Hello, I'm Bilingual
By Alex Ott, Kristen Skopowski and Kate Zimmerman
December 7, 2007
Robert Frost once said “Half of the world is made up of people that have something to say, and can’t.” For many students, that would be their parents.
Though English could potentially be considered the official language of the United States, 20 percent of Americans either don’t speak English very well, or don’t speak it at all. In a diversity hotbed like Fairfax County, this is shown every day through the public school system.
A litany of ESOL courses are available to both students and the community, as well as providing language specialists and parent liasons to help ESOL families interact with the school and their community. But despite their best efforts, they are not always able to reach out to the parents of students in the way that they want to.
That’s where the students come in. Many students have taken it upon themselves to help assist their parents in communicating with the outside world. Either serving as translator between their parents and neighbors, or explaining what is being talked about on T.V., bilingual students help to serve as a gateway between the English world and their families.
While dozens of different languages can be heard in the hallways at any given point in the day, below are the stories of five students who speak five different languages at home, and how they have been able to help with their families adjust to life in an English world.
Five languages, five stories
Alan Robles, juniors, Spanish
“I speak with my grandparents, aunts and uncles in Spanish. It betters communication with my mom. At back to school night, for my brother, I had to go with her, and for her job, house cleaning, they ask her to do something and [I translate]. Speaking two different languages is good for your future jobs. I had Spanish last year, and I began with Spanish 2, transferred to Spanish 3. When I’m at church, I’ve got friends who speak Spanish, but we speak English. I don’t feel ashamed of [having to translate]; it’s just helping my mom out.”
Marzia Taleb, junior,
Farsi
“When we have Afghan channels and it has Farsi written, [my mother] will teach me Farsi. I can take a test for Farsi, and if I pass the test, I can count it as a foreign language credit towards high school. I’m already taking Spanish 3, so I’ll probably have four credits of language, and that looks really nice on résumés. My mom doesn’t know English, and I try to translate stuff for her a lot of the time. Like, if I’m reading a book about Afghanistan, I can translate that in Farsi and tell her what it is about and she gets really excited.”
Abdi Sheikh, senior,
Somalian
“Sometimes it’s hard because some words I know in English, I don’t know in my language. Some words I know in my language, I don’t know in English. Basically, it’s not that hard because I grew up speaking that language. I didn’t take that one test you take to get credit for your language because I’m not fluent with the grammatical stuff. I’m proud to be a Somalian. I’m proud to speak the language. In my culture, it’s important for the parents to teach their kids the language to keep the tradition going on for as many generations as it can go. My parents did a good job teaching me that, so I appreciate that.”
Isabel Duarte, sophomore, ASL
“Sometimes when [my parents] are talking to someone and they can’t understand what they’re saying, I’ll repeat it and use sign language. Without [their hearing aids], they can’t hear. They’ll be on the phone and they won’t get something, so they’ll just pass the phone to me and I’ll tell them what the people are saying. If they are talking to somebody they don’t know or have an accent that they can’t understand, I’ll translate. I’m used to it. It’s not something that I particularly enjoy, but I’m glad to help them because they do so much for me, so it’s not a bother.”
Alex Chu, senior, Korean
“If we’re watching a movie, if there’s an English joke, I try to be their translator but they won’t get the point. Let’s say there’s an important document that comes in the mail, I just translate it for [my mom], and whatever she needs to write or to send, I’ll just write it for her. It’s like when you talk to your friends in English, that’s what it is. I was born here, but my parents are from South Korea. Since I’m fluent in both English and Korean, I can differentiate when I need to use what. I guess it is an advantage. I can talk to Korean people and also people who speak English. There’s nothing different.”
Helping to cross the barrier
Liasons provide language links between school and families, helping parents stay involved
By Danielle Olson
Though having a language barrier can cause a family to feel alienated from their community, the school provides foreign-language families with parent liaisons in order to help them stay a part of their student’s school life.
Spanish parent liaison Ana Bauserman works to help Hispanic parents who have brought their children to America for educational opportunities learn to understand how the school system functions.
She does her best to give Hispanic students a fair chance of attending college after high school. On top of a language barrier, financial difficulties and immigration laws can add to their anxiety.
“The system is intimidating, even for those who were born here,” Bauserman said. “What about those who aren’t from here?”
She is also a strong advocate against the discrimination that exists between Hispanics and Americans.
She says that though sometimes they are discriminated against, many Hispanics need to realize that when in a foreign country, it is necessary to follow the rules.
“Because we are Latino, we come to this country and think we can do what we want,” Bauserman said. “But no, there are rules. My family says [Americans] don’t like Latinos. But it’s they don’t like our behavior. This is a different country.”
Bauserman said her job is to build a bridge between the families and the school, across this discrimination.
“I like my job,” Bauserman said. “I feel like I’m making a difference.”
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