New York City announced that no longer would a English test be required for aspiring taxi drivers which would then put them on equal footing with Uber drivers. Since most of the current drivers come from Bangladesh, perhaps we should study their tongue for the ease of communicating. I recall that when with a tour group in Rome staying in a second class hotel I wanted to take a bath and the chambermaid spoke no English and the best I could do was fall back on my altar boy Latin and say "lavabo - lavabo" until she gave me the key to the common room and a large towel. I grew up with Greek families and my playmates taught me their curse words phonetically but such linguistic ability would be no help when hailing a cab in New York. Thank goodness for Google Maps.
tjs
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