"Seems to be a neighborhood facebook/craigslist/blockwatch motive..."
To translate or not to translate?
To translate or not to translate? And if so, how often? And into what languages? Some of them? All of them? And how to pay for it?
Since being hired by NeighborWorks Greater Manchester back in 2006 to perform both resident services for the tenants of our affordable apartments and community organizing in the larger community, I've been vexed by these questions.
Like many NeighborWorks organizations, NeighborWorks Greater Manchester has a very diverse tenant population and works in very diverse neighborhoods. And as Manchester, NH, is a federal refugee resettlement site, our diversity increases each year. And while this is great for the city, it often makes communication a challenge for yours truly.
Here at NeighborWorks Greater Manchester, 80 percent of our tenant population speaks either Bosnian or Spanish as their native language. So on the rare occasions I do translations (like the tenant smoking survey I am currently administering), I will do so only in Bosnian and Spanish.
But we also have speakers of Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Turkish, Russian and numerous African dialects. Translating items like letters, flyers and the like into each of these languages would be prohibitively expensive, so I don't. Is this fair? I suppose not, but my translation budget is what it is and I try to use it to benefit the most people.
Of course, there are those, including a Latina occupancy manager of ours, who argue that we shouldn't translate at all, as folks living in the United States need to speak English if they are to get ahead here and that by providing translation, we're actually serving to keep them down.
What is your organization's policy/rationale with regard to translation? How do you feel about it personally?
Since being hired by NeighborWorks Greater Manchester back in 2006 to perform both resident services for the tenants of our affordable apartments and community organizing in the larger community, I've been vexed by these questions.
Like many NeighborWorks organizations, NeighborWorks Greater Manchester has a very diverse tenant population and works in very diverse neighborhoods. And as Manchester, NH, is a federal refugee resettlement site, our diversity increases each year. And while this is great for the city, it often makes communication a challenge for yours truly.
Here at NeighborWorks Greater Manchester, 80 percent of our tenant population speaks either Bosnian or Spanish as their native language. So on the rare occasions I do translations (like the tenant smoking survey I am currently administering), I will do so only in Bosnian and Spanish.
But we also have speakers of Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Turkish, Russian and numerous African dialects. Translating items like letters, flyers and the like into each of these languages would be prohibitively expensive, so I don't. Is this fair? I suppose not, but my translation budget is what it is and I try to use it to benefit the most people.
Of course, there are those, including a Latina occupancy manager of ours, who argue that we shouldn't translate at all, as folks living in the United States need to speak English if they are to get ahead here and that by providing translation, we're actually serving to keep them down.
What is your organization's policy/rationale with regard to translation? How do you feel about it personally?
Tags: English, ManchesterNH, Spanish, communication, immigrants, languages, refugees, translation
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Will Stewart on -
I'm curious to know if anyone's ever used the services of My Gengo?
It's a crowd-sourcing website for translation, and the prices — from 5 cents per word for "fast human translation by a native speaker" to 15 cents per word for "pro service and extra proofreading" certainly can't be beat.
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Permalink Reply by Eric Q. Mejia on -
Will,
It makes me smile in deep appreciation of your question. At least you're asking the question, which is better than ignoring the language barriers of your community. As a real estate professional of mixed heritage, I speak English and Spanish with my real estate clients. With those that have a strong command of the English language, I speak English. It gives them a sense of pride that they are able to communicate effectively that way. With those clients that do not speak English, and prefer a conversation in Spanish, I speak to them in Spanish.
Here's my take on it... I don't think that ALL forms and and documents need to be translated into other languages, but contracts and agreements should have a translation somewhere that helps the signer to fully understand the terms and conditions of the arrangement they are entering in to. Maybe not every flyer, or poster, but some should be in alternative languages.
Now, to the question of "How do I pay for this?"
Volunteers make great translators! Often you can connect with local law schools and ask them about pro-bono work done by students - they could help you with contracts and agreements. Local colleges that have a service-learning unit are glad to take on projects like this. You could pursue AmeriCorps and VISTA volunteers to do this kind of work. There are a number of organizations that have volunteer pools that are bi-lingual that would be glad to help. You can also connect with local churches in the area, many of them have bilingual staff members that might be willing to do this kind of work. You may be surprised by level of willingness of your community to help out in this regard.
If a local volunteer recruitment effort doesn't work, you can engage virtual volunteers around th country that might be willing to help out in this regard. A new movement in volunteerism employs the use of volunteers in other geographys that are invested in your success, i.e. someone that lived in the neighborhood for many years and then moved away. If they had positive memories of the community where they once lived, they would emotionally invested it its success despite their change in residence. You can find both kinds of volunteers on volunteermatch.org
Check out this link from Volunteermatch.com - Ads for Volunteer Translators
http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/index.jsp?l=New+York%2C+NY%2C+...
Effective communication is an end unto itself. Happy constituents make better constituents in my opinion.
If you'd like to bounce some ideas around about how to achieve some this through a volunteerism perspective, drop me a line, I'm glad to help.
Eric Mejia
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