USING GOOGLE TRANSLATE TO SUPPORT FROM HOME

Helping out with homework is one of the most difficult tasks parents of bilinguals experience when the parent does not speak the target language. I still remember attending middle and high school, having to do homework on my own, and figuring out what I had to do. My first days in middle school were very intense. At home, I used a bilingual English/Spanish paperback dictionary to do my homework every day. It took hours for me to complete homework because of the many words I had to look up to understand my homework.

As parents, most of us have access to cell phones and computers that help us expedite the homework experience. One of the best tools that I recommend parents of bilinguals use is the google translate website and application. The website has shown to me as an interpreter and translator to be one of the most reliable websites because it tends to make more sense. As a translator, I have tried many websites online to try to help me do translations at times, and Google has always given me the best product when I do this for English and Spanish.

Immersion students are often given assignments to do at home in Spanish while English language learners are given assignments to do in English. Homework tends to extend the learning experience allowing students to practice what they are learning in class. the google application allows you to translate in different ways. In this post, I will only discuss the options that can assist you when helping your son or daughter do homework:

• Text translation on the website: most homework is given to students as a document. In most cases, the first few sentences include the directions of what the student is expected to do. One way to figure out the directions is to type in the sentence in the google translate box. Once typed, you will need to assign the language you are typing in and the target language you understand. This might be easier to do if you have the homework electronically that way you’re able to copy and paste the text into the translation box. The text to be translated can be typed in or pasted in either English or Spanish once the text is in you’ll have to select the target language you understand. If you’re a parent that speaks a language other than English or Spanish, the google translate is also able to translate to many more languages such as Arabic, Bengali, Hindi, Tagalog, and many others.

• Google translate application: One of the best features of the free google translate application is its mind-blowing ability to translate text using your cell phone camera. Google translate is available for iPhone and Samsung cellphones. Once you download the app, you want to tap the camera button within the app to take a picture of the text to be translated. Google Translate will attempt to scan the text and then translate it into the language you choose. Make sure to hold your camera steady while you do this to get the most accurate translation.

The above can also be done for completing field trip forms and understand notes sent from school.