'Nein. English! Nein Deutsch. English!'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Several merchant banks with supposedly global ambitions, called in a foreign language by the Independent on Sunday, fared for the most part miserably.
Asked in German for the press office, Presseburo, reception was dumbfounded at Schroders, while NatWest at least tried to find someone with a passing understanding, only to lose us in the internal system.
Most embarrassingly, "Nein. English! Nein Deutsch. English!" was the only response from the telephonist at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, who made no attempt to find a German speaker. DMG, by the way, is the merchant banking flagship of Germany's very own Deutsche Bank.
Dresdner Bank-owned Kleinwort Benson, however, passed with fluent, flying colours, while BZW's operator valiantly picked out Presse and put the call through.
Anyone trying in Japanese is likely to be given short shrift. Lehman and Schroders were dumbstruck, as were Robert Fleming and HSBC, two banks with large Far East operations.
"Do you not speak English?" was the last word on the subject from the increasingly blue-faced receptionist at blue-blooded broker Cazenove, enough to send our caller scurrying back to the land of the rising sun.
Meanwhile, the operator at merchant bankers Rothschild gently giggled "sorry", before putting the phone down.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments