How do I talk to someone through a translator?

Question

I am a private piano teacher. I recently accepted a student who has only been living in the US for a couple weeks and does not know English. Her mother sits next to us during the lessons and translates. I struggle particularly with getting the student's input. Example exchange:

Me, to student: This notation is complicated. What do you think he wants you to do?

Mother, to me: Actually, I don't even understand what's going on here.

Me, to mother: Could you please ask her what she thinks? I'd like to see how she handles it.

Whereupon the mother translates, and the student plays the passage in question, giving me no way to know if she's being imprecise, or if she doesn't understand the notation.

What can I do to communicate effectively through the translator.

They are from China, if it makes a difference.

Answer 1

It's important for the translator to not be part of the conversation.

I've used a translator many, many times -- for different languages and many circumstances. I've developed a kind of sense for when a translation is going good or not. If a translation is not going well, you might as well go home. I have had bad translators, and they pretty much waste everybody's time.

So here are some things I have picked up over the years.

• This may be difficult from behind a keyboard. But in case you are able to move around, position yourself so you can face your interlocutor.
• Neither one of you should be talking to the translator. Each of you should be looking, talking, and interactive with nonverbal cues to the other -- and not the translator. A common error is to talk to the translator and then have the translator talk to you.
• Say only one sentence at a time. Give the translator time to do their job.
• If the translator is pausing, you have a problem.
• Have more than a one or two sentence dialog. If there is a translation problem, you will sense it.

You apparently are already having one or more of the concepts I outlined. To me that signals the use of a different translator, or some other solution.

Answer 2

Disclaimer: I know nothing about playing, reading, or teaching music. But I have had to use translators in my work.

TL;DR: Train the mother.

It's helpful to avoid asking as many open-ended questions as possible at first. (Open-ended questions are those that require more than a yes/no/single word response.) Asking closed-ended questions requires exact translation and will give you an idea of the mother's ability to translate your English precisely.

If the mother 1. answers for the child, 2. gives you an open-ended answer, or 3. Gives you a longer answer when her daughter's was short, or vs. versa, you know the mother is doing a sub-par job of translating.

If the answers seem to be correct, then this "trains" the mother to translate well.

E.g. Instead of,

This notation is complicated. What do you think he wants you to do?

Try

This notation is complicated. Do you know what he wants you to do?

After she answers, (yes, no), give her options (I'm out of my league here, but, e.g.),

Do you think he wants you to play softly/louder/quickly/staccato/whatever?

These kinds of questions - especially as they get more difficult - make it pretty easy to assess 1. the mother's understanding of musical notation, and 2. how the mother is translating. Knowing this helps you to prepare for a less frustrating experience.

If Mom is doing a bad job, set a boundary. Appeal to the mother's values if you know them. For example,

In order to give her the best lessons possible, I must ask you to please translate my questions and directions exactly as I phrase them, or your daughter will not make good progress. I need to understand what your daughter thinks/feels/understands about the music.

As @English Student's excellent answer states, getting her to learn to speak English, even if you are doing so initially - This is "allegro". (have her repeat.) - it will help.

_{In the Emergency Room, we would routinely, especially during holidays, get foreigners coming in who spoke no English. There is a medical translation system in place, but it was very frustrating. I remember a Ukrainian couple who brought in their baby, who had a fever. I would ask, "Has she been vomiting?" The translator would ask something short. The mother would launch into a five-minute answer. Then the translator would answer, "No." How frustrating!}

Answer 3

I appreciate your sporting willingness to teach the student the piano under these challenging circumstances. The success of such communication entirely through a translator in this situation depends very much on

(1) the mother's understanding of English being adequate for her to translate your statements/ questions accurately to the student and

(2) the mutual understanding of musical notation and technical terms across English and Chinese languages in particular, which is essential for the student to comprehend your question and provide appropriate feedback.

Assuming that these conditions are satisfactory, accuracy is crucial in the translation.

So you can politely request the mother to please translate exactly what you said and precisely relay back to you the student's comments, even if the mother does not understand the musical background of your statements.

Meanwhile, as indicated by @NVZ in a comment, you should also kindly but firmly encourage the student to learn basic communicative English in order to then learn the standard musical vocabulary, but also to be able to communicate with you directly in the near future.

Answer 4

I work in a safety-critical position in inner London. Given the multiculturality around there, we quite often get children or sometimes entire families who speak no English and who we have to use a translator for.

Side note: this works just as well for non-verbal translators, such as sign language, as it does for verbal translators - though I tend to find that SL translators just translate while you talk as opposed to waiting for you to finish.

Ignore the translator. Okay, maybe not ignore, but the point is that you're interacting with the student, not the translator, and the translator is just there to facilitate that. This works better with professional translators than it does with family, because family will naturally want to get involved, but the aim is to get the translator to at least translate first and ask questions later.

Look for non-verbal cues. Body language and facial expression are great answers to yes/no (and a few other short-answer) questions; look for them. Those cues enable you to move faster by not having to work through the translator for everything; that ends up being less frustrating for you and the student.
You can also think about phrasing your questions to gear them more towards yes/no answers, but that may not always be helpful for teaching.

Answer 5

Suppose the student's name is Li.

Ask the mother to meet with you or speak with you on the phone outside the lesson. Start with some short positive remark about Li. Then ask her if she's familiar with "first person interpretation." If she isn't, then explain and give an example.

(Here's one possible example: Patient: My back pain started a year ago right after my mother died. Interpreter (in the target language): My back pain started a year ago right after my mother died. As opposed to "Her back pain started a year ago right after her mother died.")

Explain that first person interpretation will permit the student to progress the fastest. Explain that her daughter is so talented, you want to focus on her 100% during the lessons. "I need your help, to enable Li to take center stage during her lessons."

Establish a way for the mother to be able to communicate with you regularly outside the lesson time, for example, through email, or a short bi-weekly phone call.

Establish a boundary by having the student work with you for the first part of the lesson, without the mother being in the room. Explain this also outside the lesson. You could say, for example:

To help Li take center stage in her lessons, I'm going to ask you to wait to come into the studio until we are about 15 minutes into the lesson.

If she is still having trouble getting the hang of it, assert yourself, as follows:

Me: This notation is complicated. What do you think the Chopin wants you to do?

Mother: Actually, I don't even understand--

Me (interrupting, with brief eye contact to mother): Excuse me. (Then turning gently to student): This notation is complicated. What do you think the Chopin wants you to do?

Do you see? No explanation should be given to the mother at this time. You could think of this as gentle broken-record mode.

As soon as you see some progress in the mother, make sure to give brief but warm positive feedback.

It helps to keep your communication with the mother during lessons as nonverbal as possible.

There is a small trick you might need to use: when they are first coming in, you could cough a few times, and then hand an empty water bottle to the mother, asking her to fill it for you in the bathroom. Having her out of the room for two seconds right at the beginning can help to a surprising degree.

Alternatively, get a different interpreter.