If Your Cleaner Doesn't Speak English, How Do You Communicate?

[roses2]

My cleaner doesn't speak English so I send her lists via WhatsApp which she then uses Google translate. This week I sent her the following in English:

***
Today can you please clean the following?

• kitchen
• living room
• change bed sheets
• toilet (not shower or bath)

***

After one hour I went to see what she was doing and she had changed bedsheets in two rooms and was cleaning the bathroom mirror and sink and I stopped her before she started on the shower (still not a lot for one hour but her speed is a separate issue). For the toilet I wanted her to clean the toilet bowl only, not anything else in the room.

Clearly there is some miscommunication. How do I best communicate??

I will add she is lovely and hard working and I want to work with her to clean what I ask, just not sure how to get my list across.

Can you find someone who speaks her native language to translate for you?

How do you communicate with her re other things, such as how you recruited and payment ?

I hope you're this concerned about translation when discussing her sick pay, overtime, holiday pay etc?

Does she actually have the legal right to be working and living here? Did you find her through a reputable agency?

If the cleaner is self-employed then OP doesn't need to discuss any of those things with her cleaner.

It's not unreasonable to want to be anle to communicate with someone you've contracted to do a piece of work bout the spec for that piece of work.

lol some of the replies.

She is Portuguese so if anyone speaks this then I would love a translation!

She works 3 hours per week for me so if you believe she is entitled to be treated as my employee for holiday pay, sick pay etc then please point me in the direction of the law that states this because as far as I am aware she is self employed based on these hours and I am not her primary employer. I pay her via bank transfer each week and yes I checked her right to work.

Google translate for simple stuff. Also point, gestures and simple English.

So in your example I would go in to the toilet with her, point to the shower, shake my head and say no need to clean and point at the toilet, nod my head and say clean please

If you speak Spanish or Italian she would probably be able to understand you.
Otherwise, a word document with pictograms for each room and task. Tick and cross out on a copy each week?
Google translate isn’t always perfect.
Otherwise, just stick to the same routine each week?

Thanks, pointing and showing her is a good idea. I don't speak Spanish or Italian,

She is new and so learning the routine which is fixed - half the house cleaned each week (half the rooms one week, the other half the second week and continue this routine). She keeps trying to clean the whole bathroom every week which uses up her time on another room and so she isn't managing to complete on time.

My cleaners are employed through a small agency so if there is any issue that I cannot resolve with the cleaner I can go via the agency. For small matters the cleaner and I use a combination of hand gestures and Google translate.

The routine you describe sounds complicated and honestly kinda confusing; who set it? Most cleaning agencies I have worked with would likely not work like that and would organise the work load differently. I once asked if my cleaner could spend some of the time cleaning the oven and fridge and leave part of the regular cleaning that week and was told no I would have to pay extra for oven and fridge clean. I can see how from the agency’s point of view that works better; they have their standards they clean to and do not want to fudge those to fit extra work in.

Maybe she doesn’t feel comfortable leaving a bathroom half-cleaned, or understand what it is that you have in mind.

The routine you describe sounds complicated and honestly kinda confusing; who set it?

I set the routine - but how is it confusing? I offered her either a whole house clean once a fortnight or half a house clean weekly and she choose the latter. So her job is to clean half the house each week. Not sure how I can simplify it further?

Google translate

Your instructions are confusing, to just clean toilet but nothing else in the bathroom?

Why not just have faith she knows what she's doing and let her get on with it.

Google translate a jobs list

Work out what you want her to clean each week and then write a list of jobs for each week. Type the whole thing in to google translate and create a document in portugese with the lists for week 1 and week 2. Give her a copy and stick another copy on the fridge. Then when she arrives explain the list thing using google translate and give her your phone to type in Portuguese any questions back to you.

Each week whatsap her if its week 1 or week 2 before she arrives.

This is why I dont have cleaner’s who don’t have reasonable English any more. People think it doesn’t matter in this context but, when you find a tin of dry shampoo in their cleaning basket, you know it does

How is it confusing to say clean the toilet but leave the rest of the bathroom?

I use Google Translate a lot, at work. You can type out your cleaning request and translate it into Portuguese. I use GT to explain TfL's complex ticketing system and I seem to have success. There's a conversation teanslator on it too. Very simple.

If you're already using Google Translate, just use the direct speech function. You say in English what you want her to do. The phone tells her out loud in Portuguese. Then you can be in the room also pointing and showing her. It's brilliant, I've used it a lot in a Europe, for things like getting clothes cleaned at dry cleaner, getting my hair washed and styled how I like it, ordering in restaurants and chatting a bit to the staff.

You need a diagramme, or a set of cards with pictures of housing areas

Well, I don't have a cleaner anymore, but if I did again, I wouldn't choose one who didn't speak functional English.

if for some batshit reason I did, I'd start with finding someone to translate. I'd explain my half the house requirement (but not only half the bedrooms but half a bathroom).

then I'd have week1 & week 2 with a written list in their language & English translation.

id have a 'can you please leave this week...
and a 'please can you do this week....box in HER language.

but as she's also slow, why are you bothering with all this?? And why are you letting someone else dictate whether it half or whole house??

I went to Portugal and Google translate only seemed to have Brazilian Portuguese which non of the Portuguese understood...maybe I was doing it wrong though 🤔

Half the house each week to me is like
Week 1: kitchen, living room, bedrooms 1 &2
Week 2: hall, stairs, bathroom, bedroom 3

I wouldn’t be splitting up tasks within a room, that’s confusing

Portuguese is very different to Spanish and Italian! Don't bother.
Use the google translate on your phone and get her to do the same.

Have you tried using the international language of interpretive dance?

Yes, they have evolved very differently and are quite distinct.