Need to communicate with hispanic parents

[bmwgardner]

We have found ourselves with a huge Hispanic youth whose parents do not speak or read English. We need to find a method of communication with them as we have no leaders who speak spanish and are unable to recruit any. I have looked at translation programs online but find they do a modest job at best of translation. Even though many parents speak some english they cannot read out materials. I desperately need help. Our council does not have a ScoutReach person as of yet. We lose these boys quite a bit because of this issue and we need to retain them. Any thoughts or ideas, please?

[Gonzo1]

National should have some pamplets available for starters, videos too.

 

Next, find a local Hispanic church. Approach the pastor with your situation and ask for volunteers. You may get more adults and youth.

 

See if there is a bilingual person where you work or go to church, maybe that person can help.

 

Buena suerte! (Good luck)

 

Gonzo

[Hint]

On that note, could some of the Hispanic scouts earn the Translator Patch? There are a couple of boys in my son's troop who have it for Japanese and Spanish.

[ScoutNut]

If the boys speak English then use them as translators. BSA also has it's materials in Spanish. Check with your council.

 

If neither the boys nor their parents speak English then you should find them a unit that, at the very least, is bi-lingual. Staying in your unit, where they can not communicate with anyone, is not an option.

[GNX Guy]

OK, so you need to communicate with the parents. I will have to assume then, that you are able to communicate with the boys. Right? I bet the boys can communicate with their parents Right? Why not use the youth as interpreters?

 

Problem solved. That is what we have done.

 

Oh, by the way, I trust your youth have earned their interpreter strip? Put it to use.

 

 

[SctDad]

I have one question, are these boys Cub Scouts or Boy Scouts. I ask this for a reason. I know that there are Spanish Versions of all that Cub Scout hand books

 

Here is the link for the page

http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/default.aspx?cat=01RTL&ctgy=PRODUCTS&C2=BOOKS_LIT&C3=CUBSCOUTS&C4=&LV=3

 

YOu can find the spanish versions of the handbooks there

 

And here is a link to Spanish materials that are also available.

http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/SearchPage.aspx?page=LIST&free_text|=Spanish&answers_per_page=15

 

Here is another thought. If you area is like my area since we have a high hispanic population, we have several spanish speaking churches. Maybe you can recruit someone from that church to do one of several things.

 

Provide a translator that would register as a member of the BSA, say in a chaplains position.

 

Or maybe they might consider starting a troop that speaks primarily spanish so that the hispanic population can benefit from the scouting experience.

 

Those are some thoughts. Hopefully this helps

[shortridge]

Also try social service organizations, Latino-oriented stores and shops, community centers, local Spanish teachers, English as a Second Language instructors - all are great potential resources.

 

Is there a college nearby? Try recruiting some Spanish majors. Talk to the Spanish department chairman; many colleges have volunteer umbrella groups. You may even get some former Scouts who are waxing nostalgic and eager to sign up as leaders.

 

Using children as translators could develop into a problem. It might work in a pinch, for communicating basic information, but what about a situation where you need to talk to a parent about their child's behavior? Can the child be a reliable communicator there?

 

Or what if there's a complicated situation involving legal issues, medical forms or insurance? Relying on the child - especially a younger Scout or Cub - as the sole translator could rapidly get dicey.

[bmwgardner]

What great ideas you all have given me. Thank you so much for your replies. I have gotten some great ideas and a good start on the issue. I did find a program that translates documents from English to Spanish that is great. It actually translates in slang for many mexican natives. It is quite expensive so I am only downloading the most crucial documents while I have the trail version. AFter that, I will have to pursue some of your awesome suggestions. Just an FYI: the software is called Word Magic Translator and it can be found online. It is about $400 for the version that translates to a readable format for most Mexican immigrants. We might have to do a big fundraiser for it.

 

Thanks again for you awesome ideas. I always welcome more.

 

Brenda

[emb021]

The source for BSA materials in Spanish (and other languages) is Scoutreach: http://www.scoutreachbsa.org/

 

They have a whole section for Hispanic/Latino stuff: http://www.scoutreachbsa.org/hispanic/index.html This includes general brochures, training for youth and adults, etc.

 

There is also an award to recognize those are involved in bringing scouting to this community called the Scouting ... Vale la pena! Service Award. (again, info at the website).

 

 

 

 

 

[kb6jra]

bmwgardner,

 

as a help, you can use free on line translation sites to help with fliers and letters home.

 

I have used www.freetranslation.com on occasion and it's worked out alright. More technical documents and "legal" documents (like permission slips and medication lists) should be done by a human translator so there is no question about the true meaning of the document.