For Rome’s Taxi Drivers, Lessons in Courtesy and Cultural Savvy
" Ms. Selloni, the tourism director, said another important objective was to make taxi drivers — who have often come to loggerheads with city officials over contentious issues — feel more a part of the city whose streets they know so well.
that At home you can like it or not, but when you work you have to be professional.
European Union said that Someone has to tell the poor taxi driver
that you can’t be the first to offer your hand to an Arab woman or touch a Chinese person’s luggage unless they say so,
About half of the course is devoted to languages, mostly English — a smattering of phrases like "Have a nice day," "traffic jam"
and "Please don’t smoke in the taxi" (which could apply to drivers themselves, it was pointed out) — but also Arabic and Mandarin.
Which is why on a recent morning a few dozen cabdrivers found themselves in a nondescript hotel room taking a crash course in "courtesy, hospitality, language
and excellence." The six-week course aims to improve how taxi drivers deal with foreign customers, including how to dispense basic information in a variety of languages.
"In our work English is fundamental — it allows you to speak to anyone from anywhere, even if it’s only a few words, like ‘Do
you like Rome?’ said Mr. Nucci, whose taxi consortium has sponsored other language courses for its members in the past.