Tips for Communicating with Parents
Are you a teacher, group leader, or coach of children with non-English-speaking parents? Language doesn’t have to be a barrier! In this article, we’ll look at the options available to you to communicate with the parents of ELLs (English Language Learners).
You might be wondering, How can I communicate with non-English-speaking parents? If so, this article is for you! The fact that some of your students’ parents do not speak English and you don’t speak fluent Spanish should not create a barrier. Parent participation in a child’s activities and education can enormously influence their success! That’s why it’s so important to get—and keep—parents involved in their children’s education, no matter what languages they speak. In this article, we’ll discuss some ways to communicate with parents of ELLs, and we’ll look at some vocabulary and phrases that will come in handy while speaking with non-English-speaking parents.
Teachers: Have you checked out our SpanishDictionary.com Classrooms features yet? Assign customizable vocabulary lists and interactive grammar lessons to your students and track their progress!
Technology to the Rescue!
Do you not speak the same language as your students’ parents? Technology can help!
Learn Their Language
SpanishDictionary.com to the rescue! On SpanishDictionary.com, you have interactive vocabulary lists—check out these lists about education—and interactive grammar lessons that will help you learn what you need to effectively communicate with parents whose language you do not speak.
Want to know more about culture? Check out our Grammar Guide articles, for example: What is the Difference Between "Hispanic," "Mexican," "Latino," and "Chicano"? Knowing about your students’ languages and cultures will allow you to serve your students and their families much better!
Have you downloaded SpanishDictionary.com’s app yet? What are you waiting for?! Download the app from the AppStore here or the Play Store here to study Spanish wherever you go.
There’s an App for That
There are apps available that act as interpreters. GoogleTranslate, Speak & Translate, SayHi, and Microsoft Translator are some of the most popular apps that you can use as an unofficial interpreter when communicating with parents whose language you do not speak. However, there are two essential things you need to take into consideration before using apps like these:
PRIVACY: Because of the nature of the topics discussed in parent-teacher conferences, you may not want to use an app as an interpreter. While it is true that these major companies have serious privacy policies in place, it is also true that the audio that these apps pick up is used to train machine translation engines, and humans process this information. Privacy needs to be considered. Read the privacy policy of the app that you choose! Some of these apps allow you to prevent your data from being sent to the company for processing. Others may not.
ACCURACY: As is true with anything technology-related, these “interpreter” apps are fallible. It's important to pay attention to the written text that appears on the screen as you speak. That's the only way to know whether the app processed your words correctly! Their accuracy may improve over time, but the technology is still new and may not be appropriate to use in important conversations, like that during a parent-teacher conference.
Interpreters: Who to Choose?
Many adults think that the best solution when an interpreter is needed is to ask the child involved to act as the communicative bridge between the adults. Using the child you are talking about as the interpreter is not fair to them. Many students are already acting as informal interpreters for their non-English-speaking parents at the supermarket, when they have to fill out official forms, and in so many other situations. If there is any way that you can avoid using the child as an interpreter, it is best to find an alternative. Thankfully, an ever-increasing number of school districts is realizing the importance of hiring professional interpreters. If your district does not have interpreters available, you may have a colleague at school who is fully bilingual and willing to act as an interpreter.
Useful Vocabulary and Phrases
Here are some of the most important phrases and vocabulary that you can use when meeting with Spanish-speaking parents!
Phrases for Meetings
Check out our lesson, Meet Someone New! You’ll learn useful vocabulary and phrases for meeting people throughout six interactive lessons.
To Tú or Not to Tú?
If you are talking to Spanish-speaking parents and you have studied Spanish before, you might be asking yourself if you should use the informal túor the more formal ustedform. Remember: you can never go wrong with usted. Some parents might consider it overly formal and ask you to tutearlos, or to address them using tú. However, by using usted right from the beginning, you do not run the risk of being overly informal and accidentally offending them. It’s best to get used to using usted.
School-Specific Vocabulary
Subjects
When speaking with parents, you might have to talk about the different subjects that your students take. Here is a list of the most typical subjects at all levels!
Problems
Sometimes we have to talk to parents about the difficulties their children have in the classroom. Here's a small list of some words to describe the most typical classroom issues.
Learning Difficulties
If your student has a learning difficulty, here are what some of the most common learning difficulties are called in Spanish:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| discalculia | dyscalculia |
| disgrafía | dysgraphia |
| dislexia | dyslexia |
| dispraxia | dyspraxia |
| TDAH | ADHD |
Praise
The best part of a parent-teacher meeting is being able to say wonderful things about our students. Here are a few vocabulary words to help you praise your students!
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| amable | kind |
| aplicado | studious |
| creativo | creative |
| dedicado | dedicated |
| seguro de sí mismo | confident |
| servicial, atento | helpful |
| inteligente | intelligent |
Phrases in Use
Let's see an example of a conversation between Manuel Silva, the art teacher at Washington Middle School and María Carpintero, whose son is in Mr. Silva's class.
Don’t Be Afraid to Use Your Spanish Skills!
Adults frequently claim that they feel embarrassed when they are speaking in a foreign language. Don’t be. One of our favorite tips about accents is to remember that having an accent in a foreign language means just one thing: that you speak more than one language. And that’s laudable! Making an effort to communicate with someone in their native language is an enormous sign of respect. It may help them feel more at ease when they realize that you, too, are trying to communicate in a language that’s not your own.
¡Ánimate a hablar en español!(Have the courage to speak in Spanish!)
Would you like to keep learning Spanish to better communicate with your students’ Spanish-speaking parents? Check out these articles for more tips!
