I’m new to the platform, but very pleased to be vetted so quickly and already be able to start my first house-sitting gig within a few days of signing up and now have another gig lined up.
I notice that the platform is mainly USA+UK with a smattering of English-speaking expats around the world. My question is: Would it be possible to make the site available in more languages? I speak French, Spanish and Portuguese. Is it possible to get in touch directly with the product development team? I am also a freelance software developer.
Hi @PatrickJohnCollins welcome to our community forum and to TrustedHousesitters.
Congratulations on confirming your first sits so quickly, where have you sat and where is your next sit but more importantly what pets have you been keeping company and happy at home? I couldn’t actually see on your profile, it would be great to have you share your first experience.
Our team constantly visit the forum it’s an integral part of our product and an excellent source of member feedback, suggestions and ideas and the internationalization of the TrustedHousesitters platform is part of future plans.
Welcome again. I hope you enjoy connecting with members from around the world and closer to home.
Thanks for the fast reply Angela. However, you didn’t answer the question : Would it be possible to make the site available in more languages? I speak French, Spanish and Portuguese.
She did answer the question. She said that internationalization - which is making it available in multiple languages - is part of future plans. I think this is a really low priority though as you’re the first person I’ve seen mention it. Especially compared to some core functionality requests that many people are waiting for.
I think it is a great idea : as a french sitter I find it hard to convince french speaking people to become sitter or Home-owner with THS as they don’t speak enough english to struggle with the listing or the website.
I really think, they would be much more french people (and potentially more sitters what we are really missing at the moment) if some translation was made… And there is quite a lot of listings in France. And I often meet french people asking me about THS when they see me walking dogs (with my THS hoodie on !) !
Not sure if it makes sense at this point (not speaking about the more distant future). There are already some listings in German or French, they get even fewer applicants than the ones in English (who are also struggling at the moment). For France you also have Nomador. A lot of sits outside of the UK are by expats. People in Scandinavia or Germany usually speak English quite well, but the concept of THS is alien to them (and often the neighbors are on high alert).
Hi–I’m looking for feedback on petsitting in a country where one is not fluent in the language. For instance, I have spent several weeks in France over the years, and my French is fine for basic travel needs and casual conversations, but I worry about speaking to a vet over the phone if an animal is sick, or in an emergency. Or in the Netherlands: everywhere I’ve stayed people spoke English fluently, but could I count on a vet speaking English if I needed to take an animal in?
I’d very much appreciate hearing about anyone’s experiences with language challenges.
Many thanks!
@Annon I had to take animals to a vet several times in Spain. It did help that I am pretty fluent in Spanish, but found that most vets have basic English.
If the home owneŕs are expats, they very often chose an English speaking vet, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
You can maybe bring it up during thd video call before agreeing to sit.
As french native speakers mainly dog-sitting in France at the moment, I can confirme : most of the time vets are speaking very good english (vet school is a high level study so most of the vets are if not fluent very confortable in english). So vet wouldn’t be the problem for a dog-sitter.
But in other part of the daily life, it can be more difficult in France because few people speaks good english.
It happens to us several times in portugal, not speaking the langage :
Electricty bill has not been paid by the owner (they forget - it wa a long time sitting) so when the man from the electric company arrived to cut off the electricity it was a big problem !
Medical issue : once you get to the surgeon, it is fine cause all of them speak english and very good french, but heading to the hospital, speaking with the counter lady who didn’t speak good english nor french : that was very difficult and very stressfull !
But we did, manage. We survived. We had electricity and health care in Portugal was perfect !! So yes if you feel confident enough and able to manage a certain level stress : go for it ! Head for adventure !
Merci beaucoup! That is encouraging. I am not yet adventurous enough to try a country in which I do not speak the language at all–you have my admiration–but I have loved the times in France, or Switzerland, when I needed to wing it in French: no better way to learn, and the challenge was part of the fun of travel. I can certainly research all the veterinary terms I can think of beforehand. For most problems in ordinary life I think I could manage.
Thanks again.