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Nail Technicians
in New York City
Connie Sargent
English for Specific Purposes
Vicki Hollett and Evan Frendo
November 2, 2010
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Industry Overview
 Nail
salons are often owned by highly educated
immigrants whose skills are not valued for jobs in
the United States.
 There are
over 10,500 licensed nail technicians in
the New York City area, the majority of whom are
immigrants from Korea and China.
 New York
State licensing requires a 250-hour course
of study plus a written and practical examination.
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Industry Overview
 Employees are
under pressure to rotate customers
through quickly while giving customers a feeling
that the experience is relaxing.
 This is one
of the few times when diverse immigrant
women have intimate social interaction with native
English-speaking American women.
 Interaction is made more
contact.
complicated by physical
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Industry Overview
 M.
Kang (2003) found that there are different
expectations depending upon race and social class, and
different language needs to go with them:
Upper-class white women in upscale neighborhoods
expect physical pampering and emotional attentiveness.
English language needs are high.
 Working-class African and Caribbean Americans in lowincome neighborhoods expect artistic technical skills and
respect. English language needs are basic and technical.
 Middle-class mixed races expect efficiency and courtesy
with minimal emotional engagement. English language
needs are basic.
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Needs Analysis Surveys and Interviews
 My focus was
on the basic, no frills nail salon where
nail technicians usually speak limited English.
 5 different sources were interviewed for
 Nail salon owners
 Non-native
speaking nail technicians
 Native speaking nail technicians
 Beauty schools
 Customers
information:
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Results
 All
nail technicians and salon owners agreed:
 There
is no need to read or write in English.
 All social and business interaction in the workplace
is conducted in English as a lingua franca because
employees speak many different languages
(Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Russian).
 Non-native speaking technicians also
 They
said:
feel insecure speaking and understanding
English, with their clients and their boss.
 Their clients rarely speak to them and they rarely
speak to their clients.
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Results
 Native English speaking nail
 Contrary to the
technicians all said:
non-native speakers, their clients
come to relax and often talk about their personal lives.
 Clients do all of the talking and nail technicians mostly
listen and ask leading questions.
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Results
 Nail
salon owners, nail technicians, and beauty
schools were all disappointing sources of
information.
 Non-native
speaking salon owners and technicians
did not have enough English to adequately express
their needs.
 None had the metacognitive ability or interest to
analyze what language they use or need.
 All were suspicious of my motives and extremely
pressed for time.
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Results
 Customer interviews provided a
huge
amount of quality information.
 Customers felt
that non-native speakers are
rough, curt, and treat them like an object.
 Every interview referred to a fear that nail
technicians are talking about them to other
nail technicians.
 Some customers thought they would tip
more if they felt more connected to the
person doing their nails.
 All customers wanted their nail technician to
make basic small talk with them.
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Interpretation of Results
 Coworkers: Learners
need basic English skills for
communicating among other employees and their boss.
 Communicative needs:
Nail technicians need safe
opportunities to practice speaking and listening.
 Customers: Even
basic pleasantries in English would
make technicians’ customers feel more relaxed and
connected, and would increase their chances of making
more money in tips.
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Curriculum: English for Co-workers
 Learn concepts that
will help communication with
their boss.
 Money and
time: numbers, making change,
understanding tips, telling time, prices
 Learn vocabulary that
will help them in their job.
 Technical terms
like: backfill, base coat, bonding, decal,
foil manicure, gel wrap, glue, colors, linen wrap, quick
dry, tips
 Instrument names like: buffer, cuticle nipper, emery
board, scissors, brush, clipper
 Learn how
to make pleasantries.
 Small talk skills for
making friends
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Curriculum: Communicative Activities
 Create activities that
are focused on speaking and
listening.
 Ask students to
think about small talk in their own
culture and language. See if the subjects are
transferrable.
 Review what
is inappropriate in the United States to
discuss in small talk.
 Play games that
require having to think quickly,
change subjects, and speak often.
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Curriculum: English for Customers
 Teach American ideas of
 Practice small talk
 Learn how
relaxation and indulgence.
skills.
to compliment sincerely.
 Teach American manners and gestures.
 Review modals
acts.
and how they can soften speech
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Bibliography

Lofstrom, Magnus. "Labor market assimilation and the self-employment decision of immigrant
entrepreneurs", Journal of Population Economics 15.1 (2002): 83. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO.
Web. 18 Oct. 2010.

Nussbaum, E. “A Stranger’s Touch”, New York Magazine, November 25,
2007,http://nymag.com/print/?/beauty/features/41280/, taken October 18, 2010.

Greenhouse, Steven. “At Nail Salons, Beauty Treatments Can Have a Distinctly Unglamorous Side”,
The New York Times, August 19,
2007.http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/nyregion/19nails.html?, taken October 18, 2010.

Pearce, Susan. “Today’s Immigrant Woman Entrepreneur”, The Diversity Factor, Summer 2005, New
Frontiers, Volume 13, Number 3.

Pratt, M. “The ABC’s and 123’s of Customer Service”, Nails Magazine, Nails Career Handbook
Supplement, 2009, http://www.nailsmag.com/careerHandbook/, taken October 18, 2010.

Kang, M. “The Managed Hand: The Commercialization of Bodies and Emotions in Korean
Immigrant-Owned Nail Salons,” Gender and Society, Vol. 17, No. 6, December 2003.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3594672, taken September 29, 2010.