On Tuesday, in our first faculty meeting of the year, my principal announces the staff members who will be translating for each grade level during Parent Orientation Night. My ears perk up when I hear her say, "And for third grade we have Miss Sutherland." Wait. What? Did I hear correctly? Was I just designated as the translator? That would be a yes. This should be interesting!
So, tonight I translated two 20ish-minute presentations on basic need-to-know info for parents about various expectations in third grade. Now, when I use the term "translated" I mean it in a loose sense… It basically means I said in Spanish my own, somewhat simplified version of what the speaker was saying haha. Exact translation is still out of my league, people. But, it was actually pretty cool. And being thrown into situations like tonight only help to improve my Spanish-speaking skills.
The parents were certainly gracious with my rough language skills, and I made it a point to end each session with, "Gracias por escucharme con mi espanol malo." They got a kick out of it. ;)
It's kind of nice to know I'm utilizing those 30ish credit hours of Spanish I earned in college (Although it's possible I will be cursing my Spanish Lit class until the day I die.). I really like helping non English-speaking parents communicate who, otherwise, feel virtually helpless in regards to involvement in their child's education. That being said, it doesn't mean my brain feels any less fried after tonight. Speaking Spanish always sends my head into major thought burnout. Certainly an optimal night to veg out in front of the NBC Thursday night lineup. :)
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