continued from part 2



The next tool mentioned that our family uses for communicating with Caleb is to use the internet for translating simple phrases. This of course will only be useful if you have adopted a child who knows how to read and write her native tongue. Knowing that many words have multiple meanings, you need to keep the sentences simple and try to use words that don't have multiple meanings. For example, if you typed "plane" to mean airplane, you might end up with a totally different meaning when it is translated.

One site that my family uses is here. It has a multitude of the most common languages to choose from when translating from one to another. When Caleb is whining to ride his bicycle and doesn't understand that he needs to pick up his room first, I can type "clean your bedroom and then you can ride your bicycle." That is another good example of using the right words. You don't want to type "pick up your room" or it might translate that he literally needs to go pick it up physically. He reads the translation in simplified Chinese and usually goes happily along his way. It eases the frustration in both of us when we can't communicate via spoken language.

As mentioned previously, finding someone locally who speaks your child’s language is also a good idea. I highly recommend having this set up long before your child arrives home. Once she is home, the stress level in your home will be high enough that you need to be able to pick up the phone and cry “help!” not pick up the phone to barely start looking for someone who speaks Russian, or Chinese, or whatever language your child speaks.

If your local university teaches your child’s native tongue, then you have hit the jackpot. Often professors are willing to hook you up with students or someone else whom they are aware of in the community who would be willing to translate for you. Another great option via community colleges or universities is to call their department that handles international students and ask them if they have any students from your child’s country. They won’t be able to give you names and numbers, but you can leave your contact information with them and ask them to give it to one or more international students from your child’s country.

When Ben arrived home we were lucky enough to be hooked up with a Chinese student majoring in Deaf Studies. It didn’t matter that Guangxin spoke Chinese because Ben couldn’t hear it anyway, but he was thrilled to meet a Chinese adult who was learning American Sign Language.

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