Let’s Talk Google Translate… Parlons de Google Translate

 

Dear Parents/Guardians,

 

I would like to bring to your attention a situation that I feel needs to be addressed.

 

I realize and understand the discrepancy and variance of all the students in our class that have been impacted due to the Covid 19 pandemic and school closures. What that means is that each child ended French in March. Some of them continued with regular French programming, some of them didn’t have any French and some may have had sporadic French. Which makes for a lot of variance in their comprehension, abilities and comfort levels with the French language. 

 

What does this have to do with Google Translate? 

 

As their teacher, it is my job to make sure I have prepared my students for the work they are expected to produce, for example, writing short sentences/short texts. As a class, we write the success criteria and procedures for writing a good sentence/good paragraph. Together, we co-create lists of sentence starters and vocabulary to help them write simple sentences. For example: Cette fin de semaine, j’ai mangé _____________. 

 

When your child has to write sentences/texts in French, they should be using the sentence starters to help them write their sentences. Afterwards, they can include a few words of their choosing to complete those sentences. If they are unsure of a vocabulary word, they can use vocabulary lists and online tools such as: 

 

• Linguee www.linguee.fr/  

• Word Reference www.wordreference.com 

• Larousse dictionary www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/anglais-francais

 

I am kindly asking you to help your child understand that writing complete sentences in English and using tools such as Google Translate is not helping them learn French and will not prepare them for French Programming in the future, leading into Junior Grades/High School. 

 

This is a crucial time in your child’s schooling for him/her to acquire the fundamentals of learning French as a second language. I am supporting them the best way I can and I cannot remove the temptation of using Google Translate.  However, complete sentences produced using Google Translate (or similar tools) are very obvious and do not necessarily reflect what your child can actually write in French.

 

The expectations will get higher and they have to be prepared for that reality. The best way to further develop their communication skills in French is to increase their exposure to the language.  Here are some suggestions that you could explore with your child: Des suggestions en français pour la maison. 

 

Thank you for taking the time to discuss this matter with your child. It is important for your child to see us working together and having similar expectations.  Please feel free to contact me, if you have any questions.

 

Your Partner in Education,