English in Subway??

Hi! I'm Marcella! The topic of today is this:

This logo might be familiar to you (or not). This is a fast food shop originated in the US, featuring sandwiches, especially subway sandwiches!! Yum yum<3

  

I tried my first bite of Subway sandwiches last summer in Central. It tasted good. However, what I think is the most eye-catching part is when you order for your food. My friend told me that I have to order in English! That really shocked me. I looked at the people behind the front desk and the cashier, they are all foreigners. I tried to listen to the customers in front of me in the queue while I was struggling whether I want tomatoes or  not. And the result is YES, everyone uses English here in Hong Kong Subway. When it comes to my turn, I was so freaked out that my friend had to do all the ordering for me :p 

I don't think I am the only one who has been freaked out by the need of switching code in Subway. Although Hong Kong is a bilingual society, it's not common to speak English when we order food. Well, sometimes in Starbucks, we will use English chunks, stating the names of coffe/ drink or the size that you want. But that's totally different from using English the whole way through the ordering process. Like me, people may feel uncomfortable. 

I did some research online, and I found somebody like me LOL 

The writer said that one day she entered the Subway shop in Central as she wanted to buy something to eat during her trip on the ship.  However she was stunned as she didn't know much English and she didn't understand what the foreigner (the shop-assistance) was mentioning about. At last she ended up leaving the shop without buying anything. She also complained if it is necessary to use only English when ordering food.

What she complained about is sensible. We should understand that not everyone knows English. 

There are pros and cons using English in subway.

Pros:1) Subway can keep its own traditions and characteristics of being an American fast food shop

         2) The way of ordering indicates the "class" of Subway, the target consumers and the quality of 

              food and also the price

Cons: 1) Those who are not good at English dare not order in subway

          2) Tourists (for example: from mainland China) may not has as high level of English as Hong

              Kong residents

          3) It's like setting a basic requirement for buying subway and discriminating those who doesn't 

              know English

Well I was only focusing on the Subway in Hong Kong which I've been to last year. And the pros and cons are just my own opinions. In fact, I've heard that some newly opened shops of subway has employed shop-assistance who can speak Cantonese and Putonghua, which can be a good news to some people.

If you really have troubles ordering your subway, go and check these articles out! They are the instructions you can follow when you are ordering your food! LOL Just read through it, pick your favourite and then order!

http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/dbtranslation-2010/article?mid=63&prev=68&l=f&fid=8

http://tw.knowledge.yahoo.com/question/question?qid=1010112007791