Spanish Speakers in School

Every communication we receive from the Boy’s school comes in both English and Spanish. Flyers are printed one side English, the other side Spanish. Brochures only in English are clearly labeled (in Spanish), “There is a Spanish version of this, and you can get it at the office” (or wherever). When we receive phone calls reminding us of school events and schedule changes, the first thing after “Hello, this is your principal” is (in Spanish), “Press 1 for the Spanish version of this message.”

So I was surprised at the PTA meeting that there were no apparent accommodations made for people who did not speak English. The 4 PTA officers who spoke and the principal are all native English speakers, so I was curious how their message was to get to the native Spanish speakers. I mentioned it to a friend who had seen a bunch of people listening to the same brand of headphones. We assume there was a live translation of the presentation being piped through the headsets. Clever! I’ll look more closely next time.

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 Durham North Carolina, Durham Schools

2 Comments to Spanish Speakers in School

I forgot to mention that I did see a man standing in the back of the room with a headset on, murmuring throughout the meeting… but only because I was looking for him. I presume he was the translator. Or, as the late-great George Carlin proposed, perhaps there was a fellow on the other side of the world, muttering the other half of the conversation! lol