Parent Teacher Conferences

Last Wednesday, I worked as a translator for parent teacher conferences in a local elementary and junior high school. This wasn't the first time I had done this, I did it in January also. It was a pretty good gig, not only did I get to be a help Latinos with everyday problems, but I got paid and a free lasagna dinner out of it. I would have done it for nothing, but I'm gracious enough to take money and lasagna if they want to give it to me.

Translating on the fly, going between someone speaking English to someone speaking Spanish is fairly tough. It feels like the mental equivalent of weight lifting without taking breathers. What's really strange is those first few minutes, its like you are trying to start a car in the middle of Winter. You stutter and stop, and then finally are able to start speaking fluently. I've asked other non-native Spanish speakers, and this is pretty common. The best I can figure out is that bi-lingual thought processes require some sort of mental priming of the pump.

I started studying Spanish starting about 1995, but I still feel nervous walking into these jobs. Each time I'm less nervous, though. I can remember all the other times I translated, or spoke to a group of people in Spanish and it always worked out fine.

Most of the night I stayed with one family going from teacher to teacher. It was a boy of about 13 and his mom that was about my age. This was great, because while we were waiting for the other students to finish with the teachers, we talked about all sorts of things. By the end of the night we were great friends and talking about politics, cooking, the immigration problems and all kinds of things. The great thing about doing translation this way is that you have the time to develop a relationship with the people you are helping.

This is optimal. While it may be irresponsible to make generalizations about any group of people, most people agree(including Latinos themselves), that personal relationships play a larger part in communication to Latinos than to Anglos. In short, trust without some sort of intimacy is not likely. Without some time spent getting to know one another, or giving people reason to believe that you will treat them fairly, things will always seem a little cold.

An extended get-to-know-you session may not be possible every time, but even in those rushed times, you still stop and shake their hand, tell them your name, and generally take time to be pleasant and human. It's never wasted time.

Juanito