New York City schools are hoping to bridge the language gap between teachers and parents. There are over 180 languages spoken in New York. Parents who do not speak English as their first language may have difficulty communicating with teachers and the school system accounts that this is the case for approximately fifty percent of parents.
The public school system has established a translation service for parents. Parents can request and receive assistance in nine languages including Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Urdu. Both the school principal and student coordinator are available to set up in-school translation. One of Chinatown’s public schools is also offering working parents access to over-the-phone interpreters that are available after 5pm.
It is a top priority for the New York school system to provide these translation and interpretation services to effectively communicate with all parents. New York is a true melting pot, with people from all over the world. Being able to better relay information to parents about their children will help to ensure the success of their students.