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Is speaking the local language a must?

December 13, 2016 02:57AM
Hello all,

I am a newbie here and I am glad to have found this forum.

I live in Western Europe at the moment and have done some mystery visits in English with no problem. But these tend to be luxury shops.

I have contacted a few more mystery shopping companies that require the visits to be done in the local language. I was wondering if this can be flexible? Has anyone usually worked their way around this? People tend to be multilingual where I live and they speak good English...

The thing is I can try to speak the local language but usually the sales people just speak English to me (they are too kind!). Or maybe I am just not qualified for the local assignments until I am fluent.

What do you think?
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December 13, 2016 03:11AM
I think it really depends on the client. If they are evaluating sales to local residents, it may be required to speak the local dialect. You just have to ask.

I have taken some restaurant assignments where it was requested for me to order in French, which I am comfortable with. The problem is that the staff can clearly tell that I am American and most will quickly shift to English after a few sentences when they hear my accent, so I cannot really perform the shops in the local language.

When I questioned the MSC, the told me it was acceptable, provided that I was able to speak French if needed; In case there were some staff that could not speak English (and some of the bussers could not). The reason for the rule was to prohibit shoppers that could not speak French at all from taking the shop and then commenting that they had poor service.
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December 13, 2016 03:14AM
Hmm... umm... erm.. if you had said that in Swahili, or Urdu, or whale sounds, I would have understood you perfectly.

Seriously, congratulations! I wish I were fluent in as many languages as you are.

I know that some MSCs ask new shoppers to specify their primary and other languages. Other shoppers will remember which MSCs do this. With that information, you can sort MSCs according to known language rules or requirements. Keep in mind that what US shoppers see may not be what shoppers in other countries see. Some MSCs have separate web pages for shoppers in different parts of the world. Good luck! Buena suerte! Bon chance! etc.

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)


Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2016 04:08AM by Shop-et-al.
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December 13, 2016 09:30PM
@Shop-et-al wrote:

Hmm... umm... erm.. if you had said that in Swahili, or Urdu, or whale sounds, I would have understood you perfectly.

BAH HA HA!!!
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December 13, 2016 09:31PM
I did some shops in Spanish here in America. (Cuba North) and even volunteered to fill out the form in Spanish. The editors told me that no schedulers or editors knew Spanish and all the forms were in English. What language do you fill out your paperwork in?
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