When I started working in Head Start Sue, my
ex-supervisor, helped me a lot. At the beginning, she talked to me more slowly
than to English native speakers (and talking to other co-workers who were Spanish
speakers, we all agreed that she did that with all of us at the beginning). She
always asked me if I had any question or concern after talking to me, I would also
say that she looked for the words that made our conversations more understandable
to me, because I was able to understand her messages and she understood and answered
all my questions.
I consider Sue is a competent communicator because when
anybody needed to talk to her she would stop whatever she was doing in order to
focus her attention on the person, looking at the person all the time, and
using hand movements that helped to understand her messages. Something I remember
about our conversations is that she always asked me how my day was going; this
fact helped me to feel important to her and feel that she cared about me.
Being supported by people like Sue helped me to improve
my communication skills towards parents, children, and co-workers and in my
personal life. The fact that English and Spanish speaking parents came and
talked to me let me apply what I learned from Sue, paying my attention to them,
repeating what they have said in order to make sure I have understood their
ideas, and responding to their messages; these were all communication skills
that allowed me practice and improve both my English and communication.
By the way, I was able to overcome my fear and use a drive
thru after about a year since I moved from Mexico. J
Hello Caty. Thanks for sharing your drive through story. Things we think are small are often the biggest challenges.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you had Sue. She sounds like a very good person to work for. She sounds like an excellent example - you know so when other young teachers work with her they are can emulate her good qualities.
Hi Caty,
ReplyDeleteI am happy you had a person like Sue in your life. As you shared she is an effective communicator. As you shared, she would speak to you slowly and ensure you were able to grasp what she was saying, she repeated what you said to show she was listening and that what you said was important.
My Non-English parents thank me for taking the time to listen and pay attention. Patience is vital because we do need to allow people the time to express themselves. We can help supply the words that people may be looking for to use. There were times, I would learn words and phrases in their language to help communicate. This reminds me with children as they are learning how to speak, they can point at things and try to provide cues for us to understand. We also provide them with the words and phrases to help them build on their cues, gestures, vocabulary,language, emotions and in whole their commnication.
Thank you for sharing!
Hi Caty.... I certainly envy your ability to communicate in more than one language. Congratulations!! Sounds like knowing Sue was great for your confidence and language development. It is also cool that you have been able to apply Sue's communication lessons with parents. That says a lot not only for Sue but for you too.
ReplyDeleteHi Caty,
ReplyDeleteIf you have a chance to reply to my comment, I'm curious to know how old you were when you moved to the US and how long you have been in the states now? I am always amazed at stories like yours because one of the key things to any immigrant and their family is how to communicate in their new homeland (be it country, continent, etc). This is something that both sides face and it's one thing to simply learn a few of those native words, but to actually take the time and again, I can't stress this enough-to LISTEN-makes a world of difference.
Hi Cidney,
DeleteI moved to Illinois 5 years ago, when I was 26 years old (I was so young!!!). When I was in high school my parents had the opportunity to send me to English classes for one year… BUT… let me tell you that I hated these classes because they were on Saturday, from 8am to 1pm, and I had to wake up at 5.30 am in order to ride the bus to Celaya –the nearest city of my hometown, where I attended school since 7th grade- that allowed me to be on time.
At that time I completely ignored those classes would be my salvation in the first weeks I arrived to USA, but they were not enough, so I enrolled in free English classes in the community colleague, and then I was able to take academic English classes, and now… here I am pursuing my masters.
Certainly it is not easy to be new in a country, but when you have the disposition to learn what this country has to teach you, the adaptation process is little bit easier.
THANKS FOR ASKING CIDNEY
Cidney,
ReplyDeletePositive suport is always great to have. I can only imagine how hard of a transition it was.I am in the process of teaching two students English. Your story truly inspired me.
Hi Caty,
ReplyDeleteI find myself talking slower to my non-English speaking families. I am afraid to talk to them in the few words or phrases that I know in their language because they respond back in their language, but not slow (LOL). I understand what you went through because I am faced with that challenge every day. I have a family in my center that is African but they speak French. We do not have any French translators at my agency. I have to rely on the older children to help me communicate with them. The mother speaks a little English, but her accent is really thick that it is difficult to understand her at sometimes. When we are able to communicate she gets excited when I understand her. She has currently enrolled in a class where she will learn English. It is at these moments when we realize how important communication is in our profession.