Digital Translators - They may be imperfect, but sometimes imperfection is still useful
This post is by guest author Wendy H., MLS Librarian in North Central Texas.
The access issue I’d like to discuss is that of language. The opinions expressed within this article are entirely my own.
Years ago, when I worked in a public library setting, I would sometimes have Spanish-speaking patrons approach the reference desk, hesitate, and then go ahead and ask me a reference question in Spanish, hoping I would understand. I didn’t, usually. Even if I did, I rarely knew how to respond. I would typically look for someone around me who spoke Spanish, though they weren’t always easy to find. It depended on who was working that day, or their location in the library - on the floor or in the back working at a desk. Under such circumstances, I was as helpful as I knew how to be, but not extremely helpful. It sometimes looked something like a game of Charades to get the questions asked, and answered.
I knew about digital language translation apps. I wish it had occurred to me then not to only view them as a means of satisfying my own curiosity as to word meanings. I wish I had thought of them as vehicles for cross-lingual conversation.
I can hear the groans now. I know, digital language translation apps are not consistently perfect translators.
Fast forward, and now I work as a School Librarian in a district where the dominant languages are English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. I don’t encounter much Vietnamese language spoken in my particular school, but overwhelmingly Spanish and, of course, English. I have done my best to learn what Spanish I can, and that is an effort that continues. I am something of a linguaphile anyway, but I do it out of respect. I also do it, because it is a more efficient use of our mutual time to be able to ask students, who have limited English, questions relevant to the library resources in a way they can understand - albeit imperfectly at times. It is definitely a work in progress on my part.
I am also the webmaster for my school. At one time, we monolingual speakers of English enlisted help from our Spanish-speaking colleagues to translate our articles and posts so that there- on the website- we presented the information in English and Spanish. I assume the same was true for webmasters on campuses where Vietnamese was regularly spoken. However, in the interest of consistency, the district made the decision that a Google Translate drop-down menu would do that work for us. The pages would be written in English, and Google Translate would do the work of communicating the information provided in either Spanish or Vietnamese, depending upon the need (We use Google Classroom and its associated apps, district-wide),
The crowd of webmasters did not go wild with cheering when that was announced. Many educators are bilingual, and know that the translation rendered by digital language translators may not accurately and completely convey what was meant, especially when dealing with context or culture. Consider that even in English a word I may use, that is harmless in common use as an American, may have an entirely different connotation in another English-speaking country, and vice-versa. As an example, using a non-controversial word, a boot in American English is a type of shoe. In England, it is what they call the trunk of a car -boot, rather than trunk. Meanings sometimes have to be clarified, even within the same language.
So along with my sincere attempts to learn the Spanish language, among other languages, I rely heavily on Google Translate or other translation programs when the situation calls for it.
And I must say, for all the perceived imperfections, it has done what it needed to do. It has created an exchange of information where the question was asked, and answered.
This is one example of what such an exchange might look like in the library where I now work. A non-English speaking parent is in the library, assisting with crowd control for Book Fair. She is waiting for another volunteer to arrive, so they can take their lunch and return later. She asks me what time the other parent is expected. She may ask me in very limited English, and I understand enough to know what she is asking. She may ask me in Spanish, and I understand enough Spanish in the context of what is going on to know how to type the answer in Google Translate. She may type the question into Google Translate herself, and I read it, and type in the answer, and she reads it.
We manage. It is amazing how much sooner we get to the point where the essential information has been conveyed. However imperfectly, we achieve what we need to achieve. Question asked. Question answered.
Reference, which is responding to questions asked, and supplying information in response - is a big part of what Librarians do. We are information professionals. When the request is asked in another language, we have to use whatever resources are available to us to answer that question. We may not have a living, breathing human being in our midst who can intervene in the patron’s native language.
My tip is this: Be patient with yourself if you are limited to English. Be willing to research translation programs, be willing to use them in order to get your meaning across. Even if imperfect, I can’t count how many times a parent or student has responded “Oh!” with relief when a digital translator is used as a middle-man to understanding.
This goes both ways. When two people who do not fluently speak each other’s languages must ask and respond to each other, both must have patience. Both must recognize that learning a language, however motivated the individual is, takes time, while many information requests may have a date-stamp on them. There may be urgency involved. As information professionals, we try to answer the questions as efficiently as we can. This may not always be a seamless transaction, but the end goal is the exchange of information. If that goal is met, it is a success.