I would like to comment on the April 11 letter "Risible claim on English expertise," in which Owen Eather states that we in English-speaking countries "are afflicted with call centers staffed by alleged, but unintelligible, English speakers." He implies that these staff members are Indian.
I had a truly terrible experience with one such call center last year when I called a major bank in Britain. I barely understood 75 percent of what the woman was trying to tell me, and even had problems when she was trying to give me a telephone number. It was so bad that I gave up and called again later.
She wasn't Indian, however; she was Scottish!
ken parkes