DuŸy duŸy, Tak Tak, Büyük büyük, Evet evet.
Just a few examples of words that are commonplace on nearly every Dutch mushroom farm these days. We live in a multi-cultural society – and the mushroom growing sector doesn’t exist in isolation. In fact they are actually quite simple words, but if you don’t know what they mean, you could be facing a problem. The demand for quality mushrooms is rising – and supervision of pickers plays an important role.
Should we be harvesting small or large mushrooms and do my pickers really understand my instructions? If somebody hasn’t understood everything, they don’t often admit it – and too quickly say “yes yes” in reply.
It’s worthwhile picking up some basic knowledge of other languages that pickers may have as their mother tongue. In the mushroom sector this is mainly Polish or Turkish. If you are unable to learn the language yourself, it’s really important that the supervisor has a good detailed command of both Dutch and the language of the pickers. Farms lose quality and money daily through communication misunderstandings!
Henk van Gerwen, AdVisie ‘The mushroom cultivation advisors’
