Perception of interpreter strip

[Eagle92]

For whatever reason this topic has brought up a story from one of my HS teachers.

 

The teacher had a gift for languages,was a missionary and spoke 14 different languages: French, Spanish, Flemish, German, Italian, Hindi, Latin, etc as well as ancient Greek. Well he was vacationing in Greece with a friend and his car broke down. He couldn't speak modern Greek, so he when somebody asked if he needed help, he responded in Attic Greek, "Yes, my chariot broke down."

 

Luckily he got the aid he needed.

[Lisabob]

I could qualify, but the languages that I speak well are not ones that are in high demand (mostly Scandinavian languages). So I've never bothered with it. I wonder if the person in question feels the same?

 

Now if I were planning to go to the World Jambo in Sweden...maybe then I'd bother! Alas, alack, it is out of my price range.(This message has been edited by lisabob)

[Eagle92]

Have you thought of working staff? You would have to arrange your on travel to and from, but I bet it's cheaper than the contingent fees.

[Shriscov]

I was posting and thinking of my own strip-to-be, "Spanish", I mean "espaol". I know it's a recognition of an ability, one I picked up in a bilingual household. Well, the writing part came in bits and pieces at school.

I guess I am over-sensitive and not wanting to appear eggheaded or arrogant with a strip. I like that it recognizes my family's heritage.

I've read for the uncommon languages strips can be custom-ordered. BSA has many suppliers and custom patches happen all the time. The educator in me really would like to see the strip more often. It definitely would be noticed in immigrant communities.

[Lisabob]

Shriscov,

 

I wonder if you could parlay your expertise into something more directly related to the program in your scouting unit. For example, if you are involved with Cub Scouts, you could offer to host a language & culture beltloop night where you shared with people about the culture of a Spanish speaking country. That beltloop can be a lot of fun, and it is a really positive thing to expose young kids to the notion that there is a whole wide world out there. If you are working with a troop, maybe you can encourage scouts to earn the American Cultures merit badge (where they learn about various cultural groups' histories, ceremonies, holidays, etc.) or maybe you can be the catalyst that causes some of your middle school boys to decide to study a foreign language in school - or study more than the minimum language requirements, if they have them.

 

In this era of No Child Left Behind and budget cuts, many schools are so focused on math and literacy that there is little time or energy for history, geography, culture, or language education that encourages students to expand their horizons and learn about the rest of the world. You might be that spark for some child in your unit, especially considering that if the schools teach ANY languages, they probably teach Spanish - so the kids might make concrete decisions in terms of their schooling choices, based on their interactions with you. So I say, go for it!

 

 

[Hal_Crawford]

I wear a Portuguese language strip. I learned the language as a teenager living in Brazil. I wear the strip because someone involved with scouts might need a Portuguese speaker at some time and maybe they will remember seeing my strip. Not likely but it could happen. I also wear it because I occasionally meet someone in scouting who also speaks the language and it serves as an introduction. That has happened a couple of times. A third reason is that my years in Brazil influenced who I am today and I am proud of it. Although I am proud to be an American there will always be a part of my heart that is Brasileiro and Carioca (someone from Rio). That part might also remind the rest of me that I am a "Norte Americano" and that Brazilians are Americans too.

 

I visited Rio a couple of years ago after an absence of over 35 years. Though much had changed it still felt like home.

 

Our area has a lot of families that travel internationally and/or have lived overseas. At camp I have seen strips for many languages including Korean.

 

Sometimes a foreign language comes in handy in strange ways. I was standing in line at Disney World and a Brazilian couple cut in line in front of me. The girl knew better and told her boyfriend (in Portuguese) that they shouldn't be cutting in the line. He answered that if anyone said anything they would just pretend not to speak English. I leaned forward and said, "Mas eu falo portugus". The look on his face was priceless as she started laughing at him. Busted!

 

Hal

 

(which by the way is unpronounceable to most Brazilians as they do not pronounce the letter "H" when it is the first letter or "L" when it is the last letter. "Brasil" sounds more like "Braziu". They also don't pronounce an "A" that sounds anything like the one in Hal. For three years I used my given name to avoid hearing my nick-name reduced to a grunt.)

[SSScout]

Languages are/is wonderful topic. My favorite story:

Working the Metro Station in Silver Spring, MD. one morning rush hour, one of my drivers came up to me with a short older lady in tow. He said she appeared to be lost and he couldn't understand a word she said. He turned and left. Since I appeared to be in some authority, she started to speak rapidly at me and seemed really upset. I listened awhile, thought I recognized some inflexion (my daughter was taking Russian in HS), and said outloud to the crowd passing by, "Does anyone within the sound of my voice speak Russian?" A well dressed man with a brief case RIGHT NEXT TO ME stopped and said, "I speak Russian". I explained our dilemma, he spoke to the woman, he spoke to me, I wrote down the diections to help the woman get home, he translated them into Cyrillic, we spoke some more, we all said "das we danya" (phonetic) to each other, she profusely thanked (spesevay) each of us, the "babushka" boarded the right bus with detailed directions written down for the driver, and we all parted company. Good turn done for the day.

 

[Shriscov]

I really appreciate the comments on this page. Thanks, all.

Lisabob, the first belt loop I was interested in for my den (I'm a DL) was language & culture, but didn't just want to imprint myself like that. I participated in Jamboree on the Internet last fall and have some penpals in New Zealand, Venezuela and onetime correspondence with Japan, Kenya and Senegal. I shared that with my den--that scouting is worldwide. One of my den said, "even Africa?" and I shared how Scouting was born in Africa (Mafeking, where it was built around service to the community). We are currently trying to get the international award. Our landlocked council requires 2 reports (one on scouting in another country, one on on different factors in a country) and three months as penpals. One point to make to kids is however many differences there are among people there are more things we have in common.

I have always been interested in languages. I studied Russian in college, during the days of the Soviet Union. I never thought there'd be such a Russian presence in our country. I recall using it with a gentleman at a grocery store and he came right up to me to converse, about a fist's space between us--it's a cultural thing I'd read about but never experienced.

My language story to share was in a Seattle police station while getting fingerprinted. I was going after a childcare job and the couple in front of me were gettting a weapons permit. Between them they didn't have the language to understand "relax your wrist and we'll move this way". I couldn't say it, either, but it made me wonder if they could understand "I'm here to read the meter" or "would you like to buy a magazine subscription?"

I live and work in a community that is not too diverse, but still has parents/grandparents from at least three continents that I know of. I work at a school that is about forty percent English language learners with fifteen languages at home besides English. After working with my son in his pack it would be my dream to work where there isn't yet scouting.

Again, my thanks!

[ReneScout]

Back at '07 World, people with Interpreter strips were instantly the most popular people in my troop, and likely others, too. I was the go-to guy for anything Spanish or Romance languag-y. Back at home, a lot of people notice the little badge and are instantly interested, both in the language and myself. It's quite a conversation starter.

 

I haven't put it on my new Centennial uniform yet because it looks terrible due to color matching problems. Anyone know if the newest batch of strips harmonizes with the new tans?

[Eagle92]

Try getting a vintage red one off EBAY.(This message has been edited by eagle92)

[Shriscov]

It's my first year as a cub scout leader, but I will probably attend an international committee meeting of my council this month, just to see what is done by other units. I am past 30 years old so no staff program for me, but I will think of someday sponsoring international staff here or telling others about the program. My real dream in scouting would be to work with underserved populations, and the fact that speaking a second language is acknowledged would be noticed positively, I bet.

meritbadge.org says that strips can be custom made "just as long as it conforms to the same standards as BSA-provided Interpreter Strips". I hear most locales have embroiders with machines set up to make them. Some day I hope to be able to earn an "Esperanto" strip.