nice when others do, but not expected.

On the team that I worked with, 2 people in about 20 spoke English. One had worked over a year in Singapore and wanted to practice her English. She was fluent.

The other person had a "passion" degree (Indigenous Island cultures) and had spent time learning English because her parents were very high up in a different international corporation. She complained that her brain hurt after a few hours of English. I tried to use my self-study 120 hours of Japanese, but that mostly created laughs, which was fine, but didn't actually help with communications. Over the phone, they knew it was me, let's just say that. ;)

I have "some" training in 3 foreign languages. Not fluent in any, but with translation apps, pointing, pictures, and numbers, it is possible to travel nearly anywhere in the world. Having a sense of humor about your own language skills and carefully taking corrections (though I couldn't always pronounce the word they were saying) was also a good skill.

I've never starved anywhere nor slept on the street.

You are telling me that a fully bilingual person with Japanese AND their native language will work at a konbini?

Yes. We all have to climb the latter, unless of course the more privileged ones. And even them. Do you even live in this planet? Lmao.

And that 'Lawsons' logo is very familiar. It was in my hometown when I was a kid, then it disappeared in America.

The name is going to return to the US soon. It already has in Hawaii. Lawson stores were started by a farmer, J J Lawson to sell his dairy products. It became a chain in Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania. Lawsons was purchased by Consolidated Grocers. Consolidated Grocers evolved over time into Sara Lee Foods. They sold Lawsons to a smaller chain of food stores called Dairy Mart. All the Lawsons stores were renamed Dairy Mart. Dairy Mart was sold to Alimentation Couche-Tard (Night Owl Foods) and most of the stores re-named as Circle Ks, though a few owners were able to keep the Dairy Mart name for their stores.

During their ownership by Consolidated Grocers an agreement was reached with a Japanese grocery chain to build Lawsons stores in Japan. Now the Lawson brand is owned by the Japanese with stores in Japan, Indonesia and China. They recently opened two stores in Hawaii with plans for more stores in the US.

I meant "ladder" not latter.

Sven Asai -

It is very selfish or even impolite to expect or to demand speaking any other language than Japanese here.

Please tell us where people are "demanding" convenience store staff speak Thai, Chinese or Korean?

Foreign language services are of course nice if available, but there's surely no duty or obligation to establish them biased or one-sided only by the hosts, the Japanese people.

If this small gesture helps this business in a super-competitive environment, good on them. It may just give them an advantage over rival convenis.

You are telling me that a fully bilingual person with Japanese AND their native language will work at a konbini? Do you even live here? Lmao.

Wow - you must not have visited many convenience stores lately. They are filled with Chinese, Taiwanese, Nepali and Vietnamese staff - and have been for a long time. Even in smaller cities away from Tokyo.

"You are telling me that a fully bilingual person with Japanese AND their native language will work at a konbini? Do you even live here? Lmao.

Wow - you must not have visited many convenience stores lately. They are filled with Chinese, Taiwanese, Nepali and Vietnamese staff - and have been for a long time. "

Yup, they sure are.

Good for foreign tourists..

People generally know a person that is not Japanese, probably speak English,it an Indian guy I communicate with,not had fluid conversation,I usually initiate

The SADDEST part about living in Japan is that when a foreigner goes shopping in a supermarket 99.9% of the items packaging is in Japanese,

Because 99.9% of the customers in Japan speak Japanese and read Japanese?????

I've lived all over the USA. Can't remember ever seeing a Lawson's anywhere. From DT's post above, it is clear why I've never seen any. Never lived in those places at an age when I would have noticed store names.

I've never heard of a Dairy Mart either. We have Dairy Queen's here. No White Castles, but Krystals. No Village Inns, but I-hop and Waffle House. We are getting Whataburgers (why?) locally now. There's only a few Godfather's Pizzas in the state. OTOH, we overflow with Hooters, Abry's, Kroger's, but don't have an H.E.B. or Randall's. No chain BBQ places - that's the worst part after living in Central Texas. Sometimes I still miss perfectly cooked brisket for $8. Here, they charge $15, minimum and it doesn't taste right. Sigh.

There are lots of regional chains that are famous in a specific region of the US and mostly unknown everywhere else.

Wow - you must not have visited many convenience stores lately. They are filled with Chinese, Taiwanese, Nepali and Vietnamese staff - and have been for a long time. Even in smaller cities away from Tokyo.

I can't speak for Tokyo. However, I live in a smaller city away from Tokyo, and while I wouldn't say they are 'filled with' staff from those and other countries, there is definitely a (growing) number of them.

How about a badge for foreigners who can speak Japanese? You will only need about 10 badges.

Wow - you must not have visited many convenience stores lately. They are filled with Chinese, Taiwanese, Nepali and Vietnamese staff - and have been for a long time. "

And the service sucks. The Japanese staff always does a better job. If there is Japanese staff looking over their shoulders, they will hard, but they are by themselves . Forget about it. You get crap service.

There are lots of regional chains that are famous in a specific region of the US and mostly unknown everywhere else.

Florida has Pass Gas. Maryland had Wawa (great, fresh made to order sandwiches) and Sheetz. Central and northern California has Rotten Robbie. Arizona has Terrible Herbst (now just called Terrible's). There's also Kum & Go an Stinker (with a skunk as their logo).

Interpreting is a profession. I hope lawson is paying these Muti- lingual workers the same as a professional interpreter or a wage similar. I bet they get the minimum wage rate. This should be ask by the reporter but there no mention. I doubt if it even enter his or her head. Well that was the first thing that entered my thinking. Are they getting paid extra for using their rare skills that a minimum work would not use in their usual work duty.

I am always grateful for the chance to practice my Vietnamese, which was once usable, a long time ago in a galaxy far away.

Interpreting is a profession. I hope lawson is paying these Muti- lingual workers the same as a professional interpreter or a wage similar. 

They are free to look for and find work as interpreters if they wish.

They could just wear the flag badge of the language they speak. Extra ¥100 per hour for every badge they wear.

They should also have a "Incognito" stealth badge for those who do not wish to participate or who are not from the selected countries

As most Japanese want to avoid foreigners all together having the badge will highlight the fact and the self-service check out (which is standard now) will be used more.

anyone who said most Japanese try to learn English more than foreigners learn to speak Japanese is just wrong. Frankly speaking Japanese don’t get a proper education and “this is a boy” lessons don’t cut it. But that’s off topic. Sorry.

They should get paid more for bilingual skills. they invested their time and effort and often money for it.

obladi

Today 07:47 am JST

these days, one hardly speaks to the cashier, except possibly to ask for a bag.

> It's just, tap tap tap and you're out.

Sure if you are living here and know the products and what you want.

The article clearly states tourists are the target of this.

A tourist looking at a bento or a drink with all the information in Japanese only may actually need someone to help them.

I have seen this with a group of Malaysian trying to ask if the food the were looking at getting in 7 even contained pork (it did) the cashier was Uyghur speaks Chinese, Uyghur, Japanese and English so he directed them to bentos without pork.

リッチ

Today 04:30 pm JST

As most Japanese want to avoid foreigners all together having the badge will highlight the fact and the self-service check out (which is standard now) will be used more

I think you are living in the past.

Both the Lawson and 7 eleven near my place are mostly staffed by foreigners and a few elderly.

Uyghur, Filipino, Nepalese are the 3 main ones, all the locals now Know them, old young doesn't matter.

These foreign works have even come to know what certain regulars are going in the store for.

I haven't seen anyone doing anything to avoid the foreign cashiers.

This is a good idea. Also some of the employees might be relieved to be able to speak in another language aside from Japanese if they're more comfortable with it even if it's not their native language, like a Philippino using English since he or she might be quite fluent or it might be a little easier.

Google Maps has made traditional map-reading skills obsolete for 90% of everyday life. I predict that AI-driven simultaneous translation software on your watch or smartphone will make language conversation skills unnecessary for 90% of everyday life within 5-10 years.

Interpreting is a profession.

They aren't interpreters. They are sales people.

Sales people know that making a sale requires communications. The higher the price of the item being sold, the better the communications needs to be. ¥100 item - use self-checkout.

¥100,000 item - "some" level of common language is needed. Pointing is fine with a smile.

¥50,000,000+ item - they expect a professional interpreter.

If you want better communication than is provided, bring your own interpreter with the skill level you require. A govt diplomat would have needs to understand subtle language that a ¥100 shop person just doesn't need.

Oh noooo! That’s all I need….. more English harassment. Speak Japanese, and if the customer can’t speak Japanese then revert to another language but the whole point of coming and visiting another country is, hopefully, maybe, trying to speak Japanese. And for what it’s worth , if you see someone with a different skin color, will they assume that customer isn’t Japanese or can’t speak Japanese.

I don’t think you need special badges, a bit of common culture sense goes a long way. If someone is struggling in Japanese and you can help in the others language go for it. So long as you’re not doing あのー、えーと、英語で何というの。and to be honest I get really annoyed when someone tries to speak English when I only want to speak English. Wait until the customer speaks their mother tongue and don’t assume they can’t or don’t want to speak Japanese. After all, this is Japan.tourist. Yes! People who live hear…. Maybe you’re not really helping them in the looooooong run by doing everything in their native language.(hard stuff) I get it!

GarthgoyleAug. 21  09:33 am JST

This will only incentivize laziness and an unwillingness to learn the language

No, it won't. It will allow staff help tourists better, business travelers and short term residents better.

Maybe you're referring to foreign longer residents. In which case, life is way bigger than just services at a convenience store. It will also add motivation to Lawson's staff, allowing them to show their skills. Disney World have done this for decades and it works well.

Plenty of places do. When I've travelled to eastern Canada, French is the most common language. Of course, you should pick up a few phrases and learn to read their street signs. And above all, don't be a jerk.

YubaruAug. 21  07:35 am JST

I thought Japanese students were taught some English because Japan is such an economic powerhouse that trades with so many English-speaking nations.

Sure they are taught "some" English but that doesnt mean they can use it.

'Broken' English is better than nothing at all. I don't know much French myself, but I know enough that it's gotten me through Montreal, Kingston, Quebec City, etc.

Desert TortoiseAug. 21  10:28 am JST

And that 'Lawsons' logo is very familiar. It was in my hometown when I was a kid, then it disappeared in America.

The name is going to return to the US soon. It already has in Hawaii. Lawson stores were started by a farmer, J J Lawson to sell his dairy products. It became a chain in Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania. Lawsons was purchased by Consolidated Grocers. Consolidated Grocers evolved over time into Sara Lee Foods. They sold Lawsons to a smaller chain of food stores called Dairy Mart. All the Lawsons stores were renamed Dairy Mart. Dairy Mart was sold to Alimentation Couche-Tard (Night Owl Foods) and most of the stores re-named as Circle Ks, though a few owners were able to keep the Dairy Mart name for their stores.

During their ownership by Consolidated Grocers an agreement was reached with a Japanese grocery chain to build Lawsons stores in Japan. Now the Lawson brand is owned by the Japanese with stores in Japan, Indonesia and China. They recently opened two stores in Hawaii with plans for more stores in the US.

Welcome back, Kotter. What comes around goes around. Back to the origin.

Sometimes when I visit another country, I'm very interested in speaking (or trying to speak) the local language.

Many times, I'm not there for a language lesson and just want the shortest path to get what we need/want.

Sometimes that's a struggle. There are lots of cities in the world where even the locals don't speak the same languages, yet somehow, everyone buys, sells, and eats. Crazy, right? There can be some struggles, but humans aren't dumb. We can communicate sufficiently to get the most important things addressed, regardless of any language barrier. Of course, the guy in line behind me probably gets a little frustrated, but I usually move over and wait for the person not to be busy. I've been places where their local accent was so very different that my specific training in their language was useless. At the time, I'd write what I wanted down, since the written language was the same, regardless of accent.

These days, I'd just get an app for my phone with the language paks that I need loaded. These work off-line, without any internet and can be used to hold a conversation with 2-way translation. About 30 languages, including Japanese are supported.