Understanding which language your English Language Learning (ELL) parents and students speak is a crucial piece in the road to providing effective, culturally sensitive language translation services. Although a person may hail from another country, they may not speak the dominant language of that country as their first language or even speak it at all.

For instance, the United States has recently seen a dramatic climb in displaced persons from Burma. Although the majority of these folks speak Burmese as their native tongue, the ethnic Chin people from Burma speak 20-25 different languages that are divided into four groups based on linguistic similarity.

Of these languages, the majority of Chin refugees that have resettled in the United States speak Hakha-Chin; there are approximately 1,000 Hakha-Chin speakers in the United States. However, this number is expected to increase because the U.S. government has signed a waiver to exempt Chin refugees from the provisions of the U.S. Patriot Act that restrict resettlement in the U.S.

For administrators, teachers and staff, in order to provide meaningful education language translation services, they will need to discern whether their community reads and speaks Burmese or Hakha-Chin. Obviously, you don’t want to send a Burmese translation to a Hakha-Chin reader or you run the risk of wasting precious budget on translations that no one understands! Ultimately, knowing who your audience is will save you money and prevent miscommunication.

Keep Learning!
Maggie
K12Translate


References:
http://www.khonumthung.com/kng-news/07-news/more-recognition-to-chin-refugees-after-us-waiver/