Tech+Tool+1

مرحبا, chào, ¡Hola, Γεια σας Hei, 你好, Bonjour, สวัสดี, привет, Merhaba, नमस्ते. Do any of these words make sense to you? If so, does it make you feel a bit at home? Comforted a little? HELLO! That is the English translation of all these words that represent only a fraction of the native languages of our students. All of these translations are provided by utilizing Google Translate.

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Imagine a student arrives in your class mid year from Greece and no one else in the school speaks Greek. I saw this happen in a class, and the amazing teacher linked the student up with another student at a computer to find some words and phrases that would be used in an everyday setting; Bathroom, water, recess, etc... The class also followed along with this process so they could learn a little bit about Greek as well. The key classroom words were translated and printed out in English and Greek. The boy was able to put this on his desk and show the teacher the English word if he needed something. This was his second day and it made a world of difference for this student from the first, very difficult day.

This is one example of the saving grace of Google Translate. It can also be used to make signs to welcome students to the class in multiple languages. With diversity of languages in schools, this tech tool is a lifesaver.