[Grovenet] Habla English?

Sun Jan 14 14:06:26 PST 2007

As a parent, I have no argument with your observations about the
communications issues, Katie! It's not just the kid's fault either. A
woefully large number of adults never learned to express themselves clearly
either, including many who draft notes in schools(1).   

And I have no argument with sending important notices home in the native
language of the parents, if the school is prepared to treat all people
fairly and equally: Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, Russian, Japanese, French,
German, etc., etc. Or does the school district think Spanish-speaking
parents deserve some special elevated treatment over other immigrants?

I hope not. By their sheer numbers, I'd expect Spanish-speaking people to
have far more resources available in the form of friends and neighbors who
can translate for the (hopefully) few non-English-speaking than, say, a
German speaking person who lives here. 

Just remember, my original question had *nothing* to do with schools. I
asked why a bi-lingual Town Meeting announcement was sent out and whether
that meant the meeting would accommodate non-English-speaking people. 

Ron D'Eau Claire 

(1) A recent news story about a school notice was enough to put any sane
person ROTFL. It was a true story of a grade school principal who sent this
announcement home with the kids:

"Several mouse balls have been found loose in the school. Would everyone
please carefully check your mice for missing balls. If any of your mice are
missing their balls, please notify me at once." 

-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of allnutt
Sent: Sunday, January 14, 2007 1:11 PM
To: dale.wiley at netzero.com; Forest Grove local interests list
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Habla English?

I know that you were only suggesting using kids for limited translation 
purposes but
I had a really good chuckle at the idea of letting bilingual children be the

communication go betweens for non English speaking parents. Many times I
have asked my children (who have always been English speakers) 
get a piece of information from a teacher or other adult, they often come 
home with an answer in English that makes no sense to me.
When I go to the teacher/adult and get the information myself we chalk up 
the misunderstanding to the gap between the way a teen view the world/school

system and the way an adult views the world/school system.  For my recent 
experiences it is usually just the subtlety between 'must' and 'should' and 
how the two words are truly not interchangeable.
My heart goes out to those who are relying on their 8 yr olds to translate.
And I agree with you Dale.  If the district is required to effectively 
communicate with the Parents (a la NCLB or another mandated  program) then 
they need to communicate it to all parents in the most cost effective way 
possible.  It is a lot cheaper to write something in English on one side, 
and Spanish on the other and send them all at once than to try to do 
separate mailings.  And the alternative of writing it in English only and 
then taking the consequences of not meeting your NCLB goals can be quite 
expensive for a district for many many years.

Katie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dale Wiley" <dale.wiley at netzero.com>
To: "'Forest Grove local interests list'" <grovenet at rdrop.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 14, 2007 9:36 AM
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Habla English?

> 38.7 % District wide at fall enrollment.
>
> This is a fast changing demographic. At various school functions I 
> attend each year, the percentage of Espanol'only speakers is dropping, 
> as there are a lot of second generation parents now, that are American 
> educated and very
> bilingual.
>
> There is always going to be a number of households where the parents 
> are
> not
> FLUENT, in English, but the children are and they can translate for the
> parents in various situations. Dispensing information to these non English
> speaking parents is as important as to the English speaking parents, and I
> would imagine the District is more concerned with getting the message 
> across
> to all PARENTS.
>
> Espanol' translations are avaliable at virtually all District 
> functions,
> and
> upon request to the District office. It seems to me that if you have a
> demographic of 38%, that does not indicate that all 38% are non English
> speaking, just that is the level of Hispanic enrollment in the District.
>
> Considering the circumstances that make these non English speaking 
> parents that, by virtue of their age and education levels, I see no 
> reason not to communicate with them in the best way possible. After 
> all, I venture to say that the majority of them are homeowners or 
> renters, and therefore pay taxes
> supporting the District.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com]On
> Behalf Of Allen Warren
> Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2007 4:52 PM
> To: Forest Grove local interests list
> Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Habla English?
>
>
> For several years (I think it's been at least that long) our sons'
> mailings
> from FG schools have english on one side and spanish on the other.  And
> after attending numerous school concerts, honor roll assemblies and other
> school functions I understand why the bi-lingual papers: I would estimate 
> at
> a minimum the hispanic student population is 35%.  And I will guess that
> percentage is higher in the Cornelius elementary school system.  It's easy
> to see how much the Hispanic population has grown in WA county.
>
> Ron, I think it's a stretch to believe the annual Community Meeting 
> will
> be
> held as Spanish being the primary language.  At the school functions there
> are translators but those are mainly for the parents as most students are
> bi-lingual.
>
> So what's the problem?
>
> Allen Warren
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Ron D'Eau Claire <rondec at easystreet.com>
> To: Forest Grove local interests list <grovenet at rdrop.com>
> Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2007 4:12:19 PM
> Subject: [Grovenet] Habla English?
>
>
> I notice in the current City bill an Invitation to the Annual 
> Community Meeting. The invitation is in Spanish on one side.
>
> Is that so our non-English, Spanish speaking citizens will know to 
> attend?
>
> So, will everything be translated for them at the meeting, or will the 
> meeting be held in Spanish?
>
> If so, why?
>
>
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