We know the two most common Hmong dialects are White Hmong and Green/Blue Hmong with White Hmong the most commonly spoken in the United States, we have yet to discuss nuances of the Hmong language itself and how that applies to language translation.

To begin with, Hmong is a tonal language and was an oral language until Missionaries started writing it in 1952, so new words are constantly being borrowed from Thai, Vietnamese and Lao. This linguistic evolution creates a rich and complex language that should only be translated by professional native speakers.

For instance, when translating into the Hmong language, education translators must keep in mind that this language does not have plural forms and verbs are not conjugated. Instead, Hmong uses an array of “classifiers”, for example, ‘ib lub tsev’ is rendered in English as, ‘one (classifier) house’. Another challenge that professional translators face when translating into Hmong is its lack of abstract terms. For example, “rich” is expressed as “much gold and silver”.

A suggestion we make to school districts is to consider their Hmong populations when writing outreach materials for translations. Generally, it is best to explain education processes and procedures very clearly and think through the proper sequence of explanation, either written or verbal. Always use clear and straightforward terms, such as “teacher” instead of “education professional”. Finally, be aware of information overload, sticking to the basic message streamlines communication and minimizes the potential for mistranslation.

Keep Learning!
Maggie

K12Translate

Tags: Hmong

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 4:53 pm and is filed under Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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