Foreign Languages in Radio Communications

[tmsanders]

I happen to be in the vacinity of several radio systems in southern Indiana where I have the opportunity to listen to a variety of languages. Most are manufacturing companies, construction, etc. Languages that are prevelant in my area are Spanish and Japanese. I was wondering if anyone else monitors any "local" (not hf or skip) communications routinely? I would be interested in interesting stories about local radio communications and the types of languages being spoken. If you have any stories I would love to hear about them, especially if any involve emergency services, government, etc. type communications.

 

[mciupa]

Мы имеем российские говорящие компании буксирования здесь это
весьма оживили обсуждения

Ooops! I meant to say... We have Russian speaking towing companies
that have quite animated discussions. I wish I could understand what they
were talking about. Actually, I can pick up a few words, beginning with
f... , a... , I guess those words are universal.

 

[brandon]

We have plenty of Spanish language comms here in San Diego. Most of it comes out of Mexico but there are plenty of local systems with SS traffic (mostly VHF/UHF and 900 MHz trunking systems).

I also hear Arabic comms from time to time on VHF.

 

[Jay911]

There are a number of languages other than English that I can pick up here. I can't identify too many of them, but I would wager that Cantonese, Mandarin, and Hindi are among the top few.

The Mounties, who are often transferred from one part of the country to another, will sometimes use French to chat with one another. I don't know if this is just because, as I say, they come from a French-speaking area of the country, or if they are trying to use it as a form of 'code', preventing the largely Anglophone population from hearing what they're saying.