Dis Dining show minor complaint/suggestion

[toocherie]

Our state's public college systems (University of California/Cal State) required 2 years of HS level foreign language simply to apply for admission. I also graduated HS in 1996. Once admitted, you had to take 2 more years to graduate.

Well, I graduated MANY MANY MANY years ago in California and we were also required to take at least two years of foreign language. I took French all four years, then two or three more years in college and also lived in a dorm called "La Maison Francaise" where you were supposed to speak nothing but French while in the hall or in our dining room. Yeah, don't expect me to string together a coherent sentence--it's been that long. However, I can order from a French menu like nobody's business!

 

[SorcererHeidi]

Oh thank you!!--that was my Bella when I first got her. Unfortunately she went to the Bridge this past December. I still have my second Corgi (Cunie) but got him when he was one so don't have adorable pics of him as a baby.

So sorry for the crossing over of Bella. I will tell all my beloved fur friends who are on the other side to make sure they share plenty of their toys and treats with her.

And please give Cunie a kiss from me! I always love to see how Corgis grow into their ears!!

 

[GAN]

Exactly what I was thinking - I know if I were reading something on camera, I'd WANT to practice in advance.

I used to make all sorts of recordings and announcements for work, and would always try and get the required text in advance (unless it was a true emergency, and couldn't) and practice it several times in advance, just to get comfortable with it, or even tweak something to make it flow better, if needs be. And for the most part, they weren't even foreign, strange, or "different' words! Just a part of hat I considered my due diligence for my job, and I wanted to do it as well as I could.

I’m with you. But I can’t deny, all the mispronunciations kind of remind me a little of Bawb. Mo-jee-toes anyone?

 

[afan]

Well, I graduated MANY MANY MANY years ago in California and we were also required to take at least two years of foreign language. I took French all four years, then two or three more years in college and also lived in a dorm called "La Maison Francaise" where you were supposed to speak nothing but French while in the hall or in our dining room. Yeah, don't expect me to string together a coherent sentence--it's been that long. However, I can order from a French menu like nobody's business!

I graduated HS in 97 and took 2 years because most colleges required it however, I went to a Cal State school and it wasn't required. I took a semester because it fulfilled a GE requirement but I could have taken something else from that category but it was easier to take the same language again.

 

[Alicenwonderment]

I graduated HS in 97 and took 2 years because most colleges required it however, I went to a Cal State school and it wasn't required. I took a semester because it fulfilled a GE requirement but I could have taken something else from that category but it was easier to take the same language again.

I graduated in 95. I do believe that foreign language wasn't required to graduate but it was on the college bound requirements. I took 2.5 years of Latin in high school. I was told it would help with the SATs. At the time my school offered French, Spanish, German, and Latin. College required a year of elementary language or a semester review a language you already knew. I took Latin review and struggles with the speaking of it. Heck no-one speaks Latin anymore it is a dead language. I wish I had taken modern Greek since I had great aunts and uncles that spoke it in the home.

Thing is I'm not sure having foreign language experience matters in the long run. Many people struggle learning a new language. If I remember correctly the best time to learn a new language is under the age of 9. If someone has a learning disability such as dyslexia (many people do) educators will recommend these people not take a language or use ASL for their language requirement.

If I'm honest when I listen to the dining reviews I'm really not looking for a polished Julia Child to give me a review. I just want the average Joe's opinion. I don't care what their foreign language experience was 5 years ago. As long as they can do a good job of telling me about their experience. Yes, words that are common for Disney should be pronounced correctly but too much polish would turn me off.

 

[Cornish Lad]

Profiteroles were a staple of UK pub dining in the 70s. The menu was usually cold prawns with a gloupy pink Marie Rose sauce or melon, steak (everyone ordered well done in those times so think shoe leather) and either profiteroles or Black Forest gateaux. Luckily most UK restaurants are too embarrassed to list these puddings on the menus now. Highly amused that they appeared on Citricos menu. There is no need to learn how to pronounce the word. Just avoid them.

Wrong - profiteroles are still very popular and appear on many, many menus here to this day.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

‘Here’ being? I have eaten some amazing food in Cornwall. I have a little holiday home in Pendeen. Too much delicious food in Cornwall to waste time eating profiteroles.

 

[pdarrah]

I think I'm somewhere in the middle on this. I can understand and am not particularly bothered when there is some very unusual word/phrase on a menu and there are issues pronouncing it (although it should be fairly easy to just ask your server). However, taking a moment to learn to pronounce the name of the restaurant itself should be a no-brainer. I seem to remember that most Disney restaurants will often use the name when you first arrive. Either welcoming you to <Name> or maybe asking you if you have ever "dined with us here at <Name> before>". Even if they don't - if you know you are about to do a dining review, just ask the host as they seat you how it is pronounced. This takes almost no effort on anybody's part.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Purposely mispronounce everything going forward

 

[Beer Me]

Wrong - profiteroles are still very popular and appear on many, many menus here to this day.

I laughed while watching the latest season of Orange is the New Black and a character mentions making profiteroles for dessert. It just seems funny to hear that when this conversation is fresh in my mind. Maybe profiteroles are trending right now.

 

[Beer Me]

Purposely mispronounce everything going forward

In the Citricos review I almost felt like that’s what they were doing.

 

[OfCourseTheresAlwaysMyWay]

This bothers me SO much. I'm not saying you have to be a professional chef/critic to review food, but you are supposed to be an authority and you should at the very least be able to pronounce the restaurant and the basic types of dishes served there. I'm not expecting them to handle complicated Italian wine names or fancy French desserts, but nothing at Toledo, to use the most recent example, should be difficult to pronounce for someone living in a major city. Particularly a city like Orlando where a third of the population is Hispanic.

Obviously doing these reviews isn't anyone's main job at the DIS, but it feels disrespectful when so many things are mispronounced. To me it points to a lack of diversity among the team, and is part of the larger problem of Disney food being homogenized for a mainstream, predominantly white palate.

 

[jarestel]

I don't think the dining shows are scripted so what we see is what the reviewers are thinking at the moment. So a few gaffes aren't really all that remarkable. It doesn't bother me since in most cases I can infer what they mean anyway and the whole point of communications is to communicate. So job accomplished!

On the other hand, if they decided to brush up on things prior to the show to eliminate some of the stumbling over words, that would be fine as well. I guess I don't really care one way or the other since I see the team as a bunch of regular folks, not professional dining critics, just trying to give their opinions on dining at WDW.

 

[Jennasis]

This bothers me SO much. I'm not saying you have to be a professional chef/critic to review food, but you are supposed to be an authority and you should at the very least be able to pronounce the restaurant and the basic types of dishes served there. I'm not expecting them to handle complicated Italian wine names or fancy French desserts, but nothing at Toledo, to use the most recent example, should be difficult to pronounce for someone living in a major city. Particularly a city like Orlando where a third of the population is Hispanic.

Obviously doing these reviews isn't anyone's main job at the DIS, but it feels disrespectful when so many things are mispronounced. To me it points to a lack of diversity among the team, and is part of the larger problem of Disney food being homogenized for a mainstream, predominantly white palate.

 

[Viking7641]

We need Iceland in the world showcase as an add on to Norway so they can pronounce kjúklingakarrí , pylsur , and svið

 

[Viking7641]

Particularly a city like Orlando where a third of the population is Hispanic.

Obviously doing these reviews isn't anyone's main job at the DIS, but it feels disrespectful when so many things are mispronounced. To me it points to a lack of diversity among the team, and is part of the larger problem of Disney food being homogenized for a mainstream, predominantly white palate.

You aren't wrong about the later point (Was it ever not that?), but I think disrespectful is a touch far.

 

[GeneralTso]

Dang. Some of you guys are savage!

 

[Fred M]

Fiasco and Steve especially can be painful to watch when they struggle with pronunciations!

That’s why some of us watch!

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

We need Iceland in the world showcase as an add on to Norway so they can pronounce kjúklingakarrí , pylsur , and svið

Or Greenland?

 

[emma_oneill89]

The mispronunciations make me chuckle, so I'm okay with those.

My one hope is for the team to find a better way to record audio for the dining videos. Holding up a phone during their review (and sometimes passing it around to others) is a little clunky and distracting. The recent Citricos post is a good example of that. Would everyone having a lavalier/lapel mic that plugs into their phones/digital recorder work? I know you're at the mercy of the ambient noise in these places, but curious if @Teleclashter or @Ryno have looked into alternatives, or if this is really just the best option?

You can get pretty cheap Rode mics that plug into phones that I agree would make a world of difference!