Do you speak my language?

[Donte]

Many migrants find themselves socially isolated as they may not speak English very well and there may not be any neighbors or friends nearby who are of the same ethnicity. Their children may be living far away, their relatives may be overseas and they may lack the traditional supports available in their homeland.

Like most people, they may at some stage in their lives be faced with difficulties which may effectively be dealt with by talking to a professional and experienced Counsellor, who can assist in developing strategies and ways of dealing with personal and relationship/family issues. This is particularly important for non-English people who may not have the traditional supports. But, how does one find out about these supports? And are there linguistically and culturally sensitive bicultural professionals who can assist them in a time of need? I’m talking about people who won’t access this forum as they are not computer literate or English proficient. Any ideas on how to engage them? What would you recommend to someone who needs help and is in this category?

[Donte]

Hi Pepper,

Yes. Training of staff is of outmost importance. Often the case is that because someone happens to speak another language, they get dragged in to translate and assist with various client issues that are beyond their job description. It’s not unusual to have reception staff counseling someone in another language etc.

I believe organizations need to put their energy in property supporting their staff through accredited training and upskilling and make extra efforts to employ bilingual and bicultural staff for specific positions to appropriately respond to needs of CALD populations.

[Hope_for_the_best]

Hi Donte', I can totally relate to your post. I was raised overseas and I only moved back to Australia since uni. I did a degree in health science, so I am familiar with many medical terms, and I can communicate well in English. However, I still prefer to see professionals who can speak my native language. My native language is quite commonly spoken in Australia, so I don't have any problems to find a GP who speaks my language. Things are very different for psychologist. I see a psychologist regularly overseas, and I wish to see one in Australia as well. My GP has located a list of psychologists who may speak my language, but unfortunately they were born and raised in Australia and can only speak English. There are psychologists who can speak my language, but they are very far away from where I live. It is also problematic for my family. My dad always needs my help to be his interpreter even for something like renewing his driver licence. I am happy to help, but that is affecting my work, as I find it hard to explain to my boss that my dad needs someone who speaks English to accompany him for something. It would be good if interpreting services are more readily accessible.

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Donte’ and all,

Yes, great suggestions. I agree with you about how problems can arise when untrained bilingual staff are asked to translate really technical terms or inappropriately e.g. bilingual reception staff “counselling.”

Great points too, Hope.for.the.best 🙂

Caring thoughts,

Pepper