For Rome’s Taxi Drivers, Lessons in Courtesy and Cultural Savvy<br />" Ms. Selloni, the tourism director, said another important objective was to make taxi drivers — who have often come to loggerheads with city officials over contentious issues — feel more a part of the city whose streets they know so well.<br />that At home you can like it or not, but when you work you have to be professional.<br />European Union said that Someone has to tell the poor taxi driver<br />that you can’t be the first to offer your hand to an Arab woman or touch a Chinese person’s luggage unless they say so,<br />About half of the course is devoted to languages, mostly English — a smattering of phrases like "Have a nice day," "traffic jam"<br />and "Please don’t smoke in the taxi" (which could apply to drivers themselves, it was pointed out) — but also Arabic and Mandarin.<br />Which is why on a recent morning a few dozen cabdrivers found themselves in a nondescript hotel room taking a crash course in "courtesy, hospitality, language<br />and excellence." The six-week course aims to improve how taxi drivers deal with foreign customers, including how to dispense basic information in a variety of languages.<br />"In our work English is fundamental — it allows you to speak to anyone from anywhere, even if it’s only a few words, like ‘Do<br />you like Rome?’ said Mr. Nucci, whose taxi consortium has sponsored other language courses for its members in the past.
