PB4_Google Translate

Google Translate 

Have you ever been teaching in that place where you know the only thing that is holding your students from truly owning what it is you are trying to teach is understanding the academic language in English.  As a teacher in the central valley of California, I face this challenge every day. Often when I am teaching a concept, English Language Learners often look at me with those glossed over eyes telling me they don’t have the slightest clue what I am talking about.  My classes usually consist of only twenty percent of my students speaking English at home. The other native languages in my class consist of Spanish, Hmong, and Cantonese.  Often what keeps my students from reaching proficiency is understanding the academic language.  If I could just teach them in their native language, I know they can break through that academic barrier.

Well, that time has just arrived. I have been scouring web 2.0 and looking for ways to reach my ELL’s and a possible solution has been right under my nose. Google Translate is a program designed by Google that allows over 40 languages to be translated in any direction.

I discovered this by following a friend on Facebook who lives in Israel. He often publishes his comments in both English or in Hebrew. Well I don’t know Hebrew so one day when I was looking at the drop down menus on the Google search engine I noticed the Translate program. I had always wondered what my friend was saying in Hebrew so I just took one of his status updates on Facebook and pasted it in Google translate.

My frind lives in Tel Aviv, Israel. He was asking in Hebrew: מי ער, ורוצה לבוא לאכול איתי גלידה עכשיו? When I put it into Google Translator I found out he was asking; “Who is up and wants to get ice cream”.  I cannot wait for my students and I to find uses for this application in the classroom. I am so pumped. So with that in mind, I would just like to tell you; Merci d'avoir lu mon blog. Restez branchés pour plus de ces grandes trouvailles. Le monde se rétrécit.