What should we do if moms cannot communicate in English?

[yuyu]

Hi, so actually I’m a sister of a 12-year-old girl. Our mom doesn’t speak English. We came here for one year. Today, a mom of my sister’s friend called me and said something bad happened and she was upset. She wanted to talk with my mom. And she refused to have me as a translator. I’m 24 now BTW. She said she wanted to call my mom and talk to her directly using Google Translator.

But my patents think that Google translator may cause misunderstandings that are not expected. Should I text to this mom and say that we should ask school to arrange a teacher as the translator for us and talk face to face? Should the school to be involved? Or just receive her call tomorrow using google translator.

Thank you for your help!

It’s up to your parents isn’t it - what do they want to do in order to get the info from the other parent? Do they have an adult friend who can translate even by phone?

If it was an issue that happened at school then they should be able to arrange a translator and I would suggest doing that. Google translate is fine but it’s not 100%, I’ve used it to communicate before but it doesn’t always get it totally right and if “something bad has happened” I’d want to know exactly what it was personally.

If it wasn’t at school I’m not sure what the best course of action would be.

Did the woman give any suggestion as to what the ‘something bad’ was. Was it something that happened with your sister at school or something else? If it’s about school and your sister then having a teacher translate isn’t a bad idea.

It’s reasonable of the woman not to want you as a translator if it’s something private, but she probably does need to think of an alternative that isn’t google translate such as an impartial person.

You should do nothing and allow your parents, as adults, to sort this out.

Unless it is something serious the school won't be able to pay a translator to join in but I suppose they may have a member of staff who speaks your language. Do you know what the discussion relates to?

Suggest to the woman that she approaches the school.
Google translate is useless, so understand your mum not wanting to rely on it.

Thank you all for the helpful replies!

No, we don’t know what happened even my sister, and it seems that she doesn’t want to let me know what’s “something bad”. But she called me right after school ended. That’s why I assumed it was something happened in school. (But if it’s really a bad thing caused by my sister, why don’t they tell the school first?)

And yes, I know the school has a teacher who speaks in my language. My mom also has friends who speak both languages. But we don’t know what this mom’s opinion is.

But anyway, I will text her and say that we’d better to have a real person as a translator.

Speak to the bilingual teacher, yes it might be a confidential matter but also not everyone is honest and your mum is quite vulnerable with her lack of language. After a year thoughshe should have gained some language skills - if you are staying it's essential your mum learns English fluently for her sake

I'm an interpreter. I wouldn't completely discount Google Translate, for something simple it can be better than a friend interpreting for you.

GT is impartial, a friend won't be and because they are not a professional interpreter there is always the chance they might not change the meaning of things, to spare your mum some embarrassment or because they might think not everything is important. Friends and family are notorious for not interpreting correctly and fully, because they are not impartial.

Also, a translator works in writing and that's not who you need, an interpreter works with spoken communication.