Breaking the language barrier

If you need to communicate with a subject who claims that he can't speak a lick of English--but you suspect he can--here's a quick trick that can help you confirm or eliminate your suspicions.

Begin asking a fast-paced stream of the usual questions like, "What's your name?" "Where do you live?" "Is this your car?" "Do you have a driver's license?" Of course the response you'll get is "I don't speak English" or "I don't understand" spoken in his native language.

In the middle of your fruitless questioning, suddenly drop a comment--seemingly to yourself but clearly loud enough for him to hear it--like, "Man, I knew it! Guys who don't speak English always wear that kind of belt"…or always have those kinds of buttons on their shirt, or always wear those types of shoes.

Odds are pretty good that if the subject does in fact speak some English, he'll reflexively look down to the area you refer to. With that, you've got your answer.

About the author

Scott Buhrmaster is the CEO of Calibre Press, one of the leading law enforcement training and information providers in the industry. Scott’s 30-year tenure began in 1989 when he originally signed on with Calibre where he was involved in the creation and marketing of the organization’s popular training courses and award-winning textbooks, videos and online publications.

In 1999, Scott launched The Buhrmaster Group, an organization focused on helping law enforcement training companies develop, market and expand their training efforts. Among his clients was Police1.com, which he signed on with full time as their vice president of training and editorial. During that period, Scott was named to the National Advisory Board of the Force Science Institute, at the time a newly developing organization which was also among his list of clients. Following a seven-year tenure at Police1, Scott signed on with Force Science full-time, initially serving as their vice president of operations and most recently serving as their COO.

Scott has been a long-time contributor to Police1 and has written extensively for other publications and Web sites in the law enforcement market. Additionally, he helped launch two of the most popular e-newsletters in the industry; the Street Survival Newsline and Force Science News. While at Police1, Scott served as the publisher of Police Marksman magazine and a contributing editor for Law Officer magazine.