Teaching with a Language Barrier
I have two prospective students coming to my dojo this evening. My partner was teaching class last week (I couldn't be there....had to be Mr. Mom that night! ) and they dropped in to the dojo. They have kids who were interested in training, but the parents apparently took a very active interest as well.
This is all well and good, except that the parents speak very limited English. They speak Spanish primarily. The kids apparently DO speak English fairly well, and are capable of translating for the parents.
My question is this:
Has anyone taken on the challenge of teaching students who do not speak the same language? If so, how did you work with that situation? These people do understand limited English, but from what my co-instructor told me, it's not much.
And to continue the thought, does the communication barrier present any legal dilemma? The organization we are affiliated with requires a membership form/waiver to be signed to join, and all school members must join in order to maintain the liability insurance coverage that is provided. This form is NOT available in Spanish, only English.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I have not met these people yet, but the other instructor said they were extremely polite and seemed to have a very high interest level.
Thanks!
Tom DeAngelo
"If you fall down seven times, get up eight."