Bilingual, Trilingual, Maybe Even Quadrilingual?

During my time in a K-12 setting, working with a Grade 8 Deaf student I was taught very quickly the challenges of working with someone with not only language deprivation but with language deprivation in nearly 4 languages. The student I was working with is a Syrian refugee and migrated to Canada in 2015. In his life back home it is suspected that his education and language exposure were lacking. This meant that he often communicated in a multitude of different language. The language he was most comfortable with was ASL, he then had a strong grasp on spoken Arabic, some Arabic Sign Language, and his English language skills were improving but were lacking overall. This mixture of language knowledge that he had often made it challenging to communicate with the student one-on-one.

There were times when English idioms or phrases were nearly impossible to create meaning out of without in depth explanation of the meaning behind the utterance. There were also learning goals associated with the student. There was a push from teachers, counsellors, and his family alike to learn to not only read and write in English but speak English as well. This occasionally affected the way we would communicate with the student. It was rare that we would shift to a full Sim-Com style of language use but the interpreters, myself included, would often use English word order, use more mouthing than expected, or even just speaking certain words to him (the student has a Cochlear implant and therefore has quite a bit of residual hearing).

In the moment, when I was at the school interpreting I did not realize the differences we, as interpreters, made when communicating with the student. However, being out in a freelance setting in Ottawa and meeting people who are Deaf and have ASL as their strongest language, and their ASL is fully developed, I see that the approach to communication I had with the Grade 8 student would likely not be effective in communication with other members of the Deaf community.

It is easier to communicate with someone like the Grade 8 student mentioned here when you are able to spend time with them to grasp their language preferences. The combination of ASL, Arabic, Arabic Sign Language, and English offered a unique language situation with this student and it took me a few weeks to feel comfortable communicating with the student in a way that also made him feel comfortable.

My hope is that with more time spent meeting Deaf people and working alongside them I will be better able to detect language preferences in shorter amounts of time. Knowing a language preference and how to meet it makes for more comfortable and more clear communication.

Deaf Youth Today’s (DYT) summer camp, held on Hornby Island involves adults and children of varying ages with an array of language use. Families and children attend the camp every year held at Tribune Bay Provincial Park and partake in many different outdoor/camping activities. Hornby Island Summer Camp was an incredibly immersive event where we, the 6 student interpreters, were surrounded by ASL. The ASL use ranged from generational Deaf families to new ASL users. I learned very quickly that the camp was a bilingual environment but the emphasis was on ASL use due to the fact that the camp was run by and set up for Deaf children and their families. This lesson was learned the hard way. There was one activity in which the children were told how to play a game and then began to play said game. During this time there was no interpreting to be done as the kids ran up and down a field trying to capture the other team’s flag. Another student interpreter and I were talking about the game and how we have had experience playing it in our past. The issue here, however, is that we were using English to talk about it. One of the professional interpreters at the camp came over to us and told us, firmly, that we should be using ASL to talk. It was explained that the children at the camp need to see people using ASL to communicate instead of English. The use of English in an environment like that makes it seem like ASL is not as effective as English, when that is not the case.

While this example maybe shows more of a time when I did not meet a program outcome it was a starting off point for me. It was something that really hit home. It made me think about the impact that hearing interpreters have on Deaf people, and children especially. By using a language that they do not have access to we are shutting them out. Using ASL in a Deaf environment is incredibly impactful as it brings Deaf people in rather than shut them out or deny them access. I am happy to say that after this incident/mistake happened I was extremely aware and willing to use ASL at every opportunity I could around Deaf children. It did not matter who I was talking with – adult, child, hearing, or Deaf – ASL was the primary language used at Hornby Island DYT summer camp.

My time spent at this camp also taught me a strong lesson regarding the varieties of language use among Deaf people. Families and children who attended the camp came from all Deaf families, families with hearing parents, families with Deaf siblings, or children who were only recently introduced to ASL and sign language. This meant that the language choices that we, as student interpreters, had to make varied from child to child or family to family. This was challenging but ended up being a great learning experience and helped recognize different language uses and styles we may see while working as an interpreter or being in the Deaf community in general.

During my time in Ottawa it became very obvious very quickly that there is a lot more French-English bilingual interaction than I am used to. Going through the Douglas College program, the only spoken language we were exposed to was English. We have been trained to work from ASL-English. Being in Vancouver, BC we are one of the farthest cities in Canada from Quebec. Therefore, there is limited, if any, French being used in Vancouver. It was a harsh realization when I moved back to Ottawa, essentially the closest city to Quebec, just how much French would be involved in spoken language communication.

I have not lived in Ottawa since 2015, while it is my hometown I did forget the challenges people who do not speak French face. If you do not speak French you are absolutely able to communicate with almost anybody in the city and socially it does not hold you back, professionally however, French is almost a must. Due to the fact that Ottawa is very much a government city, a lot of the interpreting work for ASL is in relation to the government. Therefore, French is very much present. This meant that when I was in a government environment there was a lot of spoken French present as well as English. While my French is sub-par to say the least I do have a some understanding of the language. The other aspect of Ottawa being so close to Quebec and so immersed in the French language, is that a lot of the spoken English is spoken by individuals whose first language is actually French, so the Quebec native English accent can be very strong. Again, this is something I became very used to living in Ottawa but due to the fact that I have been out of the city for several years I forgot how challenging it can be.

Communicating with people who speak English but with a Quebec French accent is difficult, especially when we are interpreting. Certain words  and phrases sound very different in English when spoken by a Quebec native French speaker. Phrases such as “close the lights” meaning to turn off the lights is a common phrase that occasionally throws people off. “Close the lights” being an almost word for word translation of the French phrase “ferme les lumières”. Also consonant sounds in English are not always what we would expect coming from a Quebec native French speaker. For example, the “th” sound we have in words like “theatre” or “both” often have a “t” or “d” sound to them. This means that “theatre” may sound more the “tee-atre” or “both” may sound like “boat”, which can be very confusing and lead to misunderstandings.

The French-English bilingualism in Ottawa is challenging but having spent nearly two and a half months in Ottawa I am starting to refresh my memory and have a much better grasp on the Quebec native French speaker’s accent in English and hope to continue to improve on my comprehension and communication skills going forward.