German lessons for Portland vendors

Gareth Davis Sr, Gleaner Writer

PORT ANTONIO, Portland:AUSTRIAN NATIONAL, Lucy Kurz, an intern at Bay View Eco Resorts and Spa in Portland, took time out to teach craft vendors at the Musgrave Market in Port Antonio simple greetings and phrases in German.

Kurtz, who sought the Jamaican experience here, regularly sat with the craft vendors and engaged them in talk, while sharing her culture. The vendors, who warmly received the 20-year-old Austrian with each visit, eagerly sat and listened attentively as she went through the process of translating greetings from English to German.

Among the words and phrases taught were 'welcome', 'thank you', 'goodbye', 'good morning', 'hello', 'no problem', 'good evening', 'you are welcome', 'Would you like to take a look?', and 'hi'.

"It was a wonderful experience," commented Claudette Henry, who spoke on behalf of the craft vendors.

"No doubt, we will be better able to communicate with German visitors who visit us from time to from aboard cruise vessels. It was a challenge in the past trying to communicate with them, but now that we are privy to a little German, it will be a little easier to interact and communicate with them."

For her part, Kurz was elated at the opportunity to sit with the craft vendors and to get them acquainted with simple greetings and phrases in German, which she believes also helped her in learning Jamaican Patois.

"It's a rewarding experience for me," commented Kurz.

She added: "The smiles on their faces tell me that I did the right thing, and I am more than happy to sit with them at any time during my stay to teach them more. The reception was a warm one, and I have also learned a lot from them. I came here to learn about the culture and to experience Jamaica, and so far, it has been better than I expected."

The visit of the Austrian national to the craft village was arranged by chairperson of the Tourist Resort Board Portland Chapter, Marcia Lawrence, who knew of the challenges in communicating facing craft vendors during cruise ship visits to Port Antonio.

Kurz is currently majoring in hospitality and events management and is a second-year student at an Austrian university.

According to Kurz, her choice of Jamaica was influenced by a friend, who is attending an institution in Kingston. She said that with encouragement from her friend, Jamaica became her place of choice despite her having spent time in the neighbouring island of Cuba last year, which gave her a taste of the Caribbean experience.