Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation

Aarav is a 4th grader in an American school for the first time. He knows a few English words and no one else at the school speaks Gujrati, his native language.

His teacher, Mrs. Smith, gave him a translator and showed him how to translate worksheets, notes on the board, and type information to communicate.

When Mrs. Smith turned the translator to show Aarav the translated text he was comforted by the familiar symbols that he saw, but he still could not understand the information.

Aarav was too embarrassed to tell Mrs. Smith that he could not read in Gujrati, so he refused to use the translator. When Mrs. Smith would take the translator out he would get angry and repeat "I understand" in English over and over. Mrs. Smith knew he did not understand, but she did not know why he did not like using the translator.

One day, Mrs. Smith had an idea. She walked up to Aarav and asked for his translator. Aarav began to get upset, but instead of typing like she had shown him in the past she began to speak into it.

Aarav watched intently as Mrs. Smith finished speaking, pressed translate, and played the sentence aloud for him in Gujrati.

Aarav realized that his translator could do more than he knew. He learned to speak into the translator and listen to text read back to him in headphones.

He began to translate the classroom schedule and other information on the walls. Mrs. Smith watched with excitement.

Mrs. Smith taught other students in the class to use the translator too. This allowed Aarav to make friends even though he did not know English yet. When Aarav learned to use his translator in a way that helped him to learn and feel more confident. He also learned that there are many ways to understand information.